THE MISSION
Use a flash to light a landscape in several places then combine your shots in Photoshop
Time needed
Two hours
Skill level
Advanced
Kit needed
• Tripod
• Portable flash or Speedlite
• CTO gel
• Light stand
• Umbrella
• Remote shutter release
• Wireless flash trigger
We often hear portrait photographers talk about underexposing the ambient light, then using a flash to pick out the subject. It’s a technique that can result in wonderfully atmospheric portraits with bold skies. So we thought, why not use the same method to create a bold landscape? This way, we can underexpose the scene for a dramatic evening sky, then pick out parts of our scene with flash.
The problem is – like the neolithic burial chamber here – subjects in landscape photos tend to be larger than people, meaning that a single flash may not be big enough, or strong enough, to light the entire thing. Thankfully, there’s no need to bring along an arsenal of flashes.
One of the advantages to landscape photography is that – apart from the movement of clouds or foliage – the scenes in front of us tend to remain still, for the most part. So we can capture our scene in several exposures, then piece it together afterwards with Photoshop.
This story is from the July 2021 edition of PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2021 edition of PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Speed up editing with recipes
Edit a single photo and apply processing settings to pictures taken at the same time
PHOTOSTORIES
World Unseen - Canon’s incredible World Unseen campaign opens up the world of photography to the visually impaired
MATTHEW PERKS
Matthew Perks is a talented lifestyle photographer whose passion has evolved next to his career in engineering. He sees processing photos as a balance of inspiration and instinct…
Perfect your colours with HSL
James Paterson enhances colours in Affinity with HSL
Turn the noise down with Denoise AI
James Paterson shows you how to use Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw AI to fix noisy images and improve quality
Go vintage with a Wet Plate effect
Sean McCormack shows you how to give your images a unique look by emulating the historic wet plate effect
Playing with shadows
Dan Mold’s three easy one-light B&W portrait set-ups to follow at home
Hit the streets with your Canon camera
Next time you’re in a big city be sure to try out these fun techniques for creative cityscape shots
A place in the sun
Learn key Canon camera skills for stunning silhouette portraits, then stitch them together for a striking image that will turn heads
Vive Loire Valley rally
An unexpected change in the weather forces a race against the sun to shoot Chambord