As backcountry pilots, we're often treated to some of the best photographic opportunities on Earth. I think whenever I'm out somewhere, 99% of my shots will have an airplane in them, relegating the landscape to a backdrop. But this year I'd like to get better at pure landscape photography.

It's a difficult discipline to take a landscape photo that is profound or noticeable in any way. Lens, light, exposure, and composition all have to be on-point. Otherwise the photo is totally forgettable.

Anyone have any tips or tricks?

I seriously have only a few shots that don't have an airplane in them.

Near Kluane Lake a few years back... like any modern digital photography, I didn;t intend to shoot this B&W but felt that it worked much better that way because there was nothing compelling about the colors. But the cloud shadows and highlights did work. Taken from an airplane, so no potential for long exposure.


Same here.


With super narrow context, this just seems interesting as a texture more than a landscape. Colony glacier.


Ok, I suppose there's an airplane in this one. But I wanted to make it a bug's eye view to give a feeling of dwarfed significance, like Lynn Ellis commented about flying the Wrangells. Loc: Stehekin, WA.


Without the juxtaposition of some man-made object to spice it up, what are some rules of thumb for composing and exposing landscapes?

Great topic, Zane. Looking forward to responses.

MTV

Here are my two favorite books on the subject.

https://www.amazon.com/Galen-Rowells-In ... hotography

https://www.amazon.com/WORLDS-TOP-PHOTO ... landscapes

If you were only going to get one, it would be Galen's book. It has much more text about his approach and process. The second one is nearly exclusively images, so it's great as an idea book rather than an instructional tome.

Galen Rowell....RIP. What a legend.

Zzz wrote:Galen Rowell....RIP. What a legend.

Ain't that the truth...

...

This is a great read about some of André Adams most iconic landscapes.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20504.Examples

Galen was a legendary climber and photographer, and his wife was a 206 pilot. They did a book together ( her writing and his photography) about a flight to Patagonia in the Cessna. We have an excellent pilot/photographer in the Seattle area. He specializes in aerial photographs of the landscape. His name is Long Bach Nguyen, and a link to his website is offered below. He gave a great presentation to the Jefferson County Pilots Association about his process. He has some really high end gear, so those of us with point and shoot cameras had a hard time keeping up. Still, quite the show. Blow ups of his landscape work line the halls of the VA Hospital in Seattle.

http://www.pbase.com/longbachnguyen

Here's a better link to Long Bach Nguyen's Aerial Photographs without other subjects.
http://www.pbase.com/longbachnguyen/aerialwa

There's few that rival our own Alex: https://backcountrypilot.org/features/c ... alex-wells

Slight thread drift...

I have been using picasa for editing software but Google hasn't supported it for some time.

I'm too cheap to buy editing software if I can get something decent for free, but would like to have something that can deal with HDR.

What is everybody using???

TangoFox wrote:Slight thread drift...

I have been using picasa for editing software but Google hasn't supported it for some time.

I'm too cheap to buy editing software if I can get something decent for free, but would like to have something that can deal with HDR.

What is everybody using???

Google Photos is what I use. Simple, free and mostly easy to share photos from. Not the best for embedding images in forums tho :/

These were all shot on a relatively inexpensive Irix 15mm f2.4 lens in the Davis Mountains/Big Bend area.





I don't think I ever finished editing this one. The landscape looks totally blown out. If I wasn't in such a hurry I would have set a tripod and taken several exposures. I like the texture in the wood though. Maybe I'll play with it some more.

Very cool, Mike. Nice to see another lens nut.

TangoFox wrote:Slight thread drift...

I have been using picasa for editing software but Google hasn't supported it for some time.

I'm too cheap to buy editing software if I can get something decent for free, but would like to have something that can deal with HDR.

What is everybody using???

I've been a Lightroom user for years, however it used to be you could own the software and that would be that. Now it's subscription based like the rest of Adobe's portfolio, so if you decide you don't want to pay a monthly fee you lose your ability to access the edits (nothing else speaks Lightroom yet). Of course if you export the edited image then that's saved, but the library is proprietary. It's good software but that limitation is annoying to say the least. I export images when I want to share them, but like the non-destructive history that RAW editing gives. It's a solid package, but I think some day someone is going to sort out how to access a LR catalog file and retain org/edits and free us LR users from having to pay a monthly fee just to access our work in it.

Lightzone looks promising as an editor, I've only toyed with it for one-off images though so I don't know how well it handles library management, etc. But it is free, so there's that.

I must have been asleep at the yoke to not have spotted this thread.... Landscape is one of my things....

So here is what I typically look for:

Contrast. If you aren't thinking, I probably need HDR to make this work, then I probably wouldn't find it's one the better shots.
Interesting textures or perspectives. I like reflections, clouds, things out of place, animals, etc...
Unconventional. I like to shoot wide open to make something look 3D, or at odd angles.
Technical. If the shot takes a little bit of planning/thinking, that's good, it means that your average Joe with a phone can't capture it.
Wide. I don't know why, but ultra wide is cool.

So I'll post a few things that I've taken. Tell me what you like and don't like and we can all learn more about what catches the eye and why:

Here are a few more:

*LOVE* the homes on the water! You've got quite an eye for awesomeness.

I follow Jim Koepnick and his work. You may know him as EAA's former staff photographer. He often tells you what he's shooting with, too. He's a Sigma lens proponent and does a lot of work with them.

That’s seldova, and it’s one of my favorite places in Alaska.

I’m hoping to fly there this weekend.

Wonderful pictures !! Thank you!