Yay! We’re at my favourite part in intimate landscape photography - getting creative!
In today’s episode I share 3 ways that I like to add creativity to my photos.
If you haven’t seen already I have two previous blog posts about Intimate Landscape Photography:
15-Minute Photography Challenge that will help train your eye and mind to hunt for details
Reflections
One of my first tips for adding creativity to your photos is utilizing reflections.
Often people look for reflections in water - a puddle after it rains or a calm lake. However, I don’t often have access to these calm waters all the time so I use my phone to create a reflection!
It can be time consuming and tricky because depending on the subject you are photographing you need to be the right distance away and achieve the right angle with the phone.
When creating reflections with your phone it is important to blend that phone line! I like to zoom in with my Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens and use a wide aperture of f/2.8 to blend the edge of the phone line.
Foreground Blur
The second way that I always use to add creativity to my photos (if you follow me on Instagram you know I use this technique all the time) but it is incorporating foreground elements.
I use a variety of objects to create this effect - branches, leaves, man-man structures, tree’s, bushes, etc.,
All you do is frame yourself/your camera behind your object (tree, leaf, branch, etc.,) and shoot with a wide aperture.
Double Exposures
Creating double exposures is a relatively new technique that I have added to my photography workflow.
I have an Instagram Reel over at Beautifully Wander on how I do a double exposure but increasingly I gravitate towards capturing these on two occasions - when I photograph a mountain range and when I overlay a pattern on another object.
On the Olympus Camera it’s called ‘Multiexposures’ under Camera 2.
Motion
Adding motion to my photos is not something I do often but it is something I want to incorporate more of!
For the photos you see below I slowed my shutter speed down and waited for vehicles to pass - the vehicle on the right had lights on the top which added a cool effect!
I’ve always been intimidated about adding motion to my photos but it was a lot of fun to see the results!
Sun Stars
If I am photographing at sunset I will always try to get a sun star! For this I change my aperture to anywhere between f/14 and f/22.
Sometimes I will try to create a sun star on the horizon when the sun is setting, sometimes I will create it by looking for an object like a tree to diffuse the light ray but still create the effect.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! Those are 3 ways (+2 extra’s) that I like to do to add creativity to my photos!
When I started photography I didn’t try tackling all these techniques at the same time. I focused on one technique at a time until I was comfortable with all in my workflow.