8 incredible photos and how to take them

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 07 Mei 2014 | 20.01

Low tide in Nelson, New Zealand. Picture: Richard Furhoff. Source: Supplied

RICHARD Furhoff has a job many of us could only ever dream of. He travels the world taking gorgeous landscape pictures.

The passionate photographer has been shooting scenery for 24 years and has captured natural beauty in a range of places from national parks in Canada to mountains in New Zealand.

SEE MORE OF RICHARD'S WORK

Late Afternoon, Lake Tekapo. South Island. New Zealand. Richard Furhoff Source: Supplied

"My dad was one of those stereotypical German immigrants from the 60s with an amateur's passion," he says. "German cameras, German lenses, German film! I got my first camera for my eighth birthday and for my 10th I got a darkroom. I was spending so many evenings after school in that school darkroom and being late for dinner that my parents thought it would be easier just to set up a darkroom for me at home in the bathroom. After that the bug never really left me.

So with all that passion and experience, who better to ask for tips on how to take a picture worth framing when travelling in New Zealand or anywhere with exquisite scenery for that matter?

Richard Furhoff 100101_NewZealand_DSC4041.tif Sunrise Over Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. Source: Supplied

What sort of camera/set up do you take on holidays to New Zealand?

"I approach all my holidays and visits to New Zealand as 'working holidays' so I tend to take a rather large assortment of kit. In my kit you'll find a Nikon D3x and a pretty standard Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens. The lens I use most and consider absolutely essential is my 17-35mm, f 2.8 wide angle zoom. It's a bit older by today's standards but it still performs exceptionally well in terms of sharpness and other technical aspects. I just love its range and I would say about 85% of my landscapes are shot with it. I also pack a 70-200mm zoom, a 16mm fisheye for my automotive environments, a 60mm macro lens and an assortment of filters and accessories. The absolutely most important accessory being a polarising filter — I never shoot landscapes without it!"

Sunrise and morning fog, Mist in the Valley, Cheviot. South Island, New Zealand. January 2012. Richard Furoff. Source: Supplied

Is there a better time of day to take landscape photos in New Zealand?

"Like anywhere, the best time of day to shoot landscapes in NZ is early in the morning (just before and after sunrise) and late afternoon/sunset. New Zealand often offers other opportunities because, being two islands, the air is always full of moisture. This makes for dramatic cloud formations and intense sunrise/sunsets pretty much all year round, making for some really amazing light!"

How do you get such great skies in your photos?

"Polarising filter! Always use a polarising filter and spend the money to get a good one. There is no point buying a $2000 lens and putting a $20 filter in front of it. I use a B+W polariser made by Schneider Kreuznach (German of course!) Often skies will require some work in RAW processing and in Photoshop to really bring out the drama and personality. I use Nikon Capture NX2 for all my RAW processing as it allows me to exercise precise local control over specific parts of my image — mighty handy when dealing with clouds and skies."

Mt Cook, Lake Pukaki. Picture: Richard Furhoff. Source: Supplied

There doesn't seem to be anyone around in these photos, how far off the beaten track do you go for a shot?

"You don't have to hike for days in the wilderness to find great scenes to photograph, especially in New Zealand as many roads pass through spectacular vistas not very far from your car.

In New Zealand I have tramped in the In the Southern Alps for several nights. I'd like to do a lot more of their famous tramping trails though. In other parts of the world I have canoed, kayaked and walked many days out from base but that's a whole other story. How much time do we have?"

Arthur's Pass. Picture: Richard Furhoff Source: Supplied

How long do you spend on "photoshopping" or retouching your photos when you get home?

"I am not ashamed to say it — quite a bit. The way I see it, it's about how the viewer will experience the image. When I'm out in the landscape before dawn, I get to experience all that the environment is presenting — the chilly air, the lonely far off bird calls, the stars vanishing one by one from the morning sky, the crunch of the earth beneath my boots, the smell of wet tree bark and maybe wood smoke, the stillness and silence and also the sheer scale of it all. I don't see much point in just sharing what the scene looked like in a certain direction, for that is just such a small part of the experience I want to share.

However that small window is all I have to work with so I pre-visualise the final outcome before I even set up my camera, distilling in my mind the visual cues that will help re-create the experience for others. That might mean having to make the sky darker in photoshop to bring out the clouds, making the snow on mountain peaks brighter, adding a golden hue to the hazy light. Many adjustments will be made for technical reasons but I feel aesthetic adjustments are just as legitimate."

Hooker River Bridge Mt Cook National Park. Picture: Richard Furoff. Source: Supplied

Do you have any tips for holiday photographers wanting to shoot New Zealand landscapes?

"Get down low, below eye level and create interest in your foregrounds. Most people just take pictures of the view to the distance, but few pay attention to what's close by and include it in the foreground.

And don't just point your camera at the sun when there is a spectacular sunrise or sunset. Look around at what the sun is hitting — your family and kids will look amazing in that light too. Plus, when in NZ, pack an umbrella!"

Where do you plan to shoot next?

"Funny you should mention that! I am planning to go back to New Zealand this winter. I haven't been there yet in winter and I am aching to get in among the snow and ice. Canterbury is in my sights, especially the areas around Mt Cook / Aoraki, Lake Pukaki and Tekapo."

Cathedral Rocks Gore Bay Beach, Canterbury. Picture: Richard Furoff. Source: Supplied


Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

8 incredible photos and how to take them

Dengan url

http://duniasikasik.blogspot.com/2014/05/8-incredible-photos-and-how-to-take-them.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

8 incredible photos and how to take them

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

8 incredible photos and how to take them

sebagai sumbernya

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger