APOY 2014 Round 5 – Landscapes at Dawn & Dusk
Please visit the APOY 2014 home page to find all the rules for entry, terms and conditions, the APOY ENTRY EMAIL ADDRESS, Entry Form (for postal entries), and the disclaimers that must be copied and pasted into an email entry.
Entries must be received by 5pm (UK time) on 25 July 2014
Shooting landscapes is a rewarding experience for a number of reasons. There really is no other genre of photography that can demonstrate the true majesty of the world that surrounds us. With so many beautiful locations around the world, photographers are offered ample opportunity to create breathtaking images of the natural world. Through landscape photography, viewers can travel the globe and experience awe-inspiring scenes from the comfort of their own homes. Plus, from the perspective of the photographer, capturing these scenes offers various opportunities to master the intricacies of photography and create something truly beautiful.
Photo by Charlie Jobson
For this round we’re asking you send us your best landscape photographs. The only caveat is that your images must have been shot in the golden hours of either dawn or dusk. Dawn and dusk light , when the weather permits, is a sight to behold. The golden light that blankets the landscape can serve to bring out the hidden magical qualities of a location. On the next page we have some ideas for how you can achieve successful landscape images in this beautiful light. So set your alarm clocks and get ready for an early start.
How to enter
Please visit the APOY 2014 home page for information explaining how to enter. Please use your full name as the file name and paste
the disclaimer into the body of your email if you are sending your entry to us
electronically. We also need to know where and how you took your image, plus
the camera and lens used with aperture and focal-length details. Remember to
include a telephone number and your postal address so we can contact you if you
win.
First Prize
The first-prize winner will receive an Olympus OM-D E-M10 with a 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom, a 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens, a 40-150mm zoom, a 9mm fisheye lens, a macro adapter and a street case in which to carry it all. That’s a total retail price of £1,200. The E-M10 has a 16.1-million-pixel, four thirds-sized CMOS sensor and a TruePic VII image processing system.
The 1.44-million-dot EVF displays a 100% field of view and has a 120fps refresh rate. The 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom lens is the most compact pancake lens and has a maximum shooting magnification equivalent of 0.45x in the 35mm format. The 45mm f/1.8 portrait optic is ideal for low-light portrait work without flash. The 40-150mm zoom has high-speed AF and MSC technology, and the 9mm fisheye lens is ideal for capturing wide angle scenes.
Second Prize
The second-prize winner will receive an Olympus PEN E-PL5 camera plus a 14-42mm and 40-150mm twin-lens zoom kit worth £500.
The E-PL5 offers serious image quality with its powerful 16.1-million-pixel sensor and a new OM-D component in the TruePic VI image processor. The camera has lightning-fast autofocus, a touch-sensitive LCD screen and full HD video.
Third Prize
The third-prize winner will receive an Olympus Stylus SP-100EE Ultra Zoom camera, with an impressive 16-million-pixel sensor and 3in LCD screen. The camera includes a handy autofocus lock so you need never lose a shot due to fuzzy focusing.
The camera also features a 50x optical Ultra Zoom lens with a focal length ranging from 24mm to 1,200mm, and built-in Dot Sight to make it easier to focus precisely on distant subjects.
We take a look at some tips and tricks to set you on your way to shooting landscapes at dawn and dusk
Why not try…
Photo by Tim Coleman
Planning your shoot
The vast majority of work that goes into your landscape
shoot happens before you even arrive on location. You must arrive at your
chosen scene at the correct time, in the right conditions, fully prepared.
Planning can take weeks, even months. You owe it to yourself to get to know
your location as well as you can in order to make the most of your trip.
The first stage is to select your location. Perhaps you have
somewhere in mind having seen a picture in a book or magazine. That will give
you an excellent reference point. Failing that, you could utilise the wonderful
tools that are Google Maps or Google Earth. There are also plenty of apps that
can help.
Also make sure you focus on the logistics. How will you get
there? At what time will you need to arrive in order to set up? Will you have
to account for traffic? Where will you park? Will the weather hold? These are
all vital questions. Of course, once you’re there, you’ll need to know exactly
where to shoot from and the position of the sun (rising or falling). Also,
remember that just because a location has often been photographed, it doesn’t
mean that it has been done to death. The true skill of a photographer is
finding fresh angles in familiar locations.
Photo by Damien Demolder
Low-angled Light
Early morning and evening light offer the photographer
stunning ambient light that is incredibly difficult to create artificially. As
mentioned on the previous page, this golden light can draw out those hidden
qualities that harsh sunlight or overcast days can mask. Not long after sunrise
and not long before sunset, when the sun is low in the sky, you’ll find the
most remarkable raking light that perfectly shows off the form of
three-dimensional elements.
This light is often beautifully soft as it diffuses
through multiple layers of cloud near the horizon, so it produces wonderful
dark shadows without the harsh highlights that usually go with them. If you
shoot towards the light, you can fill your frame with backlit objects sporting
golden haloes, graphic semi-silhouettes and skies with peachy hues.
Photo by Guido Milian
The Right Camera
In APOY 2012, Guido Milian won our dawn & dusk
landscapes round with his beautiful black & white image of a man standing
on a balcony looking out over a town (right). What did he shoot it with? An
iPhone. We often associate landscape photography with hefty DSLRs, but there
really are no rules. As the image quality improves, so too do the chances of
getting a great shot with your phone. If nothing else, it’s a great backup if
your DSLR batteries fail on you.
Photo by Stefano Pedroni
Colour
The colours at dawn and dusk are the reason that photography
at this time of day is an attractive proposition. However, there is a decision
to be made when it comes to how the colours in the image are represented.
Should the colour saturation be increased to create a bolder, more striking
image, or should the saturation be kept to a minimum to keep the subtle natural
hues? Remember, the light can change dramatically in just a few minutes, so
don’t take just one shot – get to your scene early and stay a little longer,
even if you think you have your shot. See how the light and colour evolves.
Please visit the APOY 2014 home page to find all the rules for entry, terms and conditions, the APOY ENTRY EMAIL ADDRESS, you may use the Entry Form (for postal entries), and the disclaimers that must be copied and pasted into an email entry.
Entries must be received by 5pm (UK time) on 25 July 2014
