APOY 2016 Round 6: A Small Plot of Land – Landscapes and Cityscapes

***Please visit the APOY 2016 home page to find all the rules for entry, terms and conditions, the APOY ENTRY EMAIL ADDRESS and the disclaimers that must be copied and past into an email entry. This round is Landscapes and Cityscapes.

Entries for Round 6: A Small Plot of Land – Landscapes and Cityscapes must be received midnight (UK time) on 29 August 2016 (extended by a day due to the bank holiday)

For this round, we want to see your landscape and cityscape photographs. Landscapes and cityscapes have a lot more in common than first meets the eye. Both require the application of the most fundamental rules of photography, both are made or unmade by the light, and both can benefit from accessories such as filters. Both the landscape and cityscape require that you learn to break down the scene and mentally reduce it to its most essential components in order to make sense of chaos.

No matter what kind of location you’re shooting, planning is a must, so make sure you know the area. Are you in the best position relative to the light and composition? How does the weather affect the scene? And try to shoot in raw as you’ll have a lot more information to work with in post-production. While a shallow depth of field can look beautiful, also try maximising your depth of field. There’s nothing more breathtaking than a sharply focused landscape.

This month’s prize

The winner of APOY round six will receive a Sigma dp0 Quattro camera and a Sigma LVF-01 LCD Viewfinder. The SIGMA dp0 Quattro is the fourth dp camera in the Quattro series and incorporates a high-performance 14mm f/4 lens (equivalent to a 21mm lens on a 35mm SLR). The lens achieves the highest optical performance, and features four FLD (‘F’ low dispersion) glass elements, which have performance equal to fluorite, two SLD (special low dispersion) glass elements and two aspheric lenses, including a wide double-sided aspheric lens. This reduces chromatic aberration and distortion, which are characteristics that are often present in super-wideangle photography.

Perfectly suited to landscape photographers, the addition of the Sigma LVF-01 LCD Viewfinder cuts off outside light and magnifies the LCD display 2.5x, allowing photographers to check focusing and composition more easily. That brings the Sigma prize total to £999.99.

We provide a few tips and ideas to help you shoot confident, engaging and atmospheric landscape and cityscape pictures

Night Vision

If you want to shoot a cityscape during the evening, find a spot where you can see the buildings and their lights to best effect. Place the camera on a tripod, and turn the mode dial to AV (aperture priority) mode – you want f/8 and upwards for a greater depth of field. Use your camera’s self-timer or a cable release to take a photo with absolutely no blurring.

Pan Stitches

Pan stiches are a lot of fun to produce. Place your camera on a tripod and ensure that the surface you’re positioned on is flat. Set your camera to manual. You then need to pan your image from end to end, taking a picture at set increments. You should also make sure there’s some degree of overlap, as this makes it easier to stitch your images together later. Then, using Photoshop’s Photomerge function, you can produce your pan stitch.

Lenses

A wide lens can give you a sweeping image of a city or landscape, but a longer lens is a good way of homing in on the details of your subject and compressing your shot into a tighter frame.

Light and Shadows

Not long after sunrise and not long before sunset, when the sun is low in the sky, you’ll find the most remarkable light that perfectly shows off the form of three-dimensional elements. This light is often soft as it diffuses through layers of cloud near the horizon, so it produces wonderful shadows.

Here are some more tips on Taking better landscapes and Cityscapes

***Please visit the APOY 2016 home page to find all the rules for entry, terms and conditions, the APOY ENTRY EMAIL ADDRESS and the disclaimers that must be copied and past into an email entry.

Entries must be received midnight (UK time) on 29 August 2016 (extended by a day due to the bank holiday)