Today's video sponsored by Art list a little bit more about them later in the video there's nothing
worse than taking the day off work only to find out that the weather is dull and boring and all
you want to do is go out and take photographs a lot of people will write these days off but if
you just head out anyway it'll give you a lot of time to focus on one of the hardest parts
of Photography and that's composition today I'm going to show you what you can do with
your camera on days like this and why they'll make you a much better photographer and make
sure to watch till the end because I've got a tip that'll get you some completely different
photographs than you might be used to if you're new to the channel my name is Mike Smith and I'm
a landscape photographer I do weekly videos giving you hints and tips to help you become
a much better photographer so if you like what you see make sure to subscribe [Music]
the first bit of advice I can give you is to get rid of the rubbish in your frame because you're
not chasing that light and you don't have that light to distract you you can really focus on
what you put in your photograph and even though this isn't a compositional technique per se it
is about tidying up your photographs so it kind of is working on your composition the easiest way to
do this is to put a telephoto lens on your camera if you only have a kit lens shoot at the longest
end so 55 millimeters or 17 millimeters depending on what system you shoot with
obviously you'll be able to get longer if you've got something like the 70 to 200.
I have the 28 to 200 from Tamron which is a fantastic all-around lens and when I
put it out to 200 I can really isolate what I'm photographing now I've come to the most obvious
place and that's to take a photo of this Dam with this massive landscape in the background but the
colors are quite boring and flat especially compared to a photo I got here a few years ago
so from here I'll get the telephoto lens on and I'll pick things out in the distance you
can really focus in on what you do want but also what you don't want in your frame and if there's
too much rubbish around the sides just zoom in a little bit more and if you're at the end of your
zoom lens you just need to change your position to get closer to what you want to photograph
I do like to be really intentful with my photographs and this is the one overriding factor
when it comes to composition to compose your shot thoughtfully is to compose with intent this is one
of the biggest things you can do to take your photos from a snapshot to photographs so I line
things up in my frame and really think about where they're placed within that photograph I'll always
look for a little Hut a person or just something within that landscape to Anchor that shot it's
all about putting things in the frame where you want them to be and nothing else especially if
it's too distracting now taking a shot like this is okay but if I can Line This Hut up with the
path it really does show a photograph with intent it's a very subtle thing but it just shows the
difference between a photographer and someone who takes snapshots one tip I sometimes hear about
dull days is to not include any of the sky in your frame this is okay if it's completely white but if
there's any kind of detail in the clouds it's good to get it in the shot and then when you're editing
it you have the option of making it a little bit more Moody than normal you will have to put a lot
more effort into editing when you get photos on days like this but if you know this you can take
this into account when photographing your subject so with this in mind if I do include a bit of the
sky I'll bracket my shots so I've got the detail in the brightest and the darkest parts of my frame
and if you're not sure how to bracket your photos look out for the link at the end of this video
foreign something that has a definite shape I'll try and fill the frame with that shape or
try and include it in the frame to make it more interesting and the more that you look for them
the more you'll start to see them within that landscape and again doing it on a day like this
is perfect because you're not distracted by that beautiful light so check out this I've got this
nice s-bend in the upper part of the lake and I'm going to fill the frame with that and that's the
thing with finding shapes if you see big S shapes like this just get a photograph of them doesn't
matter if the photo's rubbish it means that you're finding shapes I heard a saying the other day and
it really makes sense especially on days like this and it's to focus on the what and not the
where so I'm back again at this Viewpoint and like earlier on I could just photograph the dam and the
lake in the landscape but that's focusing on the wear instead of this I'm going to focus on the
details within that landscape so it could almost be anywhere but it's focusing on the what and
not the where so if I get up close to the water flowing over this Dam I can get a slightly more
unique shot of this cascading water especially if I'm shooting a long exposure and once again
I'm using that telephoto lens for these to get really close to those details on the other hand if
I can't find any shapes I can create shapes with a bit of distortion I'm in front of this huge Dam
and I've got the 17 mil on my camera and I'm going to take a panorama of this Stitch it together it's
going to be distorted but it's going to create really nice arcs in the frame will be really
interesting to see how that comes out but first I want to hike to the top of this Dam and to do
that I'll need some decent music so what we got oh uh Hang On Let's Line something up how about this
that's good but let's try another one okay another one maybe this one this one's a
pretty powerful one it's a bit better what else you got okay tell you what I'll go into mood
Epic dramatic I know there's one in here that's fantastic how about that
yeah that's the one let's go with that one time to get to the top
let me quickly tell you about today's sponsor which is Art list artlist.io is a highly curated
royalty-free music and sound effects platform for anyone who wants to create videos there
are a few different licenses to choose from I have the social Creator because I work on my
own which gives me access to over 22 000 songs and 27 000 sound effects for instance whilst
Mike is hiking up this mountain I could make it look like he had really bad wind
okay maybe that was a bit childish I could also make it sound like it's really windy all
at the same time as having an epic backing track and all of this is royalty free so
no need to worry about those corporate legal battles with any record labels
there are so many ways to find the right track from the pace to the instruments and mood this
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right are you up the top yet yep knackered yep just give me a minute whilst he's recovering let's
have a look at that Panorama it has almost created an oval shape in the frame even though the dam is
straight and you might not like it but in using Distortion in a creative way you can force shapes
into your photographs wow that was neckering I think it's about time for a cup of coffee
now it's still quite flat light but there's certain things I can do to make the photos
stand out a bit more I've got this Farmhouse and I'm going to put it at the bottom of the frame
and it almost gives a reason for the photograph to be taken and your photos do need a reason to
exist if nothing else other than to teach you the skills of Photography as for the tip for
getting very different photographs in conditions like this look for texture in any of the things
you're shooting and fill the frame with that texture get as close as the lens will allow you
and then see how it comes out if it stands out or has a very different color to its surrounding this
will really help you in getting a defining shot now it's not guaranteed but if you do have this
approach you'll be surprised at what you might be able to get compared to your normal photographs
as for that technique I talked about earlier this video will help you get much more detail in your
skies especially if you normally struggle with blown out or white Skies I'll see you next time