Landscape photographs do not have to be of the most dramatic and exotic places. John Constable built a career and lasting renown for his landscapes of his home countryside, often focusing on details and finite space. We can learn a lot from him as photographers, and I encourage you to go on museum websites (National Gallery in London, e.g.) and study how he treated the subject.
New Jersey is often derided for its industrial landscape, but it has many pockets of beauty. Beauty alone is not enough, however. You need to pay attention to how it will look. You may take ten pictures and hope for the best, but a good photograph depends upon the elements of composition— where things are placed in relation to each other, what is included and excluded, vertical versus horizontal, etc. There is no substitute for composition. You can improve a lot of things but there are limits on what you can do once the image is captured.
Here is the unedited image of a small segment of the Musconetcong River in Bloomsbury, New Jersey.
New Jersey is often derided for its industrial landscape, but it has many pockets of beauty. Beauty alone is not enough, however. You need to pay attention to how it will look. You may take ten pictures and hope for the best, but a good photograph depends upon the elements of composition— where things are placed in relation to each other, what is included and excluded, vertical versus horizontal, etc. There is no substitute for composition. You can improve a lot of things but there are limits on what you can do once the image is captured.
Here is the unedited image of a small segment of the Musconetcong River in Bloomsbury, New Jersey.
I took many images of the river and at least a dozen of this scene, both as portrait and landscape, and with shutter priority as well as program (letting the camera decide speed and aperture). First, I wanted the boulders in the foreground, and though the one in the lower left is slightly cut off, I didn’t care. I wanted these rocks to anchor the image. They are taken at a strong diagonal, a technique that pulls you into the image. Second, I wanted to capture the rapids. I set the shutter speed as slow as I could, given that I was shooting hand-held and not with a tripod or monopod. I shot at 1/10 of a second in order to get the water to blur and become smooth. I wanted to create the sense of motion. I essentially divided the picture into three parts, all angled: the lower part being the rocks and shore where I was, the middle being the river, and the top third being the trees on the other side. I felt this was a good balance.
Using both Lightroom and Photoshop, I adjustments to increase contrast, decrease glare in the water, sharpen and warm up the scene, and to bring in detail. I have learned through much trial and error to use these filters subtly in order to preserve the natural effect and avoid the artificial look that comes from overuse. Here is the final product:
Using both Lightroom and Photoshop, I adjustments to increase contrast, decrease glare in the water, sharpen and warm up the scene, and to bring in detail. I have learned through much trial and error to use these filters subtly in order to preserve the natural effect and avoid the artificial look that comes from overuse. Here is the final product:
Much can be done to improve contrast and sharpening using software, but they are not for wholesale repair. You can’t take a bad picture (subjectively speaking of course) and turn it into a good picture based on software.