How to Take Photos of Landscapes With a 100 F2.0 Canon Lens
Shooting a landscape photo correctly is the difference between a ho-hum image and an eye-catching work of art. Using a Canon DSLR and the Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM telephoto lens, you can take very good landscape photos. Whether you are in the middle of a city, on a Pacific island beach or hiking in the Rockies, there are several tricks to take best advantage of this photographic equipment for landscape shots.
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Instructions
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Use the Rule of Thirds to take compositionally-sound photographs. Divide the landscape into thirds using the camera viewfinder. Photographers often use the Rule of Thirds to take landscape photographs. This artistic principle dictates that the photo composition should be broken into three nearly equal parts. A wilderness photographer might dedicate roughly one third of a photo to a lake in the foreground, another third to a mountain and the last third to the sky. If shooting a beach sunset, he would divide the photo evenly between the sand, ocean and sky.
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Aperture controls the size of the lens opening. Adjust the aperture settings on the lens. On most Canon DSLRs, you must hold down the "Av" button, and turn the dial on top of the camera. The Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM telephoto lens is capable of shooting very low apertures, but you need to increase the aperture for this shot. This is necessary because landscapes have a large depth of field. An aperture between f/8 and f/11 works best in most situations.
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Turn the ring on the front of the lens to focus. Turn the dial to the left to decrease the shutter speed. Do this until the light meter indicates a correct exposure. Focus the 100mm lens by turning the ring on front of the lens to the left or right. If the camera is set to auto-focus, you do not need to worry about this step. Manual focus gives you more control over the shot, but takes more time.
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Hold the camera steady, and press down the shutter to capture the landscape. Take some additional photos in case the first did not come out well. Move around to explore different shot angles. Take a few shots at different shutter speeds as it is possible the light meter did not give you a good exposure the first time.
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Tips & Warnings
The Rule of Thirds produces a balanced photo, but you don't have to follow it. Use your best judgment to create a composition you like.
You can focus on whatever you want in the photo, but most photographer choose the foreground, background or a notable object. You can also set the focus to infinity.
Use a tripod in low-light situations.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Mountains and hills image by zalisa from Fotolia.com Mountain Landscape image by CanonXTiGuy from Fotolia.com aperture image by Alexander Zhiltsov from Fotolia.com slr camera lens isolated on white image by Elnur from Fotolia.com
