talesofjustin
FollowIf there's one thing I love, it's composing a shot through natural lighting and elements. This nearby cliff covered in shadow allowed me to really fra...
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If there's one thing I love, it's composing a shot through natural lighting and elements. This nearby cliff covered in shadow allowed me to really frame the shot. Through the natural lighting the eye is drawn to the dramatic peaks in the distance, exactly where I wanted to lay focus on.
These are the rare moments when you encounter a scenery like this one, where it's all perfectly laid out for you just waiting to be captured.
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These are the rare moments when you encounter a scenery like this one, where it's all perfectly laid out for you just waiting to be captured.
Read less
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken from the top of Germany, namely The Zugspitze. We went up here with a cable car but you could also hike and climb your way to this 2,000 meters high vista point.Time
This was taken around the afternoon. I remember this was just before we took another cable car down to the glacier. We barely made it back in time! Otherwise, we'd be stuck there all night.Lighting
I really wanted to emphasize these rough shapes in the mountain by compositing the shot with natural elements. That's why I've used one of the closer mountains to frame the subject. Also notice how the far away mountains are covered in mist, almost glowing behind the subject. This really helped me to seperate the rough and textured subject from the softer background.Equipment
This was shot on a Nikon Z6 with the 70-200 f/2.8 telephoto lens from Tamron. Since there was plenty of light I could easily shoot this handheld, eliminating the need of a tripod.Inspiration
To be honest, this wasn't a shot I had planned. We went up here mostly to enjoy the sight. For the other locations of our trip through Germany we really had planned certain shots. However, we just wanted to see and experience what it was like at such an altitude (first timer for me!). We ended up shooting a lot of telephoto landscape shots, but this one really stood out for me. As soon as I aligned the mountains and made the composition through natural elements, I knew I had a winner.Editing
Yes! I really wanted to accentuate the rough texturing on the mountain itself and create an even greater contrast between the rocks and the fog in the background. In my edit I focussed on intensifying the contrast on the rocks and softening the background. I also darkened the rock formations in the foreground to help draw the eye to the subject and amplify the composition.In my camera bag
I never leave home without my 70-200 f/2.8. Creating compressed scenes with that lens is just too good to resist. I'm also very keen on my nifty fifty which costs the same as a fancy dinner. The f/1.8 and ultra quick autofocus make it such a pleasure to work with. I also complete the holy trinity with a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 14-30 f/4 S. That last one is really a landscape photographer's dream lens. It is so quick and sharp, and the ability to attach screw filters make it very portable to take with you during trips. No need to carry the heavy 150mm glass!Feedback
If you want to shoot sunrise or sunset, make sure you hike the mountain. Because of the arrival and departure times, there's no way shooting either of them if you're going up and down with the cable car. Next time, we'll definitely be hiking this mountain since the route itself might even be more rewarding and beautiful than the actual destination. So do your research and decide for yourself, but if you've got the stamina, I'd say go for it!