Winter Sins

Since technically it is still winter, I've decided to make today’s post about an assignment I've received earlier this year in the photography course I go to. The title was Winter Sins. Anybody can imagine how much that title leaves for the imagination and interpretation of the photographer. So after a lot of thinking I have decided that I would go with landscape photography. And since the landscape is barren this time of the year and it was foggy and snowy outside, I've decided that I would do it in black and white.

The most important rule I have learned while taking these photographs was the importance of the foreground. I've always wondered why my landscape pictures looked so flat and boring, and then I realized this small but significant element. So I kept that in mind while I was taking these pictures.  Somewhere I went over the top with it, but I think it came out even better.

It is true that the weather was foggy, but I didn't bring a tripod because the snow was very bright. These pictures were taken with a relatively small aperture (around f/9-22) so both the foreground and the background would be sharp. To compensate for this I had to use slower shutter speed, but I could still easily hold it in my hand without blurring the image. I set the ISO sensitivity to 100, because the light was enough and I could get more details this way.

Later I saw on my computer that the trees with the thin and diverging branches weren't as sharp as I saw them on my camera LCD. Without zooming in it doesn't really show, but next time I will use a tripod when I will photograph subjects with small details to make them as sharp as possible.

I have set my camera to black and white mode, but later I found that I could work easier if I just made them monochrome later while retouching. That gave me the opportunity to play with light settings and contrast, which can have a very powerful effect on black and white pictures.

For this assignment Ansel Adams, the great American landscape photographer was a huge inspiration for me. I recommend him to everyone, because his landscape photographs are remarkable. You can find some of his photographs here.