Renowned Colorado Photographer Offers Tips For Capturing Beauty

COLORADO — We've all been there — you're on an adventure and see a striking landscape, and take out your phone to capture the moment. Yet when you arrive back home and see the image, well — it just isn't what you saw with your eyes. So what went wrong?

Renowned Colorado landscape photographer Lazar Gintchin, of Gintchin Fine Art, is here to remind us that there's more to capturing beauty than simply tapping a button. It is, in fact, an art — and before we reveal Gintchin's valuable tips, here is some of his fine art photography for inspiration:

Feeling sufficiently inspired? We thought so.

So how does Gintchin work his magic? The renowned photographer offers some valuable advice for those who also want to capture striking landscapes:

Shoot early and late in the day

Photographing nature when the sun is high above the horizon is not ideal in most situations (NOTE: There are some situations where this is not a problem, but this is an entirely other topic, which is out of scope for this article). The reason for this is the fact that the sun is high its light is extremely bright, which creates a strong contrast between bright and dark areas. As a result you risk under or over exposing parts of your image. In addition, it is harder for the camera to capture a really crisp image with harsh light.

Being outside with your camera before (or at) sunrise and after (or at) sunset has many benefits. First, the obvious one - you have soft light as the sun is low, or below, the horizon. Therefore the shadows are softer and the brights are not harsh. Second, because the sunlight is more saturated around sunrise/sunset, you will get a more beautiful and dramatic light in general. It may range from reds, to pinks, to oranges. This type of light in combination with some clouds produces amazing views.

Staying in bed may be tempting, however getting up while it is still dark in order to observe a stunning sunrise can be an absolutely rewarding experience. If you are not an early morning person who wants to try this, take this approach. Make the decision the night before. Do not rationalize when your alarm clock wakes you up. Disregard the feelings you have while in bed, otherwise you may talk yourself out. The hardest part is getting up and moving. But once you are out the door you are most likely on your way to witness something worth getting up for.

Know the area

Knowing the area of landscape you will be photographing is always advantageous. There is nothing like going to a beautiful spot and wasting time to figure out how to take the shot, while the beautiful sunrise/sunset is unfolding right before your very eyes. This has happened to me many times.

For this reason I recommend learning as much about the area as possible, beforehand. If you have the luxury to do so, go there in the middle of the day, or the night before and scout a little bit. Look the area over and decide what looks most appealing to you. Try to imagine what the view will look like early or late in the day with better light.

If you don’t have the time to scout beforehand, try to spend some time researching on the internet before your trip. Look at Google Earth and/or images that other photographers may have posted of the area.

I was recently on a very short photography trip in the Florida keys. As I prepared for the trip I did a lot of research and knew that one of my stops would be Key West. I found a specific beach that I wanted to capture at sunrise. When I got into Key West it was late afternoon and I had less than 24 hours there. I only had one shot at photographing this beach at sunrise. The night before I drove and walked around. Through that exercise I found the exact spot and frame for the next morning. When I returned before sunrise the next morning the plan was already done. It was just a matter of executing. The final result was The Dream Entrance.

Be intentional

Before the existence of digital cameras people were much more considerate where they pointed their camera before pressing the shutter. Why? Film was not necessarily cheap and you could carry only so many rolls of film with you on a trip. One had to gauge and be careful to not waste film exposures.

With digital cameras we rarely have to think about that, and we have been conditioned to not worry about using up our camera memory. While this is a great convenience I believe it can work against the quality of images we take. The reason I say this is because we can become less intentional about our photography. Meaning, we just walk around a beautiful area and snap anything and everything that looks remotely attractive.

Although I personally don’t like guns, I will use a gun analogy here. The “less intentional approach” I am describing above is like shooting with a machine gun. We spray bullets everywhere without a direct target. The opposite approach would be a sharpshooter. They are much more intentional, take a serious effort in preparation, and have a very specific target.

I have found the “sharpshooter” approach to work much better in nature photography. The goal here is to aim for quality and not quantity. Unless you are pressed for time, take the time to be intentional in your approach. Slow down and observe in every direction. Plan. Compose your shot carefully and ensure your camera is dialed into its best settings.

Pay attention to detail

Extending the previous tip - if you just walk around with your camera and aimlessly point and shoot at anything that seems worthy of a picture, you will not pay attention to details. I believe that one thing which distinguishes good photographers from not so good ones is the ability to consistently pay attention to details out in the field.

It is true that some errors can be corrected at home with Photoshop, but that is not always the case. I have found that it is best to capture the best shot while you are out there shooting. In other words, do your best work in the field and minimize mistakes.

Some examples of paying attention to detail are:

• Ensuring that your focus is really sharp. Double and triple check and ensure your lens is dialed in properly. I cannot tell you how many times I thought I captured a great image, only to return home and find out it was not quite in sharp focus. It is so disappointing because there is nothing you can do at that point. The image is ruined and even Photoshop cannot help.
• Compose your image carefully. Pay attention to the symmetry you are trying to achieve. It is true, some compositions can be corrected in post-processing by cropping. However, a.) that is not always the case, b.) you are losing image real estate and if your goal is to print big, this might work against you.
• Sometimes when in a hurry we may include a distracting object inside our image composition that we find out later we wish we had excluded. Or, we may find that our image was not perfectly horizontal. Again, Photoshop may help here but there is no guarantee. In addition, if you are a new photographer and are not good with post processing (or simply don’t enjoy doing it), this would not be advantageous.

Experiment

Even when you are well familiar with an area it is good to experiment with your camera. I mentioned examples above of times when I was disappointed by my images after returning home and reviewing them. On fewer occasions I have had the opposite - while shooting I did not think I got anything good, but actually really liked it when reviewing on my computer. Teton Serenity is one such example.

What I have learned over the years is that it helps to experiment. Walk around the area and look at your subject from different angles. Climb up on a hill and look at it from high. Go closer or go further and see how the landscape perspective changes as you move around. You never know which one you will like best.

Other ways to experiment are by zooming in or zooming out. A wide angle shot looks completely different in comparison to one that targets a more intimate scene of the subject/s. Neither is right or wrong, they are just different. You might be surprised by your preference once you have tried both.

Finally, you can experiment with the placement of the subject in your image. Sometimes a center position works well. Other times, an off-center position is more appealing. Again, because there are no formulas here (although some might argue that there are) I believe it is good to experiment and see what seems great to your taste, as the artist.

>> Love Gintchin's work and advice? You can support him by purchasing one of his works here.