Mount Ida, TAS Landscape image
Common challenge landscape photographers face when using wide angle lenses is apparent reduction in the size of distant objects. Our eyes will normally perceive them to be larger in size than what wide angle lens would capture. This is especially important consideration when that distant object is the main subject of photograph like in this case with Mount Ida peak.
Obvious solution would be to use longer focal range lens in order to enlarge the size of the mountain peak. However using it would also mean capturing narrower landscape field of view which may or may not be desirable. In addition it would also result in compression of distance between the rocks in foreground and distant mountains. These are not negative points just important considerations which have different impact on image composition. Booth of these points can enable creation of various image compositions made possible at the same location. Unfortunately, when I go kayaking I carry with me only the minimal amount of gear and this time it was Canon TS 17 mm prime lens that was attached to my camera body.
Photographing from the edge of the lake St Clair at Echo Point presented me with yet another hurdle. Existence of the wast and empty body of water between the lake edge and distant mountains. Somehow I needed to bridge that gap by including interesting foreground which would also help to lead viewer eyes deeper in the frame towards the Mount Ida peak. After spending some time exploring the lake edge I settled to include this particular group of rocks in image composition.
Our eyes have inherited ability to recognise basic geometrical shapes present within the complex landscape scenes. That’s why I have chosen circular shaped rock boulder in the foreground and positioned it against the triangle that presents the shape of Mount Ida. Viewer eyes should initially be drawn to the light surface of the rock boulder in foreground before moving away towards the darker, triangular shape of Mount Ida. There is also another simple geometrical element present within the composition. It is straight line produced by the shape of tree branch seen under the surface of the water. This slightly angled line adds to the dynamic feel in the lower part of the image and is balanced by moving clouds, which add dynamic rhythm to the upper part of the image composition.
I used 10 stop Lee ND filter to achieve exposure time of 266 sec (over 4 minutes). Lens aperture was at f/11 and I have applied lens tilt function. By tilting the plane of focus approx. 2-3 mm I managed to achieve sharpness on the surface of the white rock in foreground to be similar to sharpness of the distant Mount Ida peak. Achieving foreground to background sharpness within the same image frame would be challenging to achieve when using standard type of landscape lenses.
These are just few of my thoughts in regards to creating this landscape image composition.