Taking Beautiful Photographs of Landscapes

It has struck me recently how many creative and talented colleagues and friends I have and I wanted to showcase some of their creations and stories for you.

You have met Dennis previously when I covered his talent in creating an amazing Balinese-style tropical garden. As well as his landscaping talents he produces beautiful photographs of landscapes. When I travelled with Dennis through Nepal and Bhutan last year, I remember being surprised because while most people take photos and enhance them afterwards Dennis does all of his enhancing before taking the shot, using filters.

I asked Dennis to share his photographic story:

I have to thank my dad for introducing me to photography at a very young age. He was a mad keen amateur photographer who would be forever taking family photos on his very expensive Roloflex camera. This was a purists camera with all manual controls and settings and came with a separate light meter. I do remember trying to hold a smile and a pose for what seemed like ages whilst he worked out the correct settings.

It wasn’t till I embarked on my first overseas trip, a six month adventure holiday of Europe with my mum that I really became personally interested in photography. And so at the age of twenty armed with a borrowed Pentax spotmatic single lens reflex camera from my dad and some forty rolls of colour slide film I embarked on my photographic journey.

Since those early days I have been fortunate to travel quite extensively for both work and pleasure, however until recently only ever used a point and shoot cameras as well as my smartphone. For the most part these cameras met my needs, very light and compact completely automatic and as the name suggests point and shoot, which delivered reasonably good shots.

Everything changed for me several years ago when planning for a trip to Canada and Alaska. I started to think that perhaps these simple cameras may not do the spectacular scenery I was about to witness justice. It was then I began to research into the mirrorless camera system which was gaining favour amongst not only keen hobbyists but also professional photographers. Even though I own a Canon 6D full frame camera with their premium L series lenses which I used to photograph my garden, these are quite cumbersome and heavy for travel photography.

And so after countless hours of research on the internet I settled on the Fujifilm system. I chose this system for their colour rendition straight out of camera as they have a long history in colour science going back to film days. Their cameras are also very retro with all the dials you need right there on top of the camera body. It has brought enjoyment to my photography having such a hands on camera.

I am at odds with most other photographers in that I only shoot in jpeg and not raw files. This is another reason why I chose Fuji in that I prefer to get as much right in camera with my settings which then eliminates the necessity for post processing in front of a computer which I have neither the aptitude nor the time for. As I prefer to do slow shutter long exposure photography I also invested in the Nisi range of neutral density filters.

My most used lens for landscape photography is my fujinon 10-24 fx F4 weather sealed and image stabilised lens. This wide angle lens sits on my camera 80% of the time. I also recently purchased a fujinon 16-80 F4 weather sealed lens with six stops of image stabilisation which makes for an ideal travel lens and the one I mostly use on my overseas jaunts. A Fuji 55-200 telephoto lens finishes off the lens range which enables for bird and wildlife photography.

 

With all overseas trips on hold for the moment due to COVID19 it’s a good time for Dennis to pack his camera bag and head to the great outdoors right in his own backyard. Here are some of the amazing shots he has been sharing from Queensland, Australia.

These shots are from hikes in the bush around Queensland, some before and some after the rain. I love the way he has captured the feeling of being in the rainforest, making the most of filtered light and bursts of natural colour, and capturing the movement of the water.

And these photos are from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Most are taken at dawn or dusk and Dennis has truly captured the ever-changing moods of the coastline: mirror calm waters reflecting stunning clouds, waves swirling around algae covered rocks, glistening boulders, sandy beaches, stark vegetation, and of course the amazing colours.