Another month has ticked by in what is this strange year! We're pleased to hear that some parts of the world are lifting lockdowns. Yet, we know things are still really tough for many! We continue to send well-wishes to our whole 365 community and hope you're all keeping safe and coping OK with the 'new normal'!
Thank you to everyone who submitted photos for June's “Long Exposure” theme. For a more technical theme, with the challenges of life amidst a health pandemic, we were really impressed with the entries! (You can also check out all of June's entries here.)
But first, we'd like to introduce our next theme. To (cautiously) celebrate lockdowns being relaxed in a number of countries, with new freedoms to explore and go further afield, July's theme is "Landscapes".
We always see an abundance of beautiful entries for this theme and can't wait to see where you're all spending your summers/winters - even if it might not be as far from home as you'd once planned!
A style of photography loved by professionals and amateurs alike, landscapes are something that anyone can have fun with, plus it's a great excuse to get outside and get moving!
For anyone looking to develop their skills and take their shots to the next level, we have five key tips for taking show-stopper landscapes:
1. Remember the "Rule of Thirds"
Thinking back to the first theme of 2020, we kicked off the year with one of the most fundamental photography techniques - the "rule of thirds". Using this simple rule allows even the newest of photographers to master great composition! You took some awesome shots back in January and can apply the same skills to landscape photography.
In this theme-finalist image,@karasoo2 nails the Rule of Thirds composition and really emphasizes how isolated the person fishing on the ice is.
2. Create Depth with Focus Throughout
When you are taking a landscape photograph, try creating a sense of depth by keeping all the different elements of the image in focus.
You might have a fancy built-in pre-set for landscapes, but there are also manual settings to play with. Typically, you'll need to use a small aperture, from f/16-f/22 because this keeps objects in both the foreground and background sharp. (Check out this handy blog post from the archives to better understand aperture!)
It's also useful to place your camera on a tripod when using a small aperture, to eliminate camera shake because your shutter speed might be slower to compensate for less light entering the lens.
We love this cool example by @lindasees - the composition with the tree in the foreground on the left is awesome too!
3. Go Wide
More often than not, landscapes have more to give than the standard frame size. Instead of being faced with the dilemma of cropping out interesting features, try playing with the Panoramic feature on your smartphone, or consider heading out with a wide-angle lens.
As well as capturing a broader view, and therefore giving a sense of wide-open space, they tend to provide a greater depth of field and work with faster shutter speeds because they allow more light in.
We can't stop looking at this stunning road trip shot by @exposure4u.
4. Add People
A landscape doesn't always have to be about nature! Featuring people in a landscape setting not only captures amazing memories, but it can add perspective and even make the most simple of settings look magical. For best results, positioning people off-center (there's that rule of thirds again) will create interest and avoid stealing the limelight from the landscape behind.
We had to scroll down to the caption and comments to work out if this amazing shot by @maureenpp is real - what an incredible part of the world! We think the surfer really adds to this magic.
5. Play with Reflections
Finding spots with still water allows us to play with symmetry to capture double the beauty of a landscape!
This shot by @bjywamer is so majestic and serene! We love the hazy mountains delicately hanging in the sky, with a bold stripe of yellowy-green grassland cutting the scene in two.
We hope you enjoyed our tips and all have loads of fun with this month's theme, we can’t wait to see your entries!
How to enter this month’s theme
When uploading your photos use the tag section (on the edit/organise screen) and insert this week's theme tag: theme-landscapes.
Entry Guidelines: Photos must be your own and must have been taken and uploaded between Wednesday, July 1st and Friday, July 31st. 6 finalists will be chosen in the first couple days of August, then you'll get to vote for the winner!
p.s. Don't worry if you spot tagged photos from a previous theme, when choosing our six finalists we'll use a special algorithm to only filter the images from July 2020.
Vote for a Winner of June's "Long Exposure" Theme
Thanks again to those who took on this tricky technical theme and submitted entries.
We've shortlisted 6 finalists so now it's over to you to vote for the winner of the “Long Exposure” theme. We really enjoyed the stories that go with the photos and highly recommend you take a minute to learn about what happened behind the scenes.
To cast your vote, simply reply to this blog post with the number (in digit form) of the photo you would like to see win, before July 14th. We’ll announce the winner in a separate post shortly after!
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