Planning a landscape photo down to the last detail, or not?

Friday 3 March 2023, 15:30 by Nando Harmsen | 2,982 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

We all want to take fantastic landscape photos. We get up early, or stay out until it gets dark. We travel to photogenic locations, or have the local patch. Will you plan everything down to the last detail, or would you rather head out and see what happens?

A beautiful sunrise over the heathland. A sunset with a stream winding towards the horizon. The Moon beautifully visible above the horizon. These are photos that we as landscape photographers would love to take.

The moonrise above a river with a village on the horizon. You can either head out and see what happens, or plan this. What do you think? Was this planned or not?
It is now very easy to plan the photo you want to take. An app such as Photopills makes this possible, and even shows whether the photo you have in mind is possible.

I planned a photo with the sun next to a small group of trees, for a photo series I am working on.

Photopills allows you to plan everything down to the last detail. You can do this anywhere in the world, from the comfort of your own home. I can take the photo from this plan at the end of April or beginning of May 2023, provided it is not cloudy.
You can plan everything down to the last detail. Nothing has to be left to chance. Direction, time, viewpoint, the position of the sun or moon, apparent diameter, it is all possible.

Even the depth of field and the required angle of view can be planned in advance. All you have to do is wait for the planned date, and hope that the weather plays along.

Or should you not do this, and trust more in chance? In other words, just head out, perhaps to your favourite place, and see what you come across? You can do this on your photo trip too, simply looking around and enjoying all the beauty instead of planning times and locations.

Do you want a sunset on Sakrisøy in Lofoten? Plan it in Photopills. Or you can see what you find when you get there. What do you prefer?
What is your preference when photographing landscapes? Do you like planning, or would you rather let yourself be surprised? Or do you use both, depending on the situation? Let us know in a comment below this post.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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4 comments

Johan wrote on Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 14:15 | reply
Very nice Nando that you're setting this up.
I do use Photopills already but it takes quite a while before I have made the plan. (Chaotic.) Maybe you can set up a nice order to quickly get results.
kind regards Johan
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 14:39 | reply
I'll do my best
Translated from Dutch.

Heleen wrote on Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 15:46 | reply
Photopills I really don't understand a thing about it. The English-language explanation on YouTube can't be followed either. So yeah...I'm also really looking forward to your course Nando.
kind regards Heleen
Translated from Dutch.

MacBigfoot wrote on Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 16:35 | reply
Sometimes I plan it in advance, sometimes I just go on a hunch.

I find it difficult to estimate when a scouted location has an ideal moment for a photo, so then I go on a hunch, either to the location in question, or looking for a beautiful location with the beautiful conditions (that I think I can find).

Indeed, they are sometimes difficult to follow at PhotoPills, but after watching a few times and keeping the app next to it, it works. I usually do that when they come up with a nice example.
The app is very extensive, there are a great many possibilities, so yes, a nice Dutch-language course about this is certainly welcome!
Translated from Dutch.

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