Using Water to Lighten Landscape Photos

Most Pro landscape photographers recommend shooting either at (or around) dawn or dusk in order to capture their scene in the ‘golden hours’ when the light is at it’s best (in fact some will rarely shoot at any other time of day).

However, one of the problems associated with shooting at this time of day is that while the sky will often have enough light in it the foreground of your images can sometimes end up being a little underexposed and featureless.

One way to get around underexposed foregrounds is to include water in that area of your shot and to get it reflecting light from the sky.

This is a particularly effective technique at sunrise or sunset when there’s color and interesting cloud formations in the sky (and reflections in the water).

It may take a little experimentation with different positions to shoot from in order to get the right part of the sky in the reflections but with a little trial and error the effect can be quite stunning and a much brighter and more balanced image.

Even if you don’t get perfect reflections the light coming from the water can help balance the shot and help you overcome underexposed foregrounds.