immerse
Volume 1 November 2019
Contents 06
what is this?
12
camera gear check
08
emptying my wallet
14
camp gear check
10
fresh off the shelf
16
south island
î‚ Kanangra-Boyd National Park
 1/800th
26
interview with Liam Foster
40
going aerial
30
commitment
44
killer timelapse
38
in memory of dslrs
05
F2.8
ISO 125
What is this? Hi my name is Liam Foulds.
I’m a photographer and designer from the Blue Mountains, Australia, and I spend a lot of my time traveling around seeing unique environments that I enjoy photographing. I have a long history of photography through numerous different specialties which have grown my technical knowledge of photography substantially. In no way do I know everything about photography, and a lot of my knowledge is subjective, however, I do believe that there’s a lot I can teach people. I’m also very passionate about the environment and love sharing the places I see with people, which will become very evident throughout this magazine.
What is immerse? I’ve been travelling my entire life and have seen some incredible places, and in the last several years I’ve been experimenting with capturing these places with my camera. The life of almost all of these photos ceases once they are imported on my computer, with a select few being shared online for other people to see. The feedback from people who see the photos is cool and all, but it’s not fulfilling. This magazine is the answer to my problems, acting as a platform to develop and publish my work in a meaningful and impactful form.
Also, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing your work printed in physical form. Aside from my personal benefits of this magazine, I’ve developed plenty of knowledge about photographic techniques and camping/exploration while traveling, and I believe other people would find this information useful. This magazine aims to share this knowledge and experience. Thank you for taking the time to pick this magazine up and for your willingness to have a flick through. I’ll try my best not to disappoint you.
Kanangra-Boyd National Park
1/200th
F2.8
07
ISO 125
Emptying My Wallet
immerse / new products
Sony A7iii $3,099 aud
Everyone tells you that lenses are more important than camera bodies, and that’s almost always true. Investing in good glass is very important, however, camera upgrades are essential every so often. The time came for me to upgrade, and with a very lackluster release from Nikon, I jumped ship to Sony. I wanted to invest in a mirrorless system to help assist with compacting my equipment for travelling, so I compared everything on the market. Sony have been industry leaders of the mirrorless world for a long time now, so choosing them over the competition was a no brainer.
however, the A7III is hardly a disappointing sibling. When Sony presented this camera at launch, they labelled it “The Basic Model” simply to taunt Canon and Nikon, showing how something so simple to Sony is basically an unattainable flagship for any of the competitiors. I’ve had this camera for a few months now, and although I’m still learning more about the camera, I can very easily recommend it, especially for video work. It’s a bit difficult to adapt to from a different system, but once you familiarise yourself, you’ll turn your nose up at the other cameras in your camera bag.
The A7III rocks a 24mp sensor with an unbelievably fast 693 point phase-detection based autofocus system. It also films 4k at 30fps or 1080 at 120fps, both at 100mbps, making it a desirable choice for videographers as well. The A7III is current Sony’s base model professional mirrorless cameras, sitting below it’s bigger brothers the A7rIII and A9,
My old DSLRs had plenty of buttons to quickly adjust settings on the fly, which the Sony’s are lacking, but the A7III has 4 custom buttons, as well as being able to change the function of almost any other button. Even when you think Sony is behind, they’re still ahead.
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Fresh Off The Shelf
immerse / new products
The North Face Hedgehog Hike II mid gtx $300 aud
When you’re out exploring all day, the last thing you want is to get home and your feet are aching or throbbing from a rolled ankle because you wore the incorrect footwear. You want something comfortable, protective, supportive, and grippy which these North Face boots nail. Straight out of the box the boots fit snug to my ankle and foot which is very rare having bony feet. My first impression is that they are extremely light and comfortable, although they do feel very stiff which I’m sure will resolve with age just like every other pair of boots I’ve owned.
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Camera Bag Less is best when it’s on your back It’s pretty much common knowledge that you really don’t need as much gear as what you’d think, or at least every photography ‘how to’ guide’ tells you that. All it takes is one trip lugging all your gear on your back and you’ll know exactly what they’re telling you about. I believe a minimalist mindset is ideal - take what’s necessary and leave behind the “maybe I’ll use it” gear. To be fair, I’m not sure that I’m the right person to give advice about gear, I’m a landscape photographer that doesn’t own a tripod? That’s like a chef not owning a set of knives. Never the less, here you are reading my advice so I’ll do my best. First off you’ll want a good backpack that you find comfortable and offers great storage. As mentioned before, and by every youtube channel, your backpack is what you’ll be lugging around and camera gear really isn’t the most comfortable to transport. Having a comfortable bag limits your pain and suffering. The bag I use, the Lowepro Protactic 350 AW, has great internal storage with velcro dividers so you can create your own custom layout to fit in all your gear. In addition to that, there’s an array of attachments you can clip to the outside of the bag with their army-style strapping. In terms of cameras, I find it useful to use two cameras so that I can have one camera dedicated to timelapsing and filming, and still have a camera free to take my usual photos with. This technique definitely goes against “less is more” but the functionality definitely makes up for it and also means you have a backup camera if your main camera throws a tantrum. In terms of lenses, you can be more lenient with wider apertures as they’re not as necessary unless you’re shooting at night. I try to give myself access to as much variety in focal lengths as possible, covering myself from 24mm up to 200mm, with a 35mm f1.4 for detail shots where I need a shallow depth of field. I primarily use my 24-70mm f2.8 because most of my photos fall within this focal range, and I also use a 70-200mm for portraits and to mix up the perspective of my photos.
immerse / gear guide
Tip: gear isn’t everything, don’t
get caught up in buying “the best gear around”. Start with basics and learn what you benefit the most from using.
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03
01
05
07
06
04
09 08
what’s what
01 Lowepro Protactic 350 AW Backpack 02 Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art 03 Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 Art 04 Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 G2 05 Lens
Pen cleaner 06 Nikon D610 07 Gobe Circular Polarising Filter and Neutral Density Filter 08 Black Rapid Camera Strap 09 Nikon D7100.
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In the Car Let’s try to minimise forgetting gear. No matter how much you plan your trip out, you’ll always pack too much or not enough and there’ll be something small and frustrating that you’ll always forget (that damn tomato sauce). Depending on what kind of trip you’re planning on doing, and how long this trip is, you’ll obviously need more or less equipment. Shorter trips you can cut back on most of the cooking equipment and just eat more basic food that doesn’t need cooking, but for longer trips those cold cans of baked beans get boring really quick. Having a good vehicle to travel around in makes your trip a lot easier in terms of how much equipment you can take. If you don’t have a car you can take offroad, having a lot of friends with four-wheel drives certainly helps. If you’re planning on going away with a few other people, set up a shared spreadsheet where you can all add what gear you’re taking to avoid double-ups. Having this information also means you know who forgot certain things and ensure they receive the appropriate abuse. At the end of the day, forgetting things often is what makes trips more memorable with friends, so don’t sweat the small things. On one of the first adventures, we had cooked up some 2-minute noodles, to only realise we had no forks to eat them with. After throwing abuse at the guy who
was meant to pack them, we dug out some chicken skewers that we had eaten before, and use the sticks as chopsticks to eat our noodles. A lot of camping equipment gets pricey pretty quickly which can make it difficult buying quality gear upfront. I believe it’s fine to get average quality gear first so that you can get everything you need to go out and explore, then over time upgrade the things you need the most and you’ll find that a lot of your average equipment does just fine. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some absolute garbage equipment out there that really shouldn’t be on the shelf, but “it’s all part of the experience”. When planning, keep a close eye on what the weather forecast is for everywhere you are going for the entire time. It’s always handy to bring gear that is suited for rain and some suited for extreme heat. If the weather is going to be pouring with rain the entire time, then you know to pack more towels, tarps, rain jackets, and weather-resistant gear than you would if it’s meant to be 40°C. Investing in a good tent allows you to comfortably camp in either of those conditions. Just ensure you have plenty of water, food, first aid, petrol, and chargers/batteries for your phones, and you’ll get by safe and sound.
immerse / gear guide
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At the beginning of the year, I went on a cruise around New Zealand with my family. I probably wouldn’t rate it as the best form of transport for adventuring but nevertheless it was still a great trip. Most of my favorite images from this trip were taken in Fiordland National Park, which is on the southern island of New Zealand. It’s actually a separate island made up mostly of large mountain ranges, rivers, lakes, and waterfalls which makes access a little limiting and challenging but it’s well worth the effort. It rains around 200 days a year there, and it’s almost always overcast and foggy, creating picturesque landscapes in every direction. If it wasn’t already extremely obvious, this is an environmental photographer’s paradise, and a dream setting of mine since I first pressed a shutter button. I plan on coming back here in the next 6 months and spending more time on land, hiking around these mountain ranges and exploring it’s beauty.
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Milford Sound, New Zealand
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F4
ISO 320
immerse / feature article
Travel photographer, not a tourist. Coming out of a creative rut and a bordem of photography, the trip reignited my passion for creating images, giving me the opportunity to photograph some vastly different places, and experiment with my approach to the images. Taking a bad photo here was pretty difficult, but taking unique photos to the thousand other tourists that had the same view and access to me was the challenge. I believe as an environmental photographer, that is one of the main challenges aside from finding locations. The key separation between a photographer’s image and a tourist’s image is the composition. Most tourists cram as much as they can in their photo or just point straight at the subject. I try to think creatively with my composition and think about how the viewer will flow across the image between elements. This is why you’ll find a lot of diagonal lines in my images with heavy biases to one side of an image.
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Milford Sound, New Zealand
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F4
ISO 640
Trapped on water, now trapped on land. From one freedom restricting form of traveling to another, we got off the boat at Dunedin and onto a train up through the mountains. While it wasn’t an ideal way of travelling around, most of these valleys can’t be accessed any other way except for the train. The views were spectacular and the weather was grim (perfect).
exposure to the rain and cold. I’d still recommend braving through it though because guess who got all the banging photos while everyone was inside nice and warm? Just learn from my mistakes and wear extra warm clothes. Despite the depiction in my photos, overcast days produce such rich and luscious colours in the environment, making it my favorite time to take photos. Having these rich colours and even lighting is the easiest to edit during post-production.
The best access for photos was between the carriages for a completely unblocked view. It’s not all great news because with unblocked views comes
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Behind the Photo All the photos I had seen from New Zealand were mountainous landscapes with beautiful snowy peaks. I’d wanted to capture this for myself and upon arrival to Milford sound, we were greeted with a perfectly overcast day, clouds rolling over peaks, and spots of snow. To save weight I had only packed my Nikon D7100 and Sigma 18-35 f1.8. Being a crop sensor camera, this effectively becomes a 27-52mm lens which I think is an ideal focal length for traveling. Having just one lens helps you to focus more on the subject rather than your gear. With the weather being cloudy, the lighting was pretty inconsistent with the sun periodically poking out of the clouds, so I shot in manual mode but auto ISO. I did this so there was less chance of shots being incorrectly exposed, and fussing around with my settings which could have made me miss a shot. I wanted an aperture of f/4 because I know that’s where my lens is the sharpest and the best chance of having my subject in perfect focus. My shutter speed was also a concern because we were on a moving boat. I didn’t need an ultra-fast shutter speed because boats don’t move that fast, so 1/250th was a good balance between letting enough light in, whilst retaining a sharp photo. With these two settings dialed in, ISO could then be determined by my camera to put my mind at ease. On top of this, I used exposure compensation of -1 stops to ensure the highlights of the clouds weren’t blown out and could be adjusted in post-production. To ensure that I had the best possible file to work with during postproduction, I only ever shoot in RAW.
Milford Sound, New Zealand
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ISO 250
Interview with Liam Foster @liamtfoster
Like myself, Liam is a photographer from the Blue Mountains, known for his vibrant and emotive landscape photos. I’ve been following him on instagram for a while now, and I’m constantly left in awe from his photography. Having a wide and diverse portfolio of different locations and environments, he was first on my priority list to get involved with this magazine. Luckily I was able to lock him in for an interview to quiz him about what he does and share some experiences.
immerse / interview
What got you into photography in the first place? Was it an instant hobby or did it take a little while to fall into? I’ve always seemed to have a camera in my hand when I was growing up, it’s always been a passion and then eventually turned into a full-time career. What does photography mean to you? Its a fairly major part of my life, really don’t know where I would be without it... so I guess that sums it up pretty well.
Do you plan out the photos you want to take beforehand, or do you just adapt and improvise while you’re taking photos? I try not to plan anything when it comes to taking landscape photos, you obviously have a location in mind but I like to be in the moment and see what unfolds. Especially when it comes to shooting at either sunrise or sunset, you can never predict what’s going to happen!
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What are some must see places that you’ve been to before, and what about them made them so special? Anywhere in New Zealand is a must-see, it’s a landscape photographers paradise! From towering snow-covered mountain peaks to moss-covered rainforests there are so many never-ending magical scenes to capture. I try to go back every year where I can, that otherworldly place definitely holds a very special spot in my heart.
What’s one thing you could never go without while shooting? Coffee is always a must! Especially on those brisk 4 am starts for Sunrise in winter. Any tips you have for people starting out in photography or exploring nature? Shoot for yourself, don’t shoot to please the masses on social media!
Is there somewhere you’re dying to see? There are so many places on the ever-growing list, but on the top would definitely be Canada, which hopefully ill be able to tick off next year!
immerse / interview
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Commitment “you should never give up on a banger sunrise�
immerse / feature article
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The night’s darkest before the dawn. My friends and I had planned an overnight trip up the Blue Mountains to photograph the sunrise at a place called Perry’s Lookdown. We had planned this trip a couple of weeks beforehand, and at that point, we hadn’t considered what the weather would be like. For the entire week leading up to our camping trip it was overcast and constantly raining. On the day we planned to drive up we checked the weather forecast and it was meant to be raining the entire time we’d be there and through to the following day with a high prediction of heavy rain. At this point we were all feeling pretty grim about our chances of a good sunrise, and knowing I had to go to work the following day, we were very close to canceling the trip. We remained committed to our plans and headed up the mountains to find a good campsite. I arrived late in the afternoon, and by the time everyone else had arrived and we got all our gear out to setup, we were in complete darkness - a pretty standard procedure for us.
To complete our usual traditions, dinner was mi-goreng noodles with some sliced chorizo, shallots, and chilli flakes to mix things up. I’d highly recommend it, it’s very quick and easy to cook, doesn’t require many cooking utensils, and it can easily feed a big group of people. It also tastes amazing. Alarms blaring at 5.30am, we woke up to the sound of rain pouring on our tents which made waking up even more difficult than usual. Nevertheless, we got up and bundled our gear together, cracked open some energy drinks, and dragged ourselves down to the view of the valley. As the sun came up, the cloud parted, and we witnessed one of the best sunrises we’ve ever seen. The sunrise we experienced and the photos we took, are the reason you should never give up on a banger sunrise.
immerse / feature article
Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains
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ISO 2000
Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains
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Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains
1/200th
F2.8 ISO 125
immerse / feature article
Behind the Photo
A smart man would use a tripod in a situation like this, unfortunately, I’m no smart man and don’t own a tripod. Ideally, for a scene like this you’d set up on a tripod, set the shutter speed for something long (something between 5 and 30 seconds), adjust the other settings to expose correctly, and away you go. For obvious reasons I couldn’t do this. Instead, I decided to play to the detail in the fog. I set my shutter speed to 1/200th so that my photo was as stable as possible, especially with my shaky hands from the cold weather. I set my aperture to f2.8 because it allows as much light through as possible so I could maintain a low ISO and reduce the amount of noise. Shooting a wide aperture for a landscape usually isn’t ideal because wide apertures reduce your depth of field and can render sections out of focus, however, because the shot is really wide and all the points of focus are really far away, the depth of field is very large and everything is in focus. Getting the right lighting was just a matter of waiting and being patient for the sun to rise high enough above the mountain line, but not above the line of clouds. Compositionally I shot my photo so that the sun should be the first place people look as it’s the brightest part of the image. People are then led around the image through the fog clouds in the valley. This composition wasn’t planned in too much detail before taking it, however, my brain is always drawn to these leading lines in the environment and I believe it helps my photos be more engaging rather than just visual aesthetics.
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In Memory of DSLR’s
Gone but never forgotten
Saying that DSLRs don’t have a place in photography isn’t exactly true, however, they are no longer the king of digital cameras like they once were. In 2004, Leica released the first mainstream mirrorless camera, the M8 digital rangefinder camera. Since then all the major manufacturers have jumped on board developing their own versions of mirrorless cameras, pushing the capabilities and technology further and further. In my opinion, the most significant moment in mirrorless history was when sony released their A-series cameras in 2013. Sony has pushed the development of mirrorless cameras at a much faster rate than any of the other manufacturers through this series of cameras. The obvious reason to change to mirrorless is for space-saving and to reduce the amount of weight you are carrying around. The benefits of mirrorless extend much further than this, including a much larger range of available lenses, and much longer lifespan due to less moving components. The distance between the sensor and lens flange is very different from a DSLR, which allows the use of adapters for almost all lens types, which technically gives you an almost limitless catalog of lenses you can use. This also means that changing to mirrorless from another system is a little easier because you can use your old lenses with an adapter until you get native lenses. While there are plenty of advantages, there are still some things you should consider before you commit to jumping ship. Using adapters for other lenses with different mounts is all good and well for a temporary solution, but long term it becomes an inconvenience because autofocus can be very hit and miss, or just not work at all. The usability is very different compared to a DSLR as well. DSLR’s are more ergonomic and have plenty of quick access buttons strategically placed around the camera so you can quickly adjust settings while taking photos. My Sony has more custom buttons, however, they are a little more difficult to access and take more effort to change settings. It’s also squared and blocky compared to my Nikon bodies which makes it a little less comfortable in my hands. Mirrorless cameras are also very prone to building up dust on the sensor at a quicker rate than DSLRs because the sensor has direct exposure to the environment when a lens isn’t attached, usually when you’re changing lenses.
immerse / essay
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Going aerial Utilising drones for environments. As much as I wanted to, I avoided titling this Take your Photography to New Heights because that’s a gross cliché now. Even though the statement sounds like something your Dad would say with a big smile on his face, it’s meaning is completely true because utilising drones in environmental photography creates so many more opportunities for both photos and videos. With all the positives there are negatives, and drones are no different. While there are substantial benefits of using drones, there are also some disadvantages. I’ve been working commercially with a solar company for almost a year now as part of their marketing team. In that time I’ve been using a DJI Phantom drone for almost all of our photo and video content. Using the drone speeds up my workflow, allowing me to quickly fly the drone
up into the sky and photograph the panels from several different angles in a short time frame. Before using a drone I would have needed to climb up onto the roof, set up my harnesses, and walked around on the roof taking photos. Using a drone cuts down the amount of time I need to spend on site and also reduces my safety risk. Obviously that example doesn’t directly apply to environmental photography, however, I’m sure you can see how some benefits would overlap. Using drones for environmental photography obviously has its own unique advantages, primarily being able to photograph places from almost any angle or distance. It means you can get above the tops of trees to reveal more of a landscape or fly around areas that are difficult to get to on foot.
immerse / essay
North Curl Curl, North Sydney
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F2.8
ISO 500
There are a few downsides to using drones and the most significant is the amount of extra gear you need to be carrying around. There are small compact models but you’ll find that they’re the ones that have limited capabilities and lower quality cameras. After using the Phantom 4 drone for so long, I think that I’d struggle with anything less capable, and it’s definitely the drone I’d recommend anyone else to use. The carry case for it is quite large and it’s carried by hand, making it a huge pain in the ass to take anywhere you can’t get to with a car. They also require some assembly and start-up procedures before flying, which can be frustrating when you want to quickly get a shot. They work by using GPS that keeps track of the drone’s positioning which is mostly positive because it means your drone can accurately locate where it took off from and use this as a return point if things turn to shit. The flip side to this is that it needs to locate it’s GPS coordinates every time it takes off which can be slow if you’re in an area with poor GPS reception. There have been times where I was unable to gain GPS signal and the drone went into
a different positioning mode and limited the flight height to 5 meters and only allowed me to fly 10m away. Definitely not ideal nor useable. I could explain more downfalls to using a drone, but that’s not really useful for you, and there are a lot more positive reasons to use a drone than the negatives. If you’re just starting out, practice flying at a big open field where no one else is around and there are no obstacles. Practice flying in different directions and using a combination of the two joysticks to become comfortable with moving one direction whilst rotating in another. Another handy tip if you’re using a DJI drone is to use their “Tripod” smart flying mode. It slows the drone down significantly, allowing you to easily make very precise and smooth movements while you’re still learning. This mode is also fantastic for taking photos aswell because it uses the GPS coordinates to hold it’s position in the sky and prevents you from taking blurred photos, and helps you make small adjustments to your positioning in order to nail your composition.
immerse / essay
Hampton, Blue Mountains
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1/1600th F2.8
ISO 100
Killer Timelapse Preparation There are a few things you need to plan out before starting your timelapse in order to get the best result possible. Firstly, use a tripod. There’s no getting out of using one unless you want a terrible outcome. Put your camera in a tree branch if you need to (I’ve done this before and wouldn’t recommend it over just using a tripod). Secondly, either decide how long you want the final timelapse to be or how long you’re willing to take the timelapse for. The formula if you’ve decided the length of the final timelapse duration is: Frame Rate (Usually 24fps) x duration of timelapse (in seconds) = Number of photos required. For example 24(fps) x 8 (seconds) = 192 photos. The formula if you’ve decided on how long you want to capture the timelapse for is Capture Time (in seconds) / Frame Rate (Usually 24fps) = Duration of the Final Timelapse. For example 200 (seconds) / 24 (fps) = 8.3 Seconds. These formulas are both based on taking one photo per second, and obviously will increase capture time or reduce timelapse duration if the time between each photo is more than a second. Finally, make sure your SD cards have enough storage available, you’re batteries have enough charge, and you’ve exposed correctly in manual mode so your settings won’t change throughout the timelapse. It’s also handy to account for loss of light in your exposure if you’re shooting a sunset, or account for overexposure if you’re shooting a sunrise.
Step 1: Assess your surroundings and ensure there will be enough movement in your frame to ensure the timelapse will be engaging and interesting. In my scenario, I’ve allowed more space for the sky because this will be where most of the movement occurs.
Double-check your composition and your exposure settings. Now set up your camera’s timelapse mode either through the inbuilt timelapse mode or through an intervalometer if your camera doesn’t have a timelapse function. Use the formula mentioned before to set your timelapse settings. To make the motion of your timelapse more smooth and cinematic, use a slower shutter speed so that the environment’s movement is blurred. Don’t stress about your shutter speed because most of the time this isn’t achievable, and there is a quick and easy way to do it in post-production.
Step 2 Start the timelapse and sit back, breathe in nature’s air, and relax. There’s a good chance you’ll have a long wait, and this is where having a second camera comes in handy. Usually while my timelapse is being taken, I’ll continue to walk around with my other camera and continue to take photos while I wait.
Step 3 Once the timelapse is finished, you’ll continue the rest back at home. Import your photos into lightroom or you’re preferred editing platform. Use one of the photos from the midpoint of your timelapse as the photo to make edits on so that there is minimal bias to lighter or darker portions of your timelapse if your lighting conditions changed. Keep your edits to a minimum to ensure a smooth transition between different lighting conditions of your timelapse. Copy and apply these edits to all the photos and export them out. I use the settings shown in the screenshot.
immerse / tutorial
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Step 4 Open Premiere Pro and start a new project. Once a new project is open, head up to very top menu Premiere Pro>Preferences>Timeline. Here change “Still Image Default Duration” to 1 Frames or whatever the minimum is that it will allow you (1 is most ideal but it didn’t allow me to do this). This setting speeds up your entire process and automatically sets your photo durations to the correctly length to play on your timeline at the correct frame rate.
Step 5 File>New>Sequence. Set the settings to what I’ve included in the screenshot. They aren’t anything special but they’re pretty universal and won’t cause you any grief. You can alter these settings to use a different frame rate or resolution if you please.
immerse / tutorial
Step 6 Next import all your photos into the project (cmd+i). Most importantly, select the first photo, and then at the bottom of the window select “options” and then tick “image sequence”. This speeds your process up more as it will load all of the photos into a single timeline to your specified frame rate. Once imported into your project, simply drag your footage onto the project timeline and you’re basically done. You can export this out as is, however, there are a few tricks to make it just that bit better.
Step 7 To improve your timelapse, right click on the footage that’s on your timeline and select “Speed/ Duration”. From here you can adjust the length of your timelapse, and more importantly adjust the “Time Interpolation” which changes how premiere blends between each frame. Selecting “Frame Blending” adds a blur to moving elecments in your timelapse making them more natural and less jarring. To add the cherry on top, you can adjust the colour settings of the timelapse and use keyframing to adjust for lighting changes during your timelapse eg. adding more brightness to the end of a sunset timelapse to adjust for loss of light from the sunsetting to maintain a more even exposure throughout the timelapse.
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Final words
Environmental photography isn’t something that you can pick up over night and it takes a lot of patience to get the photos you want. Most of the time when I travel to new places I don’t get the photos I want, simply because of nature being nature. It can piss you right off when you’ve waited all day for a sunset, and just as the sun goes down, thick clouds cover the horizon and sabotage your golden goodness. Make the most of the opportunities you have but don’t be disheartened if these opportunities seem far and few. Get yourself in the habit of travelling frequently, and constantly search for new places. While it can be good to frequent a few places and see those places with different weather, visiting them too often can kill your creativity and get you stuck in a rut. I find the easiest way to find new places is to look on instagram at where your favourite local photographers go. Most of the time people tag the location or at least the local area nearby. I’ve created a collection on instagram where I can save these locations I want to travel to, or use them as a starting point to reseach more information about later. Finally, make sure to enjoy what you’re shooting. Don’t get so caught up in the photography component of exploring that you forget to enjoy being immersed in nature. For a long time I was so caught up in taking photos that my photos ended up getting worse and worse. Pay attention to your surroundings and photograph what you really like and use the photos to show how these places make you feel. - Liam Foulds