Taking a Warm-Up Shot

Should you have a plan when you head out for a day of shooting landscape photographs? Professional landscape photographer Steve Kossack prefers spontaneity. He suggests a warm-up routine.

Steve starts out with what he calls a meatball shot, a landscape scene with balanced lighting from the sky to land. He suggests first focusing on composition, a good foreground element, a distant middle ground, and a background sky. He follows simple steps: set the aperture and shutter speed, take a vertical and a horizontal image, then check the histogram for exposure and the focus for sharpness.

Come along with pro shooter Steve Kossack in the high desert for landscape photography tips to help you create your own warm-up routine.

MORE IN THIS COURSE:

Telling a Story with Pictures – Course Preview
This video: Taking a Warm-up Shot
Bringing Out the Elements in Your Photos
Capturing a Desert Photography Scene
How to Use a Tilt-Shift Lens
Photographing a Desert Wave
Photographing a Geographic Story
Capturing an Iconic Image in Outdoor Photography
The Backwards Image in Landscape Photography
The Flying Angel
The Flying Angel Reversed
The Exit
Capturing Canyon Debris Inside an Arizona Canyon
Composition for Abstract Photographs