How to Take a Great Photo

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Cornish Seascape prints for your home - visit Ocean-Image.com

F8 and Be There

The phrase 'f8 and be there' is an old press photography adage explaining that the sure-fire way to get a great photo is to set your camera aperture to f8, and make sure you're in exactly the right place when that dramatic something happens! 

Although 'f8 & be there' is a simplistic aphorism, a witty joke giving you only two parameters to get a great shot, those two central ideas can be used by photographers of all skill levels to achieve a good result.  

For landscape photographers this means finding the right spot to set up your camera & tripod, at exactly the right time of day.  As you know, sunsets happen over the last half hour of the day, so you need to time your photo trip to be in place and ready for that half-hour.  An hour early and the scene is too bright, an hour later and you've missed all the fun.  Timing is key.

As is being in the right spot. The luxury of planning where to be is something that press photographers rarely have, especially in large crowds of people. If you've found a good spot, it's always worth scouting that spot during the daylight hours, noting down different views that might work at sunset.  

This will give you options to go to if your first choice either doesn't really work, or if you know you've got a great shot from that spot, and you can move on and get more great shots without wasting time. 

Using an app like the Photographer's Ephemeris (others are available) will tell you exactly where the sun will set on your chosen shoot day and help with planning your shots. 

Proper prior planning will arm you with the assured knowledge that you are not just firing shots into the dark! 

With the seascape above I  knew that the sun would come up over the cliff and that it would then be too bright for the shot I wanted. I wanted an air of stillness, so I had to wait a long time for the right day to appear on the weather forecast before heading to the coast in the dark. This gave me time to set up before the first rays of sunrise stared to show. 

Click the photo above to see the bigger version, and message me if you've any questions!

Thanks for reading this far!

Mike

Mike Newman
More seascapes at www.ocean-image.com 
Location: Cornwall, UK

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