Lighthaus Camera: Landscape Photography Essentials

Landscape photography is one of the more interesting and challenging types of photography.  What type of challenges, you ask?  All you have to do is find a scenic spot and fire away.  That can be true but if you want outstanding photographs, you have to take into consideration the position of the sun, the strength of the light, the weight of carrying around your gear, the weather, etc.. My suggestions for better landscape photography are as follows:

1.  The tripod: to shoot at slow shutter speeds you need a good, sturdy tripod that will not blow over in the wind.  Of course having a carbon tripod will make your life a little easier but the aluminium ones work just as well.
2.  I just downloaded an app for my Android phone called Exsate Golden Hour for free.  This app tells me everything I want to know about where and when the sun and moon's position will be, the times of golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, sunset, moon rise, moon set.  It will even plot out positions on Google Maps.
3.  A Spirit Level: More expensive tripods and heads will have levels built into them so you can get perfectly level horizons but should you have a tripod that does not, a spirit level will show you level positions on the x and y axis.
4.  Shutter Remote: Even the slightest movement can create blur in your landscape shots.  You can do two things, use the self timer built into your camera or purchase a wired or wireless remote shutter release.
5.  Filters: Graduated filters are a must for any type of sunrise or sunset photography.  They come in either hard edge, soft edge or reverse graduated configurations.  If you are shooting when light is stronger, you may need neutral density filters.
6.  Other Essentials: Small flashlight, clothing for appropriate conditions, small pillow (something soft to sit upon), snacks and water.  Always remember to hydrate.
7.  Remember to have fun.  If it starts to feel like work, pack up and go home and start fresh the next day.

Lighthaus Camera has four locations to service your landscape photography needs.  We carry, Manfrotto, Canon, and Mefoto tripods.  Our spirit levels are from Dotline and our shutter remotes come from either Canon, Nikon or Dotline.  Please call the store closest to you to see what we have in stock.

Oahu: 808 955-5155
Kona: 808 326-7355
Lahaina: 808 661-5155
Kihei: 808 877-5155

Lighthaus Camera: Your opinion, mirrorless systems?

In the 10 months that I've been with Lighthaus Camera, I've only experienced two customers who purchased a mirrorless system: a Sony A7 and the Olympus OM-D EM1. My question to you is: what do you think of mirrorless systems? Would you trade in your DSLR for one of the beauties in this post? If you have a mirrorless camera, what are your likes and dislikes?

The cameras pictured are as follows: the Fuji X-T1, the Nikon 1 V3, the Olympus OMD-EM1, the Pentax Q7, the Sony A7 and A7R. 

Lighthaus Camera has four locations across the Hawaiian islands to serve your photographic needs. Should you want to order one of these cameras, feel free to give us a call.