{"id":21357,"date":"2016-02-24T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/?p=21357"},"modified":"2020-08-19T10:05:37","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T17:05:37","slug":"islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Spot<\/a>,\u00a0your guide to the best places in the world *for you* according to the friends and experts you trust.<\/em><\/p>\n

It could be (and has been) said that Zach Stovall (@zachstovall in Spot<\/a>) has the best job in the world. As the senior staff photographer for ISLANDS<\/a> and Destinations Weddings & Honeymoons<\/a> magazines, he travels constantly \u2014 sometimes multiple times a month. But while your standard-issue business trip plays out in stale conference rooms and sad hotel bars, Stovall is tasked with capturing the could-be-unreal scenes that will be splashed across glossy magazine spreads, inciting wanderlust in a readership that demands it. Given that the man knows his way around all types of scenery, from coastlines to mountaintops, and could probably take a decent photo with his eyes closed, we asked him to share five easy tips that anyone could use to take better landscape photos.<\/p>\n

Check out his advice below. Happy snapping.<\/p>\n

\"landscape
The St. Regis Resort on Bora Bora by Zach Stovall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Plan Ahead<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cUse Google Maps, Google Earth, and apps like WeatherTAP and Sun Seeker to scout and plan the best use of your time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"best
The MV Discovery anchored in Khutze Inlet, British Columbia, during a voyage through the Inside Passage between Ketchikan and Seattle by Zach Stovall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Wake Up Early<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cWhen in doubt, drag your butt out of bed early. Not only are there fewer people and things around to distract, but you\u2019ll find a greater sense of peace and tranquility before the rest of the world is awake. The quality of light is just as good, and fog, which makes for extraordinary photos, is most often found at sunrise. No one will notice if you forget to put on pants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Golden
The hills of Lanai, Hawaii by Zach Stovall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Note the Sun\u2019s Position<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cBeginning photographers typically shoot with the sun positioned at their back, called a \u2018fully lit\u2019 position. This produces an even light, but is very flat. For greater contrast and dimension, use directional lighting, with the sun shining from the side at a 30- to 45-degree angle. Backlighting, or positioning the sun behind the subject, can be even more stunning by creating a rim light (halo effect) or contrast-y silhouettes. Also, winter months in the northern hemisphere generally see a lower sun angle, which makes for less harsh light in the middle of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"landscape
Blanket Bay Luxury Lodge on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, found on New Zealand\u2019s South Island by Zach Stovall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. Capture the Clouds<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cClouds are important to landscapes. Puffy cumulus clouds rake or dapple sunlight over a scene and create interesting contrast with blue sky. Wispy cirrus and dotted cirrocumulus clouds make a painterly addition to a landscape, and also collect the subtle colors of sunrise and sunset, especially in the moments right before and after (respectively). As fronts move in, especially fronts leading storms, drama is sure to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"capture
The Stables at Koele on Lanai by Zach Stovall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. Double Down on Focus<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cDepth of field<\/a> increases with higher aperture numbers. In other words, more is in focus from near to far as you approach higher aperture numbers, such as F11, F16, and F22. Conversely, a small aperture number like F2.8 means that your exact point of focus will be crisp, but really nothing else in front or behind it. If you want the nearest thing in the frame in focus (and everything behind it as well), you don\u2019t actually want to focus right on it. Otherwise, objects in the far distance will be out of focus. Though it seems counterintuitive, you actually want to focus past the object (double the distance is the general rule). Then you adjust the aperture until you have enough depth of field to make both the object and its background in focus. Which f-stop you use will be dictated by your lighting conditions and what exactly you want in focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

All photos courtesy of Zach Stovall, ISLANDS and Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazines. Check out the spot app, here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Spot,\u00a0your guide to the best places in the world *for you* according to the friends and experts you trust. It could be (and has been) said that Zach Stovall (@zachstovall in Spot) has the best job in the world. As the senior staff photographer for ISLANDS and Destinations Weddings & Honeymoons magazines, he travels … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","faq_show":false,"faq_enable_schema":false,"how_to_show":false,"how_to_show_on_single":false,"how_to_enable_schema":false,"how_to_is_upload":false,"faq_title":"","how_to_title":"","how_to_layout":"","how_to_cta_text":"","how_to_cta_url":"","how_to_image_alt":"","how_to_display_image":0,"faq_items":[],"how_to_steps":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669],"tags":[77,32,54,67,31],"class_list":["post-21357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-landscape","tag-photography","tag-photography-101","tag-spot","tag-travel","entry"],"acf":{"faq_show":false,"faq_title":"Frequently asked questions","faq_enable_schema":true,"faq_items":null,"how_to_show":false,"how_to_show_on_single":false,"how_to_title":"","how_to_layout":"default","how_to_steps":null,"how_to_enable_schema":true,"how_to_is_upload":true,"how_to_cta_text":"","how_to_cta_url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/create\/editor","how_to_display_image":null,"how_to_image_alt":"","footer_banner_name":"Start your design in Picsart","footer_banner_link_":"\/","footer_banner_button_text_":"Get Started"},"yoast_head":"\nISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo - Picsart Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo - Picsart Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Spot,\u00a0your guide to the best places in the world *for you* according to the friends and experts you trust. It could be (and has been) said that Zach Stovall (@zachstovall in Spot) has the best job in the world. As the senior staff photographer for ISLANDS and Destinations Weddings & Honeymoons magazines, he travels … Continue reading "ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Picsart Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-24T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-19T17:05:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Picsart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PicsArtStudio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PicsArtStudio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Picsart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo - Picsart Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo - Picsart Blog","og_description":"By Spot,\u00a0your guide to the best places in the world *for you* according to the friends and experts you trust. It could be (and has been) said that Zach Stovall (@zachstovall in Spot) has the best job in the world. As the senior staff photographer for ISLANDS and Destinations Weddings & Honeymoons magazines, he travels … Continue reading \"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo\"","og_url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/","og_site_name":"Picsart Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart","article_published_time":"2016-02-24T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-19T17:05:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Picsart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PicsArtStudio","twitter_site":"@PicsArtStudio","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Picsart","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/"},"author":{"name":"Picsart","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd7976edfd8386a2a84df69f4f4b427"},"headline":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo","datePublished":"2016-02-24T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T17:05:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/"},"wordCount":717,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","keywords":["landscape","photography","photography 101","spot","travel"],"articleSection":["Inspirational"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/","name":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo - Picsart Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-24T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T17:05:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","width":1100,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/islands-magazines-senior-staff-photographer-how-to-take-killer-landscape-photo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ISLANDS Magazine\u2019s Senior Staff Photographer On How to Take a Killer Landscape Photo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/","name":"Picsart Blog","description":"Keep up with the latest news in photo editing, digital photography, and art trends.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PicsArt Inc.","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/PicsArt-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/PicsArt-logo.png","width":195,"height":43,"caption":"PicsArt Inc."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart","https:\/\/x.com\/PicsArtStudio","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/picsart","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/picsart-photo-studio","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/picsart"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd7976edfd8386a2a84df69f4f4b427","name":"Picsart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2021\/12\/icon-circle-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2021\/12\/icon-circle-150x150.png","caption":"Picsart"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/pa.picsart.com?510bdb2e9818efd74900395d"]}]}},"featured_image":{"url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/1_Spot_Zach_Stovall_Islands_Magazine_Landscape_Photography_Intro.jpg","dimensions":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21357"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38758,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357\/revisions\/38758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}