Taking on Landscapes as a Portrait Photographer with Glyn Dewis

Since social distancing measures came in to place last year, portrait photographer, Glyn Dewis was forced to stop doing what he does best, capturing portraits. But this opened the door for Glyn to turn his lens to a different discipline; landscape photography. Having dabbled in landscape photography in the past, Glyn made the most of this time in lockdown to get outdoors and learn the basics of how to take breathtaking landscape photographs. 

Earlier this year, Glyn shared his journey into landscape photography in a webinar with X-Rite and BenQ, which we wanted to share with you. This is a great webinar for anyone who is looking to get started with landscape photography or anyone who’s interested to learn how skills in portrait photography can improve landscape shots. 

Think Small

Throughout this journey, Glyn discusses the three important factors that helped him to improve his landscape photography. The first being the importance of thinking small. You don’t want to fall under the illusion that landscape photography is all about the large vista and capturing the ‘big picture’ – Glyn discusses how it’s important not to let yourself feel overwhelmed by the striking landscape before you.

Glyn’s Tip: Only take one lens with you, especially if you’re just starting. As taking too many can give you too much choice and might just be confusing – there’s a lot to capture as it is.

Immerse Yourself

“Landscape photography is a journey, not a destination”

As a portrait photographer, Glyn knows how important it is to take the time to get to know your subject before you start shooting. This is a key learning point that he has taken with him when improving on his landscape photography. When photographing a person, Glyn believes that capturing their essence is far more important than technical aspects like lens focus and lighting etc. This translates to capturing a landscape, where the focus should be on capturing the essence of the environment you’re in, rather than the vista in front of you.

He shares a clip of a time where he visits a local forest to shoot, where his focus is not on capturing the perfect image, but rather about being relaxed, enjoying the environment, listening to the forest waking up and simply taking his time to immerse himself in the setting. This is where you will uncover the true beauty of the surrounding area and capture the moment and character of the landscape.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Oftentimes it’s easy to miss notable parts when taking someone’s picture. The example Glyn gives in his webinar is when he looks back at his photoshoot of a WW2 veteran and notices that the medals his subject is wearing are not visible. So, he repeated the photoshoot the following day and captured both the essence of his subject and his medals.

This is just as important when it comes to landscape photography, as there is always so much to capture. You’ll likely miss important features the first-time round, so repeating the shoot will allow you to capture it all. Plus, the same location will look completely different depending on the time of day you shoot, or the season, or what the weather is doing. By revisiting the same spot, you can build on the final image you’re taking to find the perfect shot.

Enjoy the entire webinar below and let us know if you have any top tips or advice for taking incredible landscape photos!

Glyn uses the BenQ SW321C and SW270C to edit his photos. Discover our entire range of BenQ monitors including the new SW271C here.