LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY WORDS and PHOTOS by MIKE MONAGHAN PROfile


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Mike Monaghan jumped into landscape photography with both feet over 15 years ago. “I wanted my photographs to speak for themselves—to really convey a sense of place,” he says. As a lifelong paddler, capturing the spirit of the land through the lens provides a fulfilling complement to his outdoor adventures.


RULE OF THIRDS [1]


This image uses a principle called the Rule of Thirds. For powerful images that hold the viewer’s attention, avoid placing your subject or the horizon at the center of the frame. Instead, think of the composition as a grid divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, and place the subject or ele- ments of interest along these lines or at their intersections. In this case, the waterline and horizon conform to this principle. Bonus tip: watch where you step. To maintain a pristine look, I was careful to avoid walking on this section of beach when I landed.


SILHOUETTES [2]


Silhouettes are very effective, yet often overlooked. To create an inky black silhou- ette with a rich background, expose for the background. In this case, I took an exposure meter reading off of a mid-grey tone in the clouds. This is the time to utilize your camera’s spot meter setting, as dynamic me- tering, which averages the entire scene, will include the dark foreground in its calculation resulting in a muddy silhouette and blown-out sky. A long lens is the tool of choice when photographing silhouettes, as it allows you to simplify your image by highlighting a specific feature and eliminating distracting elements.


48 | ADVENTURE KAYAK 3


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