🏞️ Mini-Project 1: Landscape Photography

Lorraine Gilbert

Lorraine Gilbert’s Shaping the New Forest was photographed while she worked as a tree planter in British Columbia and Quebec. The project combines landscapes, portraits, and panoramic views to document relationships between labour, forestry, and environmental change.

Notice how wide views establish the environment while closer photographs reveal people, materials, textures, and evidence of human activity.

• Visit Lorraine Gilbert’s website
• View Shaping the New Forest

Meryl McMaster

Meryl McMaster is an Ottawa-based artist of nêhiyaw and European ancestry. In As Immense as the Sky (2019), she uses landscape, staged photography, costume, and self-portraiture to explore ancestry, memory, migration, and relationships with the land.

• Visit Meryl McMaster’s website
• As Immense as the Sky project

Jin-me Yoon

Jin-me Yoon is a Korean-born, Vancouver-based artist. In Souvenirs of the Self (1991), she places herself within recognizable Canadian tourist landscapes to examine identity, representation, migration, and belonging.

• Visit Jin-me Yoon’s website
• View Souvenirs of the Self

Select and observe the location

Choose one outdoor space at McMaster University and remain within the same general area for all five photographs.

Resources:

• McMaster’s interactive map
• Google Maps: McMaster

Before photographing, walk through the space and notice:

• Overall layout
• Paths and leading lines
• Foreground, middle-ground, and background
• Architecture, vegetation, textures, and repeated forms
• Light, shadow, colour, and signs of human activity
• Small details that help identify the place

Ask what makes the location recognizable and which wider views and close details best communicate its atmosphere.

Choose one format

Use the same format for all five photographs:

• Horizontal: 16:9
• Vertical: 9:16
• Square: 1:1
• Standard horizontal: 4:3

Choose the format before photographing so you can select the corresponding aspect ratio and compose intentionally.

Plan the five photographs

Check 📐 Photography Composition Reference Guide.

Create:

1. Establishing view: A wide photograph showing the overall location
2. Environmental view: A medium view of an important area
3. Movement or depth: A path, leading line, repetition, or layered composition
4. Close-up detail: A specific material, surface, plant, sign, shadow, or architectural feature
5. Atmosphere or identity: A photograph that communicates the mood or character of the place

The close-up should still feel connected to the location rather than appearing as an unrelated detail.

Before taking each photograph, ask:

• What is the main subject?
• What will the viewer notice first?
• Does the background support the subject?
• Is the chosen depth of field appropriate?
• How does this photograph contribute to the complete series?

Create variety through distance, angle, framing, and subject. Maintain consistency through location, format, sequence, and visual treatment.

Required camera settings

References:

• 📷 Canon Rebel T4i Quick Reference Guide
• 📸 Camera Setup and Aperture Priority Mode
• 📸 Additional DSLR Camera Settings

Select the aperture intentionally

Use the aperture according to the photograph:

• Use a smaller f-number when you want a close detail separated from the background.
• Use a middle aperture such as f/8 or f/11 when you want more of the space to remain sharp.
• Check the shutter speed after changing the aperture.
• Increase the ISO only when necessary to maintain a usable handheld shutter speed.

The aperture does not need to remain identical across all five photographs. Select it according to the intended depth of field. The overall exposure and visual treatment should remain consistent.

Photographing process

1. Begin with the wide establishing view.
2. Move through the location rather than remaining in one position.
3. Photograph from different heights and angles.
4. Move closer for medium views and details.
5. Refocus before every new composition.
6. Check the frame edges.
7. Review the histogram and image preview.
8. Retake a photograph when the focus, exposure, or framing is unsuccessful.
9. Avoid deleting files in the camera.
10. Take several photographs of each composition. Aim for 5–10 variations so you have multiple options to review and select from later.

Before leaving the location

Create this folder structure:

Name-Lastname-Landscape-Series/
├── RAW/
├── JPEG/
├── Selected-RAW/
├── PSD/
└── Exported-JPEG/

1. Copy all RAW files into the RAW folder.
2. Copy all JPEG files into the JPEG folder.
3. Review the JPEG files first.
4. Select the strongest photograph for each of the five required views.
5. Confirm that the five images communicate the same location.
6. Copy the matching RAW files into Selected-RAW.

Selection criteria

Choose photographs that:

• Are sharply focused
• Have usable highlight and shadow detail
• Use intentional composition
• Include variety in distance and framing
• Communicate something specific about the location
• Work together in a clear sequence
• Can be cropped to the selected common format

Do not select five photographs only because they are individually strong. Select five photographs that work together as a series.

Check 🖼️ RAW Photography and Image Editing.

Open the five selected RAW files in Adobe Camera Raw.

Edit the photographs as a group so they appear to belong to the same series.

1. Adobe Camera Raw: Establish the visual treatment

Begin with one photograph and develop a base treatment (make notes) for:

• White balance
• Exposure
• Contrast
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Whites
• Blacks
• Texture
• Clarity
• Vibrance
• Saturation
• Colour Mixer adjustments
• Colour Grading, when used

Apply similar settings to the remaining photographs, then refine each image individually when necessary.

Consistency does not mean every slider must have the exact same value. The photographs may require small individual corrections because the light and framing changed. The final results should have a related colour, brightness, contrast, and mood.

2. Photoshop: Maintain consistency

Save the Photoshop Files

After completing the colour and tonal adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw, open each developed photograph in Photoshop.

For each photograph:

1. Select File → Save As.
2. Save the file in the PSD folder.
3. Select Photoshop (.PSD) as the file format.
4. Confirm that Layers is enabled when the option appears.
5. Save the files using this naming sequence:

Use:

Name-Lastname-Landscape-01.psd
Name-Lastname-Landscape-02.psd
Name-Lastname-Landscape-03.psd
Name-Lastname-Landscape-04.psd
Name-Lastname-Landscape-05.psd

Format and Size

You may recompose, crop, straighten, flip, or rotate the photographs during editing. However, all five photographs must use the same final format and dimensions.

• Horizontal: 16:9 — 3200 × 1800 pixels
• Vertical: 9:16 — 1800 × 3200 pixels
• Square: 1:1 — 3000 × 3000 pixels
• Standard horizontal: 4:3 — 3000 × 2250 pixels

Across the complete series, maintain:

• The same orientation
• The same aspect ratio
• The same pixel dimensions
• The same sRGB colour space
• A related colour treatment
• Consistent brightness and contrast
• A consistent level of texture, clarity, and saturation

The individual photographs may require slightly different corrections, but the final series should feel visually unified.

3. Compare the photographs together

Before exporting:

1. Open all five photographs.
2. View them at the same size.
3. Arrange them in sequence.
4. Compare colour, exposure, contrast, crop, and visual weight.
5. Adjust any image that appears disconnected from the others.

Ask:

• Does one photograph appear much warmer or cooler?
• Does one photograph appear much brighter or darker?
• Is the contrast noticeably different?
• Are all five images the same dimensions?
• Does the sequence move clearly through the location?
• Do the close-up photographs still feel connected to the wider views?

4. Export High-Quality JPEG Files

After finishing changes, export a high-quality JPEG copy of each photograph.

For each photograph:

1. Select File → Export → Export As.
2. Select JPG as the file format.
3. Use these settings:
   • Quality: High or 100%
   • Scale: 100%
   • Colour Space: Convert to sRGB
   • Embed Colour Profile: Enabled, when available
4. Confirm that the photograph uses the required pixel dimensions for the series.
5. Click Export.
6. Save the file in the Exported-JPEG folder.
7. Use this naming sequence:

Name-Lastname-Landscape-01.jpg
Name-Lastname-Landscape-02.jpg
Name-Lastname-Landscape-03.jpg
Name-Lastname-Landscape-04.jpg
Name-Lastname-Landscape-05.jpg