Pro photographer Jack Lodge delivers a masterclass in landscapes and seascapes in the picturesque English county of Dorset

THE PRO

JACK LODGE

CAMERA: CANON EOS R5 Based in Wimborne, Dorset, Jack is perfectly placed for capturing dramatic landscapes and seascapes on the UK’s stunning Jurassic Coast. He runs landscape and wildlife workshops in Dorset and other locations in the UK and Europe. You can see Jack’s work on Instagram @ jacklodgephotography, and at his website, where you can also find information on workshops and buy prints. www.jacklodge.co.uk

THE APPRENTICE

GARY KIMBER

CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK IV After suffering a heart attack 10 years ago which resulted in a triple-bypass surgery, Gary is now semi-retired, and loves to get out shooting with his cameras in his spare time. His passion is motorsports photography, but he’d like to shoot more landscapes, and develop his camera skills in the process, including mastering Manual mode and learning how to use lens filters.

TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT

Landscape pro Jack started out by showing Gary how to set up his camera to capture landscapes

APERTURE PRIORITY MODE

Gary is used to using Shutter Priority, or Tv (Time Value) mode on his Canon camera as it allows him to set the shutter speed for the right amount of blur when photographing motorsports. Jack explained that Aperture Priority, or Manual mode, would be preferable for landscapes because it’s more important to be able to set the aperture in order to control the depth of field, or how much of the scene is in sharp focus.

USE THE HISTOGRAM

Gary had never used the histogram on his camera before so Jack was keen to show him how it works. He activated it in the Live View on his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV by pressing the Info button a few times to bring it up and explained that it’s a basically a graph that shows your full range of tones, from deep blacks on the left to bright highlights on the right. For a well-exposed scene you don’t want to see any tones in the graph bunched up to one side, as this would indicate that your images will come out overexposed or underexposed.

EXPERT INSIGHT HIGHLIGHT ALERT

Jack uses the Highlight Alert feature on his Canon, and showed Gary how to enable it on his EOS 5D Mark IV in the Playback Menu. This alert warns you if any bright parts of the scene, such as a sky, have clipped to pure white. After you take a photo the image will be displayed briefly, and any burnt highlights will blink black to let you know they’re overexposed. You can then adjust your camera settings, or use filters, to retain the highlights.