Landscape images can be valuable records of changing conditions and photographers have a variety of tools and techniques for capturing the impacts of time and how spaces change.
It may be by returning to photograph a specific place or scene as it changes through the seasons of the year, between one year and the next, or simply to document the change made by people over a period of time.
Japan’s Mount Fuji is notorious for being difficult to photograph as it’s often blanketed by clouds. Winter is the season and early morning before clouds form the best time to catch a clear view. The top two images show the mountain at different times of the year – June (when winter snow was melting) and November (after early snow falls) in 2017. The lower pictures were taken in November 2024 at different times of day – near sunset and dawn – on 9th and 13th of the month. A set of images tracking changes at a specific place like this can provide a useful record of changing climate.
The choices you make when adjusting camera settings can also influence the ways in which viewers respond to scenes. For example, high-key rendition in which the predominant tonal range is light and bright with soft shadows is used to suggest an upbeat mood and positive message. In contrast, low-key lighting with mainly darker tones can lend a sense of mystery to a scene.
These two photographs, the upper one a high-key shot by Jong Kim of Launceston Camera House and the lower, low-key image by Joel Frankham of Lismore Camera House, show how the choice of exposure parameters can affect how viewers respond to a scene.
Long exposures
Long exposures are another way to capture the passage of time in a single shot, particularly when certain elements in the scene change with the passage of time while others remain static. Setting slow shutter speeds is a popular technique, with exposures of between 2-3 seconds and a minute or so used to record moving water as a soft, diffuse blur that contrasts with the sharply rendered surroundings.
In this picture of a waterfall, taken by Jonathan Ormandy of Launceston Camera House, the soft blurring of the water is a result of a three-second exposure at f/7.1 (for depth-of-field) and a low ISO 64 sensitivity. © Jonathan Ormandy.
A more dramatic technique involves using multiple-exposure modes to record the passage of time. This technology was first introduced by Olympus back in 2013 and can be found in almost all Olympus and OM System cameras as well as a few models from Panasonic. Today the best examples come from what are now OM System cameras.
In this mode, the camera must be tripod mounted because exposures are built up from successive frames recorded over a long period of time. The first frame captured sets a baseline exposure, while subsequent exposures record only new areas of light as they are detected.
As the image is composited, photographers can view it on the camera’s LCD monitor and terminate the recording sequence when the photographer decides the desired result has been achieved.
Live Composite modes are widely used for recording star trails. (Source: Camera House/iStock.)
Live Composite modes are widely used for recording star trails (as shown here) as well as capturing bursts of fireworks or light trails from moving traffic while maintaining detail in the skyline. They can also be used to record the movement of clouds and light paintings made by scanning over a subject with a torch or LED light.
Unpredictable events like lightning bursts have more chance of being captured during long exposures. The way in which the Live Composite mode operates by only recording changes against a baseline exposure can produce better results than when the shot is triggered by a light detector or the photographer relies on fast response times.
Owners of other camera brands can emulate Live Composite shooting by recording a sequence of frames over a relatively long period of time (at least 45 minutes for star trails) and then overlaying them in editing software. Select an appropriate blending mode, depending on whether you want to average out exposure levels or favour lighter or darker tones. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy and the end results are seldom as good as the ‘proper’ Live Composite settings.
Time-lapse photography
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This article by Margaret Brown is an excerpt from Landscape Photography 2nd Edn
Pocket guide Partners: Camera House and Sony
