Landscape photography tips from Colin Prior

The BBC Landscape season is under way on both TV - Making Scotland's Landscape and on BBC Radio Scotland Walking Through Landscape where Professor Iain Stewart visits areas relating to the TV programme.

The season was launched at the Royal Highland Show back in June with the rephotography project. The photographer initially tasked with taking new photographs to match old images was Colin Prior. Today staff at BBC Scotland in Glasgow were lucky enough to enjoy a short masterclass from Colin about landscape photography.

He talked us through a number of his amazing photographs giving tips and suggestions as he went along. The thing that struck me most was his use of light. Colin takes the majority of his landscape pictures first thing in the morning or last thing at night. He knows exactly where and when to go, it's not down to luck but a lot of knowledge and research! Beautiful days with cloudless blue skies might sound like the ideal conditions for landscape photography, but they're not. He told us that the best thing to do was to wait until the sun had set (or before it had risen), when the landscape turns red. Colin often camps out on mountains so that he can capture the early morning shots.

The use of light and shade was also crucial to create the impression of a 3D image. Light at the front, then shade, then more light. You can see examples of this in the Scotland - Silent Witness gallery on Colin's website.

Colin emphasised that a photographer had to be aware of his/her surroundings - to see what others miss. It's more about observation than taking hundreds of pictures.

Landscape photography has always been something I've struggled with, I see wonderful scenery, but when I photograph it, the pictures just don't live up to the actual view I saw. Hopefully with these tips from Colin, I'll be able to do better!

On the Scotland's Landscape pages Colin shares tips about rephotography. So if you fancy particpating, that's a good place to start.