Shoot in the golden hour
The two favourite times to shoot landscapes are around the golden hours of sunrise and sunset, with twilight giving serene deep blues that flood the skies. But lower levels of light bring a problem: longer exposure time. To counteract the camera blur that may result, Radomir likes to open the aperture wide to let in as much light as possible. "At night I prefer to use a fast lens such as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens," he says. "You need the extra wide aperture of f/2.8 to let more light in and allow you to see something at night through the viewfinder."
John agrees. "The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens is known for its reliability and constant f/2.8 aperture," he says. "It's versatile and offers powerful Image Stabilization and sharpness."
However, Radomir points out that this doesn't prevent other telephoto lenses with maximum apertures of f/4 and greater from being useful, too. It all depends on the light that's available when shooting. "If you use the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens wide open at f/4.5 during low-light and night shoots," he says, "you just need to make sure there's enough moonlight to see through the viewfinder."
David finds that shooting in twilight hours, during long periods of low light, are when he gets his favourite landscape photographs. "The evocative blue and golden hours are when I'm out there, stood by the tripod, waiting for the light," he says. "At night all sorts of possibilities unfold. Shooting in such low-light situations is not easy, but fast apertures and sensitive autofocus help."
