Landscape Painting From Photographs:

5 Tips For Taking and Using Digital Photos as Source Material to Capture that Plein Air Feeling

By Diane Weintraub

It’s great to go out and paint in the open air as plein air painters have done for a century or two. For most landscape painters working directly from nature is the ideal. There are times and situations when it isn’t possible to make a plein air painting on location. For example, larger landscape paintings are usually done in the studio. Some artists have severe allergy or weather problems during certain seasons so it’s best to work in doors. Safety issues in parts of our world put the lone plein air painter at risk. Occasionally there is an exceptional day or moment when the fleeting circumstances demand the immediacy of a camera.

When working on a landscape painting in the studio an artist needs good source material to inform what they paint. Traditionally this information has been culled from the artist’s own sketches, pochad (small) studies done on location, written notations and color “notes” (painted squares of color values and hues). To that list of proper original source material for landscape painting we can now finally add photos taken by the artist herself. 

Landscape painters used to shun photos printed at the drug store because they were devoid of the all-important and informative mid to dark values. Many a plein air painter learned from their master that working from photos was worse that working in a dark room!

Today, however, digital photos can be the landscape painter’s best friend.  Armed with a digital camera and the simplest image-editing program you can have almost total color control and “open up” any value range you wish. Now photography can become an indispensable tool to a painter.

Here are 5 tips for getting the most out of your camera when using photos as reference material for landscape painting in the studio.

Tip 1: Take Three Times as Many Pictures as You Think You Need.

It is easy to become overwhelmed with the process of painting outdoors. There is so much to paint! Selecting a location and vantage point can be the make-or-break bet of the day. Even when painting on location, it is a good idea to start the session by taking numerous photographs to test compositions. Take lots of photos and download them immediately to your notebook computer for on-site cropping and editing. In this way you can quickly and confidently see how good your vantage point really is before you invest time or energy in the painting. Of course, the more choices the better.

If you are going back to the studio to paint you absolutely need to be taking plenty of pictures. It goes without saying that once in the studio you can’t move to the right three feet to see what that would look like, so do it on location. Some artists take their old painting discipline thinking with them on a location photo shoot and go after only a few images of that perfect composition. It’s a different game out in the field with your camera rather than paintbrush. Shoot every view conceivable and worry about editing later. Zoom in, zoom out, turn left and then right. Shoot up, shoot lower down, then walk closer to capture all of the details of plants and trees. Take at least three times as many pictures as you initially think you’ll need. Then when you think you are finished look for what you missed! Bet you see something else.

Tip 2: Organize and Back-up.

You’ll be surprised at how fast your reference image library grows, and if it’s not organized from the start you’ll feel frustrated later. It might seem obvious, but your images must be well organized so they can easily and quickly be found later. Folders titled with date and location are a given. But how else might you organize copies of those images? Favorite images, images that lend themselves to being large versus small paintings, details of tress, wildflowers, and so on are all folder name possibilities.

Sure, you know what’s next: back up those files! After a surprisingly short time, your images will be a solid gold resource for you. Invest in a large external hard drive and get in the habit of automatically backing up your files on a set schedule.

Tip 3: Sort, Select, and Print.

There are at least two ways to sort and pick your best images as candidates for becoming in studio paintings. You can do it in your image-editing program, such as PhotoShop by selecting “thumbnail view”. Or you can open your file folder and select the thumbnail view. I prefer this method because by double-clicking on the image it becomes larger so details can be seen. Make a list of better images to be fully checked in the image-editing program.

Finally, print out the best images for your final sort and to use a source for painting. Some artists print from the small 4 by 6 inch photo printers. I prefer working from the largest print possible. Using a standard 8.5 by 11 matte mid-quality house brand from one of the large office product super stores I print images at 300 dpi, 9 by 6.5 inches. The gloss of regular photo paper interferes with my viewing of the image. I print lots of images at various settings so economy is also important. Right at the moment I’m using Staples Matte Brochure paper.

Tip 4: Open it up.

To bring out all of the color and detail in the middle and dark values from your images simply use the lightness/contrast slider in the image-editor. This information, not available in a film print from the drug store, is readily available once your digital image is under your control in the image-editor.

While you’re experimenting, try printing three prints of your favorite image: at regular contrast, very light (the equivalent of an over-exposed print), and a bit darker (under-exposed.) Color information will magically pop up right in front of your eyes!

So just how great is that composition? Here’s the true test: Convert the image to black and white then move the contrast slider all the way. What you’ll see is the light/dark pattern. Print it out and adjust with your graphite pencil and white chalk for composition fine-tuning.

Tip 5: Feel The Scene Behind the Image

Looking at your photo should bring you back to that time and place. I pin up the photo and look at it until I can feel that day and location and understand what it was that attracted me in the first place. I feel the air and the direction of the sun. Where there smells or sounds? What was the tone and strength of the light? Every last detail helps set the scene and activate your memory of it.

Once that is firmly in my mind I next work out how the painting will be put together. Again I think of what about that location first inspired me and what particular aspects I want to convey to those who view this painting. I think of the exact steps I’ll take in making the painting. Someone once said that if a painting fails it’s usually because it wasn’t well planned, and I have to agree.

All in all...

I love to almost finish a painting on site and then tweek it back in the studio. I know a few plein air painters who always finish every stroke on site. Not me... I can't seem to keep my hands off it once back in the studio.

Other days I'll head out with the objective to start as many paintings as possible with the thought to store them away for times when I am not able to go out painting. Once I decideon the composition and set up my equipment the first thing I do is lay in the dark pattern. Then I capture the effects of the light at that place on that day. I make sure I capture the colors I see by placing color notes or color washes througout the painting. Then I document as much as I can with my digital camera for reference later.

When it gets too hot or rainy I'll dig through my stacks of paintings and select one that resonated. Then I am able to refresh my vision of that location by using my photo file. My photos of that spot help transport me back in time to that particular day. I can feel it: the wind, the smells, the roll of the land, the rustle of the trees. And most importantly, I can see it clearly in my mind's eye.

Happy painting!