Compared to portrait photography, shooting landscapes seems like a bit of relaxation. You don’t have to worry about red-eyes, as you do when photographing your mother-in-law. When you are capturing a mountains, you don’t have to beg the rocks “to stop fighting and sit still for just five minutes”.

 If you like travelling and taking trips, it means you’ll collect a large number of pictures from all the places you’ve visited in your photo archives. How often are you  disappointed with your shots? I think, regularly enough.

Don’t panic. Remember, the image can’t possibly capture all the charm of nature independent of camera price. You instantly compare your memory of an amazing real life view with a set of pixels and under this kind of scrutiny a photo always loses. This problem occurs even with perfectly composed and exposed photos.

1. Think about Horizons

It’s an old tip but a good one - before you take a landscape shot always consider the horizon on two fronts. This line, especially if it is well visible, must be parallel with the image border. Otherwise wonky shots look very unpleasant. In worst cases you can adjust this error with an image editor, but not all programs provide this feature.

2. Maximize the Depth of Field

While there may be times that you want to get a little more creative and experiment with narrow DOF in your Landscape Photography - the normal approach is to ensure that as much of your scene is in focus as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a small aperture setting (a large numbers) as the smaller your aperture the greater the depth of field in your shots.

Do keep in mind that smaller apertures mean less light is hitting your image sensor at any point in time so they will mean you need to compensate either by increasing your ISO or lengthening your shutter speed (or both).

As a rule digital “point-and-shoot” cameras has very wide DOF because of short focal length and this tip is actual generally for DSLR owners.

3. Get a Tripod

As a result of the longer shutter speed that you may need to select to compensate for a small aperture you will need to find a way of ensuring your camera is completely still during the exposure. In fact even if you’re able to shoot at a fast shutter speed the practice of using a tripod can be useful to you. Also consider a cable, or wireless shutter release, or self-timer (this feature is available in all models) for extra camera stability.

4. Think the Sky

Another element to consider is the sky in your landscape.

Most landscapes will either have a prevailing foreground or sky - unless you have one or the other your shot can end up being fairly boring.

If you have a weak sky (so called “digital sky effect”) - don’t let it dominate your shot and place the horizon in the upper third of your shot (however you’ll want to make sure your foreground is interesting). However if the sky is filled with drama and interesting cloud formations and colors - let it shine by placing the horizon lower.

"Kalkalpen"  © Vadzim Vinakur

Consider enhancing skies either in post processing or with the use of CPL filters (it can add color and contrast to the sky).

You can also implement more expressive sky from another shot with Photoshop, but I’m not a fun of such dirty tricks.

5. Think Foregrounds

"Tannheimerthal, Austria" © Alastair French

One element that can set apart your landscape shots is to think carefully about the foreground of your shots and by placing points of interest in them. When you do this you give those viewing the shot a way into the image as well as creating a sense of depth in your shot.

"A Sunset"  © Graham McKenzie-Smith

6. Work with the Weather

A scene can change dramatically depending upon the weather at any given moment. As a result, choosing the right time to shoot is of real importance.

Many beginners see a sunny day and think that it’s the best time to go out with their camera it is a big mistake!

"Sky before thunderstorm"  © Vadzim Vinakur

Even an overcast day that is threatening to rain might present you with a much better opportunity to create an image with real mood and ominous overtones. But better shots you can make before or after storms, with wind, mist, dramatic clouds. And, surely, maximal expression you can found with sun shining through clouds, rainbows, sunsets and sunrises. Work with these variations in the weather rather than just waiting for the next sunny blue sky day.

"Trakai Insel Castle"  © Markus Moning

7. Work the Golden Hours

The “golden” hours are really great for landscapes for a number of reasons - none the least of which is the special light that it often presents us with. The other reason that I love these times is the angle of the light and how it can impact a scene - creating interesting dimensions and textures.

"Golden Hour"  © Lloyd Cross

Don’t forget about “afterglow”. It occurs when the sun drops below the horizon, and on some days the real show only begins with this effect.

"Winter in Alps"  © Vadzim Vinakur

8. Haze and layers.

Haze as a rule is a problem. It’s induced by sunrays reflecting on tiny dust particles, which are present in the air. This light diffusing reduces sharpness and hides small details.  But in some cases we can make lemonade from a lemon. When you look at mountain landscapes, you can see that the more distant peaks look a bit lighter. This illusion is called aerial perspective. Your brain interprets this hue difference as distance.

"New Forest" © Mark Ware

Such an effect is more applicable in mountain areas or at least hilly places. Some planning of a view (not least focus) creates additional layers and helps add depth.

The best time to find this kind of haze or fog is some time after sunrise or before sunset or just before or after a storm.

9. Guiding Line.

One of the easiest ways to add perspective is to include a leading line. The line forces your eye to follow and it’s hard to look at a photo with such a line and not follow it. As a result you get a 3 dimensional illusion.

 Guiding lines work well when they begin somewhere near the front edge of the image, go to the far horizon and finish at a single point ("one point perspective”). Highways, rivers, and telephone wires are all things that able to take the eye on a journey into your image.

But real treasure is so called “S-line”, for example a winding road. If you have found something in this type, be sure: one of your best shots it somewhere there.

"The long and winding road..."  © Eelco Kruidenier

10. Capture Movement

When most people think about landscapes they think of calm, serene and passive environments - however landscapes are rarely completely still and to convey this movement in an image will add drama, mood and create a point of interest.

"Cliffs"  © Arantza Gómez

Examples - wind in trees, waves on a beach, water flowing over a waterfall, birds flying over head, moving clouds.

Last update: 18-03-2008 16:35