Landscape Photography Tips

Landscape photography can be very challenging, but with the right skill set and some perseverance you too, can set yourself apart from the crowd.  Here, I will be outlining a few tips and tricks that I think are essential to getting a great landscape photograph.

1.) Use A Tripod

This may seem trivial, but a tripod is essential to getting the perfect shot.  Not only does it add stability, but it also helps you to avoid camera shake and enables you to use longer shutter speeds for low light conditions or to capture beautiful silky waterfalls, like the one pictured here.  Even at extremely fast shutter speeds a tripod can help you to line up your shot and maintain consistency throughout your entire photography session.   A cable release and or a remote control can also be used in addition to a tripod to ensure that the camera doesn’t move or vibrate during the shot.

2.) Look For A Focal Point 

When you’re looking at a vast landscape what stands out to you?  A roaring waterfall, an old tree, maybe a mountain?  These are all considered focal points.  Focal points or subjects are crucial to getting the perfect landscape photograph and can really add character and depth to a photo.  A focal point also helps to lead your eye through the photograph giving it a nice ‘flow’.

Try to frame your focal point of interest to add depth to the photo.  The rule of thirds is often referred to by photographers when discussing focal points but it can be a bit confusing.  The main idea is to avoid cluttering an image with multiple points of interest while also avoiding too much open space in the photo.  It’s a bit of a ying and yang principle.

3.) Depth Of Field (DOF) and Focus Stacking   

Depth of field is very important to capturing every detail possible in a landscape.  The main idea is to have as much of landscape in focus as you can.  A wide angle lens can be very useful for this but another way to go about it is to use an extremely small aperture.  This means setting your camera to a high f/stop number i.e. f/22 or f/16.  This allows for greater DOF to be obtained.  It’s important to keep in mind though that this will darken your image a lot as it blocks more light from hitting the sensor of the camera.  To counter this you can increase your shutter speed to allow more light into the photo.  You can also increase your ISO but this can sometimes lead to grainy photos, so try to adjust your shutter speed first.  Focus stacking is the key to obtaining pin point sharpness throughout your images.  I always start with the subjects closest to me first and then move to the back of the image.  This means that you get the object closest to you in focus first and take a photo, move to the next point and take a photo.  You do this as many times as necessary to achieve a sharp image from front to back.  To put an image like this together you need to load the layers into Photoshop, align them and then blend them using the action in Photoshop.

4.) The Foreground

This is another crucial element to setting your photo apart from the rest.  An example of this would be an alpine meadow with a large mountain range in the background.  Pick a foreground that will add a sense of depth and character to your image.  Gorgeous wildflowers are often the choice foreground for most photographers; but anything of interest can be a foreground element; a log, rocks, water you name it!

5.) The Sky

The sky can add a great deal of character to your image, but it’s important to avoid adding too much to the shot as it will take away from your focal point (remember the rule of thirds).  For instance if you have a pristine blue sky, don’t let it dominate the image as it can take away from your focal point.  If you have interesting clouds or an amazing sunset to work with then make that more of a focus in your shot, maybe even the entire foreground.  Using lens filters can also add drama and color to the sky your working with.

6.) The Weather

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are quite accustomed to clouds and rain, but don’t let that discourage you!  In fact I encourage you to go shooting in less than optimal weather conditions.  A stormy sky can often add a great deal of character to the image and can really make your photo stand out from the crowed.  I encourage you to look up, look for dramatic clouds, foggy skies, misty mornings as these things can all add a great deal of character to an image.

 7.) Lines and the Horizon

While photographing landscapes a tripod can be an immense help when it comes to keeping a straight horizon line.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come home to find that my horizons weren’t perfect (this can be fixed with post processing but it’s better to get it right the first time).    Try to adjust your horizon based upon your foreground.  By adjusting the horizon you can get more or less of the sky in your shot.

Lines can also add a great deal of depth to an image and can also help to frame the photo.  A river, road or even a valley can help lead the eye to your object of interest.  Look for lines that add depth to the photo, they can even be a focal point in your image.

8.) Photographing Movement

Slow shutter speeds are your best friend while trying to photograph movement.  A silky waterfall is a classic example of this technique but there are many other uses for this type of photography such as long exposures involving a freeway full of cars, waves in the ocean or even the stars in the sky.  Movement in a photo can add drama and a sense of actually ‘being there’ to the photo.  Longer shutter speeds allow a great deal more light to hit your sensor, so remember to adjust your aperture accordingly (bigger f/numbers).

9.) Golden or Magic Hours

Timing is everything!  Instead of shooting a photograph in the middle of the day wait until sunset or dusk or even sunrise to add more character and richness to the photo.  The colors, the lighting and the conditions will make for a much more dramatic and appealing image.

10.) Perspective

Sometimes looking straight out over a vast landscape will leave you with a boring image.  Get dirty.  Shoot low, look for flowers and other objects and points of interest.  Look for unique angles and different points of view to give your shot character and set it apart from the rest.