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Developing an eye for composition in landscape photography is something that takes a great deal of time and practice in the field.  Sure, some folks don’t have to work as hard but you’ve got to put the hours in behind the lens to really gain a solid understanding of what elements make for a strong composition.  I can’t tell you how many times early in my career I completely botched a composition or just missed the mark all together.  One thing that I’ve learned over time is that you absolutely have to pre-visualize your shot.  How do you want to process it?  What elements do you want in the scene?  Where are your foreground elements? Leading lines? Focal point? What direction is the light entering your frame?  Does it work?  Does your composition look balanced? Do you have complementary colors throughout the image?  Is there symmetry or are there patterns present? Is the image interesting?  These are all questions that constantly fill my head when I’m in the field.  Now the question I’m sure you’re asking is “How in the world do I do that when everything is changing, the conditions are deteriorating and the good light is slowly burning out??”

I know it sounds complicated but I promise you; it’s not nearly as bad as it seems.  Pre visualizing the shot starts with four key elements – the direction of the light, the focal point, the foreground and the leading line(s). The focal point is often the first thing that your eye gravitates toward.  It could be a waterfall, a mountain or even a stand of trees.  If your eye gravitates toward it chances are it may serve as a good focal point to build your composition around.  The next step in the process is to look for a leading line that guides your eye through the scene to your focal point.

The ‘line’ is figurative of course.  It can be a rock formation, a river, a series of interesting trees, vegetation or foliage, flowers, or even a trail.  Choosing the correct leading line can have a large impact on your image.  It is important to note though that the leading line may not work depending upon the direction of the light in the scene.  All of the elements need to work together to form a pleasing composition. Let the light guide your eye to the focal point in the image.  Shadows and light play a huge role in guiding your eye through the scene and, when used correctly, can add a great deal of depth and interest to your photo.  Choosing the correct foreground (FG) can have a large impact on the success of your image.  I always try to choose a FG that offers a complementary color palette to the other elements in the scene such as the sky or mountains. Ted Gore published an excellent article on color theory so I won’t get too far into it here.  It’s safe to say that utilizing color theory correctly can really have a profound effect on the outcome of your image.

Texture and Layers

Texture is not something that’s often discussed in composition but I think that it’s crucially important to strengthening your composition.  Water texture is a solid example of this.  In some cases, soft water texture will work extremely well to give an image full of elements with an abundance of harsh textures such as rock and sand a more dynamic and ying/yang feel.  Texture can also convey a nice sense of movement as well.  Taking a shorter exposure of water for instance can add a great deal of movement to the scene. Balancing texture can be tricky but very useful.  I personally like to include elements that offer a variety of textures that work well together.  For instance; if you’ve got a series of jagged mountain peaks with clouds that lack interest try using a long exposure to convey movement and add a soft blurred look in the sky to contrast the sheer rock and ice. 

Utilize vegetation such as ferns, flowers or trees to add a contrast in texture to elements such as smooth rock, sand, fog or snow.  One of the reasons that foggy tree shots tend to work so well is the play on not only contrast but textures as well.  The jagged trees jutting out through the smooth rolling clouds and fog add a ton of interest to the image.  Texture can also be useful in setting up leading lines in a photograph. It can add depth, help with framing and ultimately solidify an already strong composition. Pay attention to the textures that are in the vicinity of where you’re shooting.  Look for ways to bring them into the scene to add balance and interest. The addition of texture, if used correctly, can draw your viewers into your image and ultimately help to shape the overall delivery of your work.

Layering on the other hand is a very popular theme in landscape photography- composing an image to bring layers and depth into the frame can add a lot of interest to your photo and can make it stand out from the crowd. I always try to add a bit of layering in my composition- even clouds and fog can add depth and interest. One way to go about doing this is to shoot in portrait mode. Shooting in portrait mode can compress the composition and can add depth by compressing the foreground, middle ground and background into ‘layers’. The other way to do this is to use longer lenses and telephoto work can often compress the scene and achieve some of the same things goals mentioned above.

Go wide or go home, right?

In truth this is a very loaded discussion, but if you’ve been paying attention to trends in landscape photography you will have seen a slight shift toward subtle, intimate and sometimes abstract scenes shot at longer focal lengths.  Shooting landscape images with long lenses (focal lengths that range anywhere between 70-400mm+) can be very challenging but a lot of the same aspects of shooting grand scenes can still be applied in many ways. Layering, light, leading lines, patterns, color profiles and a focal point all play a huge part in making a smaller scene seem grand and inviting.  Balancing these elements can be tricky given the constraints that a longer focal length can impose but the rewards can be plentiful!

When shooting scenes such as this, one of the first things I look for is depth followed by layering, framing and light.  If you see a focal point or a subject that looks amazing but lacks a solid foreground or is minimized a great deal by a wide angle lens, then you may want to switch things up and go for a longer focal length.  Zooming in on your subject can dramatically change the way the scene looks i.e. the presentation of light and contrast, the depth and the overall feeling that the image may convey.  Shooting longer focal lengths can also take a well known scene and transform it into something that almost renders it unrecognizable even to frequent visitors.

In the field I often mount the telephoto lens/camera combo on my tripod and pan throughout the scene using your viewfinder as a guide.  If you see something that really captures your eye or that you find yourself going back to snag an image of it! Don’t be afraid to experiment; play with the different focal lengths available to you.  Zoom in and out on a subject to see what looks best.  Take multiple images of the same subject at different focal lengths; you may find that one works overwhelmingly better when you begin your editing process and trust me you will kick yourself if you don’t have options to look at.

Information Overload

Personally, I think that one of the biggest issues that landscape photographers face in the field is information overload.  I think it’s happened to everyone at some point in their photographic careers.  It’s the point when you arrive at a location that you didn’t have time to scout, the light is going off and you’re completely overwhelmed.  You know you’ve got to nail down a strong composition in a short amount of time but where to do you even start? No pressure at all, right?  First things first; breathe! Take a deep breath and take in the scene.  Where’s the light coming from?  What focal point does your eye focus on?

Break down the scene and put it back together; does it have nice flow?  Does the sum of the parts contribute to the whole?  Don’t get fixated on one solid composition.  Look for alternatives. Take your camera off of the tripod and look through the viewfinder or use live-view.  Move around and get a quick feel for the different options that the scene may provide.  When I’m trying to determine how to put my composition together I look for depth, layering, curves and strong points of interest to guide my eye through the frame.  Remember that there are no rules in art, as in photography.  Placing constraints around your style and vision will only serve to hinder your personal development as a photographer and an artist.

Final Thoughts on Composition

In the end you are the artist and the photographer.  Be inspired by others but also develop your own unique style and eye for composition.  Imitation is a form of flattery but at what cost to your own creative process?  We are bombarded with inspirational content on what seems to be a weekly if not daily basis.  Learn from the images you see but don’t limit yourself to their constraints.  Find your own voice in composition and you will succeed.

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Although I’ve touched upon the topic of social media and its impact on landscape photography before in a previous post: LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL MEDIA: A BLESSING AND A CURSE; I felt that it was important enough to add a bit more discussion and depth to the topic.

Mass Media and Consumption

Smoldering Embers – Mt St Helens – This is a perfect example of shot that I just had to get. I honestly love this area so I did this for a number of personal reasons as well.

The world of Landscape Photography is getting more and more crowded by the second.  Facebook, Instagram and several mass upload photography sites have inundated the fine art photography world with mountains and mountains of well for lack of a better word; crap.  Getting noticed and gaining relevance in this day and age is extremely difficult given the current environment we find ourselves in.  With that said the question that really stands to be asked is; why bother? Why bother pursuing a career in a field that has ultimately been consumed by copycat photographers who post the same compositions that have been shot hundreds of thousands of times over?  Patagonia, Norway, Iceland you name it are all being inundated by photographers chasing that one epic shot that everyone else has.  So, why struggle? Why fight? Why take photos at all?

I’ll be the first to say that I’ve been there; I see a photo online and I go ‘I NEED to get to that location, that’s completely insane!’.  I’ve done that more times than I can count.  With that said however how do you separate yourself from the thousands that came before you once you get to THAT location?  Why would you want to add to the never ending flow of comp stomps and stigmas that come with landscape photography?  I think the answer to all of these questions is simple and it boils down to one word; innovation.

Innovation is Key

For me innovation is key; it separates you from the masses and allows your photos to rise to the top.  For many of us photography is our escape. our passion and our way to reconnect with ourselves but I admit that it can be quite frustrating at times as well.  As artists we can all hit mental blocks in our creative process and photographic highs and lows.  Something as simple as changing your lens can open up a huge variety of possibilities. Thinking outside the box in regard to shooting, processing and marketing are all key to forming and maintaining a successful business and keeping the creative juices flowing.  With that said it all boils down to one thing; the photos.  They have to resonate with people; you need to make an emotional impact from the first time a potential client sees your work.  Most of all they have to resonate with YOU and make YOU happy.  The minute that photography becomes ‘work’ is the minute that you need to take a step back and really re-evaluate why you started down this journey in the first place.

Winter’s Embrace- Snoqualmie Pass, WA

The field is crowded and it’s only going to get worse as technology improves and more more people purchase their first DSLR.  I don’t look at this as a bad thing necessarily; I look at it as more of a challenge.  I actually enjoy going to overshot locations in hopes of finding some new way to present a well photographed scene.  Take your camera off of the tripod and play with different compositions; move around! Get excited about the scene!  That’s what photography is all about; feeling the energy of the moment and just having fun.  If you’re not passionate about your work it will show in your photos.  Not every photo is going to resonate with everyone but the key is that you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone and tried something new.

History and Trends

Although many of us complain about the sheer volume of photos available today and how dilute the market has become we have to realize that this has ALWAYS happened in art throughout history.  Think about the various art movements in landscape work throughout history.  In the 1800’s artists like Brandt, Vedel, Monet and Millet all carved their niche in a very popular field of naturalism which eventually gave way to impressionism and artists like VanGogh.  Tens of thousands of paintings flooded the market during that time in an attempt to imitate the style that was sweeping the globe.  The only difference is that they weren’t nearly as visible as they are today thanks to social media and the internet.  Imitation really is a form of flattery; but directly knocking off someone else’s work is really detrimental not only to the photographer but also the field as a whole.

I’ve learned an absolute ton from photographers like my good friend Ryan Dyar.  He carved his niche in the industry by giving his photos a distinct look and feel in his post processing work along with very strong and unique compositions.  Take one look at the crowded field of landscape photography today and you can see just how much his work still resonates with photographers all over the world.  Ryan first introduced me to several different painters who’s work he really learned a great deal from.  One of those painters was Albert Bierstadt from the Hudson River School (along with other artists like Frederic Church).

The Central Cascades, Snoqualmie, WA

The way Albert portrayed light, atmosphere and mood in his paintings directly influences a lot of what I do today in my work and I think that his work indirectly influences a lot of the great photographers in the field today.  His paintings almost had a cinematic quality to them; like something you would see out of the films adapted from Tolkien’s books.  His style (as well as the style of other painters from the Hudson River School) is still very relevant today and whether photographers realize it or not, still has a huge impact on the field.  There are many imitators out there but only you can take the steps necessary to break away from the trends in photography.

Separating yourself from the crowd in post processing and understanding the fundamentals of photography is key.  I’ve discussed this quite a bit in some of my other posts about abstract photography and intimate scenes but it is very, very important.  Developing your own unique style of presenting, editing, and shooting your images is extremely important to personal satisfaction and overall success in the field.

I think all too often we succumb to trends and patterns that we are exposed to on a daily basis thanks to sites like 500px  but it’s our job as photographers to keep things fresh and to keep the creative juices flowing.

Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Albert Bierstadt. You can definitely see his influence of light, mood and atmosphere on modern day landscape photography today.

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Into the Unknown- I definitely channeled Marc Adamus’ For Eternity image in the processing of this one. This was taken at sunset and it’s a single shot at 300mm taken from Snoqualmie Ridge. There’s an airfield near by and I was lucky enough to catch one of the planes taking off into the sunset.

The competition that social media can lead to can stunt the personal growth of a photographer in a big way.  I personally don’t look at other photographers as challengers or as the field as a whole as a competition. I think we tend to get so blinded and frustrated by the success of others that we lose focus of our own creative process.  I think that it’s important to let other photographers inspire you! Inspiration is the key to innovation; you absolutely have to let go of jealousy, animosity or anything else that might be harmful to your own personal growth as a photographer.  I think it’s also important for folks that are just entering the field to realize that sometimes criticism and critiques can be a good thing! I’ve been there.  I’ve had my photos torn apart by Marc Adamus who is practically a God among landscape photographers.  It made me feel sick to my stomach at the time but  I can honestly say that it made me a better photographer.  It forced me to grow out of my comfort zone and to develop my own style and presentation of my work.  Don’t let yourself fall into the trends and styles of shooting that have been made popular by mass media.  Develop your own style and you will succeed.  Nothing is easy; I’m still learning and developing as photographer on a daily basis but I think the key is to stay humble and to keep yourself motivated.  Sometimes my shots turn out and sometimes I’m absolutely kicking myself for not going about them in a different way.  It’s part of the creative process and it’s all part of the journey to becoming that photographer that you’ve always aspired to be.

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Preface

I’ve only been in the field a short time; I started this journey in 2012, but the changes that I have seen over the past few years have really inspired me to write a opinion piece on the state of the field and the direction in which things are headed.  I’ve had some amazing interactions with some outstanding photographers on multiple platforms and I’m very privileged to call a number of the people I’ve met over the years friends.  In the content below I’ve outlined some issues that I, as well as other photographers have noted in recent years.  Sarah Marino encouraged me to write a post on the subject.  She has already published a post about 500px and the direction in which landscape photography is heading.  It’s very inspirational and worth a read: Photo Consumption, Conformity and Copying in Landscape Photography

The Social Morphology and the Death of Originality 

There’s really no question that social media has shaped and is continuing to shape and influence landscape photography today. For better or worse the majority of us desire to get noticed and for our work to be appreciated by the masses. This desire has really unequivocally damaged the field in my opinion. Day in and day out I see the same locations shot in the same way over and over again, with no credit given to the person who found that original winning composition.  I can’t tell you how many different copies of one of  Marc Adamus’ shots I’ve seen with little to no credit given to him.  Originality may not be dead but it’s definitely on its way out. Photographers now flock to these locations over and over again to get ‘the shot’ for their portfolio. They don’t bother to look for other compositions or different perspectives, no they just want that number one spot on the front page of 500px and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Crank the saturation to 150 throw some Orton on the frame, run it through HDR software and you’re set! I’m the first to admit that I’ve done this in the past and I would be a hypocrite to say that I haven’t. But! Things have definitely changed for me personally; especially as of late. Originality is king and less is more. Unfortunately it seems that originality is being rewarded less and less while imitation goes viral. 

It’s so discouraging to see the direction the field is going in. Photographers are fighting on social media outlets over the representation of areas that have been shot countless times. Vote scamming and playing follow the leader are running rampant throughout the media world and thoughtful, constructive feedback is all but dead. There really are very few healthy communities in social networks today that feed off creative and positive forward thinking and feedback. If I were a budding photographer I would be intimidated as hell by all of this nonsense. The field isn’t going in a positive direction right now and to be honest it’s really quite sad. 500px has been an amazing way to expose others to your work but it’s also become a very stressful and, quite frankly, a hostile environment for budding photographers.

Social Media Alternatives

So, where does that leave us? What other outlets or choices do we have? In order to answer that question I think some light needs to be shed on the problems with some of the other social media outlets currently available on the market.

Facebook has become one of the worst choices available. Personal pages are now limited by newsfeed regulations and friend limits and I can’t tell you how many times I get asked if I’m even still posting photos by people who follow my Photography Page. In addition to those problems Facebook has been severely limiting how many of my followers actually see my photos. Out of the nearly 7k followers that I have currently following my page only a few percent are actually seeing my posts. If I want everyone to see them I have to pay and if you do pay they then limit subsequent posts to get you to pay more. It’s like a giant money pit that leaves you broke in the end. What’s even more concerning is the fact that they generate fake likes with zero engagement on the page itself. So you essentially pay for your content to be seen by your current followers and click farms outside of the U.S., sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?  I can understand limiting the reach of major corporations in an effort to turn a profit on their end but they do it equally across the board. In addition to the above stipulations any posts that have links, any mentions of commerce or anything of the sort are penalized even further and reach less people. This makes it extremely difficult to maintain any sort of a photographic community on your Facebook page. Facebook groups can be beneficial but from my experience constructive conversations can be hard to come by especially since Facebook even limits who sees what you post in groups as well due to newsfeed regulation and the like.

Instagram (which is now owned by Facebook, go figure) severely lacks in the community aspect and it has honestly become much like 500px in the sense that hubs only feature content from the same photographers over and over again in an effort to gain followers of their own much akin to the editors choice category in 500px (which has improved as of late drastically thanks to a handful of talented photographers with a great eye for outstanding content). It’s essentially a giant popularity contest. I’ve heard that Instagram can be a very productive, lucrative and positive environment but I have personally yet to experience many of those aspects. One positive is that post engagement isn’t currently regulated so it’s an excellent way for your content to get seen once you’ve obtained enough followers to do so, although I’m sure that that will change in the future.

There are other choices outside of the world of Facebook, but they too have their share of issues. Google+ was once touted to become the next Facebook but better. Well truth be told it’s essentially become a ghost town with very little user interaction and post visibility. Once in a while one of my posts will catch fire and go ‘moderately viral’ for a brief period of time but that’s honestly fairly rare. The hubs and pages do a much better job of sharing content but the reach is fairly limited. One of the old dogs in the fight is Flickr. I only recently joined Flickr but I’ve been told that it used to be a budding community with plenty of user interaction and fairly nice photo reach but that has since disappeared. The new platform has severely limited photo reach and the groups are essentially useless. Personally I’ve experienced very little interaction with new users on that site and my exposure has been minimal. There are also a handful of other platforms on the market such as 1x, Ello and Pinterest but they all have fairly big gaps in one way or another.

Social Eb and Flow: The Demise of Whytake

The death of Whytake was a huge blow to the field in my opinion. I had only discovered it a year or so ago but it had already made a huge impact on my work. The site featured a curated inspirational photography catalogue that exemplified the essence of modern landscape photography. Anything from intimate nature abstracts to sweeping vast landscapes and powerful wildlife images graced the home page of that site and gave visitors a much different and more broad look at the field than other sites provided.  The name didn’t determine the content and the images spoke for themselves.  Many of the images that graced the galleries were from photographers whom I had never heard of and many of the more subtle images from those that I was aware of but had never seen.

Whytake may not have had much user interaction, but it made up for that in sheer original and inspirational content. The same can’t be said for many of the other alternatives on the market today. I never got to experience the Nature Photography Network or NPN in its heyday as I began my photographic journey in 2012, but I’ve heard that it was a lot like Whytake with the addition of excellent user interaction, constructive feedback and a positive learning environment.

500px is King 

Unfortunately at the time of writing this 500px is king. Many photographers strive to get to that top spot at the expense of creativity and in some cases self respect (in the case of photo theft through composites or outright re-posting someone else’s work). Intimate scenes are often overlooked, subtle yet creative and original content often goes unnoticed and many of us sit behind our computer screens shaking our heads in disbelief at the content on the front page. Thoughtful comments are often replaced with ‘great shot v+f take a look at my latest work!’ Or in some cases really destructive dialogue between fellow photographers which is laid out on the table for the masses to see. The site has essentially become a massive popularity contest run by consumption with little appreciation for the amount of work that actually goes into the photographs themselves. The site’s crop can utterly ruin a photo’s chances of making it; especially in the case of panoramic work.  Up Voting, cliques and fairly un-original content now run the site for all intents and purposes. The superficial and sometimes damaging dialogue that permeates the site has really damaged the community as a whole and has substantially culled what could otherwise be a fantastic learning environment.

Where do we go from here?

With Whytake on its way out, Facebook dictating what we see, Flickr failing to form a community setting, 500px with so much potential yet so many problems and many of the other social networks coming up short.  The question can be asked; where do we go from here?

The truth of the mater is I don’t have a solution or a fix for social media as a whole but I think that we as individuals owe it to ourselves to strive to do better. Think outside of the box and really strive to form a community that feeds off creativity and constructive feedback.  Instead of going for ‘the’ shot investigate other perspectives and less seen scenes.  Get away from the familiar and immerse yourself into the unknown.  Creativity knows no bounds but your own limitations.

Lastly we need to remember that in the end you will never be remembered for your pulse, the number of followers you have or how many likes you get.  When all is said and done the photos are what really matter.  We need to remember why we started photography to begin with and why we continue to do it today.  After all is said and done the journey to each photo is often more important than the image itself; we grow and learn from each step forward and the occasional stumble backward from time to time.  I think social media has really diminished the value of the art of photography itself and getting that back might be the single most important thing we can do at this point in time.

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The phrase Aloha ʻĀina is close to my heart for many reasons and I think it’s especially true in this day and age. It essentially means “love of the land” and is a central ancient Hawaiian ideology conserved by many native Hawaiians today including members of my family that still reside in the islands. Those two words embody the connection that the Hawaiian people have with the lands in which they live. Respect the land and it will give back so much more. Much aloha everyone and tread lightly!

Panther Creek Falls, WA

Prints: cwexplorationphotography@gmail.com

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[See image gallery at cwexplorationphotography.com]  

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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.

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