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7 Tips About LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY You Need To Know


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Shooting landscapes can one of the most exciting and visually pleasing types of photography. It allows you to explore the outdoors and create various effects depending on the time of the day or season of the year. In this post, we will go over quick tips every landscape photographer needs to know to capture that perfect image. A mix of these tips and the settings knowledge you've already gained will ensure you begin to see an improvement in your images.


1.Equipment


A tripod is an absolute essential when photographing landscapes. I always make sure I have my tripod with me so if I need to take a photo, I know my image will be stable and not look blurry due to shooting it handheld. A Speedlight (flash) would also be handy to keep in your camera bag, It can be used to light up specific sections of your image. It’s specifically great at diminishing shadows. Filters are a great bit of kit. If you’re shooting in the middle of the day and the sun is blinding, you can use a neutral density (ND) filter which reduces the amount of light that enters the camera.


2.Long exposure

With particular shots (especially at night) you will need to take what is called long exposure. This means slowing your shutter speed dramatically. To give an example if you were on a canal at night, you would set your camera on a tripod aiming at your subject. Then you would slow your shutter between 15-30sec, keeping your ISO at 100, and your aperture rather at f9 or f16. 

This creates a dream-like effect on the water and anything like street lights in the frame would start to pop. Obviously, these exact settings will not work in every instance but just use it as a base and experiment.


3.Rule of thirds

For this rule imagine that there are 4 lines, two vertical and two horizontal that form 9 squares equal in size. Many images look really good when taken on the central square, but if you play around with the rule you can try and place your subject at one of the points where the lines intersect. This can create images that become composed more aesthetically, which can make your images improve and stand out to a basic central image.


4.Wide-angle lens

Shooting at a wider angle is pretty self-explanatory, it will show more of your surroundings in your image. They tend to give you a great depth of field and are perfect if you need to get a bit closer to your subject. 

Buying these types of can become quite expensive so I would only invest in one if you really want to reach new heights with your photos.


5.Raw
Shooting in the RAW format in your camera is equally important to shooting manual over automatic in my opinion. 

When you shoot in the standard JPEG your camera automatically edits your image to what it thinks are the ideal adjustments, in some cases, it can make your images look flat. When shooting raw you can store all the data from your image and edit it without any restriction. My advice would be to shoot dominantly in RAW but you can shoot in RAW+JPEG if you want both types of files (but remember it will fill up your memory card quicker with this option).

 
6.Location

Talking from experience a location can make or break a photo, this isn’t always the case but it is the majority of the time. Do your research before and shoot and plan out the shots you want to take. When approaching a location you should try out numerous angles rather than the standard head-on shot, look for foreground elements to give your image an extra kick.

 
7.Shoot no matter the weather

Sometimes we can be put off conditions like bad weather, an example of this is going to shoot but then you’re put off by the rain. Many times my self when shooting landscapes, I have done the same thing but once you push through this and just go out and shoot, you will find you capture some of your best images in these conditions.


Conclusion

The most important tips to take away from this post, It to one always try to use your tripod for the best and most stable images possible. Shoot RAW so you can perfect your image with every edit and make sure to just get out shooting and experient with different landscapes, using foreground elements around you to add some depth to your images.


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Comments

  1. The Real JDCJuly 4, 2020 at 3:33 AM

    Excellent comment about the rule of thirds. I had always seen those lines you mentioned and just thought the best place for the subject was the middle. Great advice as always Chris.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaterealistApril 26, 2022 at 3:28 PM

    You wrote this post very carefully. The amount of information is stunning and also a gainful article for us. Keep sharing this kind of articles, Thank you.New York Fashion Photography Studio

    ReplyDelete

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