5 Tips For Great Landscape Photography
Beautiful landscape photography is how many of us first fall in love with our surroundings; especially as we get out and travel the world. Why does there seem to be such a difference between what we see in person and what we see when we get back home? This is even more true when we are just getting started on our photography journey.
If you’re looking to take your landscape photography to the next level, I’m here to help! Here are a few tips that are simple to implement, but are guaranteed to make your next photo-shoot the best yet …
1. Equipment Matters
One of the most overlooked pieces of equipment is often one of the most important for landscape photography: the tripod. So many shots are ruined by a weak tripod (or no tripod at all). A sturdy set of legs is very important, but as you move forward in your photography career the more importance you will begin to place on the head. You do not want to find yourself in the situation where the ball head of your tripod fails during a long exposure because of a longer or heavier lens. I recommend a sturdy carbon-fiber travel tripod with ball head because they tend to be incredibly lightweight, sturdy, and easy to use. This is one of the best investments you can make, and can last you a lifetime.
2. Roll With the Weather
The amateur photographer waits for a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies to go shooting. This may be a great day for a family BBQ, but makes for very difficult landscape photography. Clouds diffuse the sunlight, enhancing the ever-changing moods and beauty found in nature. Some of the best photographers, like Peter Lik, are renowned for waiting out several days of uncooperative weather to get “The Shot”.
3. Format = Flexibility
Shooting in RAW format will give you the best chance at getting the resulting image you are hoping for. RAW format will give you the greatest control over colour, allow you to bring out the most detail, and utilize all of your post-processing. Always remember that shooting in RAW format will result in much larger file sizes, so be sure you have memory cards that are big and fast enough to handle it.
4. Preparation
Coming prepared is one of those rules that fits across all types of photography. There is nothing worse than putting the effort into lining up that perfect shot only to have a memory card fail, or an undercharged battery with no way to fix it. This has happened to all of us, but it’s not something we ever wish to repeat. Keep it simple. If a checklist will help you, don’t be afraid to use one. Always bring spare batteries, chargers, memory cards, Allen keys, water and a GPS. If you plan to travel to areas outside of normal cell coverage you will also want to invest in a satellite phone to help keep your mind at ease.
5. The Magical Hours
There are 2 specific times of day that are best for landscape photography, and neither of them is mid-day! Some of the best shots are taken as the sun rises and sets. These are magical times, creating beautiful moods that will take your breath away. Many times it’s best to scout exact times and locations to be sure you get the best shots possible.
Do you have any tips I’ve missed? I’d love to hear your thoughts on taking better landscape photography!
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Wonderful webpage Bruce, i also did some photography before, i have sold 60 picture my first 6 month doing it. 🙂 Landscape photo`s.
I loved it so much. I have followed you on IG and your fanpage on facebook.
Thanks so much Tom! I look forward to seeing more of your photography work
These are some great tips, Bruce! I recently started using a DLSR and am still trying to get used to all the basics. For example I only just realized the importance of having a fast SD card so that editing RAW doesn’t take absolutely ages! Do you have any recommendations for learning how to shoot in manual mode? Still trying to get the hang of that.
Great question Flo. I’ve found some amazing tutorials on Pinterest and YouTube that have helped me tremendously with my DSLR. The best first step would be to learn about apertures and shutter speeds / depth of field. After that you can start experimenting and find your “voice”
Nice landscape photo tips Bruce. After all these years I still haven’t sorted out a tripod. I tend to shoot when I trek so the extra equipment is always a hassle (Not having one shows in the pics).
The first one i bought was a lightweight tripod for exactly that purpose. Now i’ve got a durable, but super small version that i love. We’re carrying enough gear already!
Thank you so much for the tips! It will really help me with my photography skills which I am particularly not proud of!! Yes, magical hours are so important for great pics.
Glad to hear Amrita! Looking forward to seeing your new pics!
What a great tips, I am surely bookmarking your page. I am not a professional photographer but always like to read tips and try to work on my photography skills. So your post is very useful for me
Thanks so much! I’m not a pro by any means, but it’s always a good idea to work on the basic skills … especially for bloggers 🙂
Some great tips for everybody that wants to start with photography. I’m a photographer myself and will check out your Instagram now! Keep going and thanks for this article.
Thanks so much Michael, happy to have you on my feeds!
I love landscape photography! It makes you appreciate the scenery even more.. Though finding the perfect angle can be really hard, it’s still worth it… Love your tips, btw. The magical hour is, indeed the perfect time to capture great photos. It never fails to give you the perfect shot!
So true, the magical hours can cover so many things that might be distracting in our photos
We recently took a single class on photography, where we learned all about the magical hour. We don’t have enough patience to set up the perfect shot though. We plan on sticking with our point and shoot cameras.
I agree with that! But at least having the basics means I can get much better shots than just a typical “postcardy” photo
This is really one helpful post for new travelers who want to take great landscape photos. I try to stick to these tips but most of the time I find it difficult to wait for the magical hour because of various reasons, including itinerary. Thanks for the post 🙂
I totally agree with you about trying to fit your itinerary into magical hours. So often we can adjust for those off-hour times if we’ve got some of the other basics mastered
Great tips! It definitely takes some patients sometimes to get great photos outside. Weather might an issue, or just the time of the day as you say. My problem is also my partner… he is not into blogging, so he doesn’t always want to wait for the perfect moment for my photos.. ha ha.
Definitely not something we can always achieve, but at least we can develop a better understand for what we’re looking for so we can get the shot quicker 🙂
These are such great tips! I’m always trying to improve my photography, and one thing I don’t use is a tripod, so I’m definitely going to try and do that in future.
So glad you received some value from this post Samantha. Thanks so much!