Landscape photography can be a blast, but it takes time, practice and patience. As you grow as a photographer and develop your own style, you'll find yourself shooting landscapes more often. Here are some helpful tips to help you start off on the right foot:
You Must Shoot a Colorful Image.
It's simply a fact that colorful images are more interesting, visually appealing, fun to look at and easier to remember. When you take a photo with the intent of sharing it with the world, you don't want your audience to just glance at it and move on. You want them to stop in their tracks and say: "Wow! That's gorgeous!"
And if they're going to be able to do that, then your landscape photo needs color in its composition. After all: people love color! It's not just flowers that need color; landscapes benefit from this as well.
Focus on Color, Not White Balance.
Many photographers, especially those who shoot for a living, spend too much time focusing on white balance. You can change your white balance in post-processing after you've taken the photo and it will look fine. But if you want to make sure that you get the shot right in camera, focus on color instead of white balance.
White balance is not as important as color temperature because there are basically three types of light: tungsten (orange), fluorescent (green) and daylight (blue). Most cameras only have one setting for each type of light but what if your scene consists of different types of lighting? You may have a mixture like tungsten mixed with fluorescent or daylight mixed with fluorescent – these combinations yield different results when adjusted with just one setting on your camera’s LCD screen!
Make Sure You Have Enough Light.
Before you shoot, you need to make sure that your camera has enough light. If your photo is in the shade, then a flash will help illuminate the scene and capture more details. Otherwise, you should use a tripod and try to shoot in the early morning or dusk when the sun isn’t directly overhead. Also, remember that polarizing filters can be used for landscape shots as well!
Shoot at a Wide-Angle Lens.
Shoot at a wide-angle lens.
When shooting landscapes, using a wide-angle lens allows you to include more of the landscape in your image and create a sense of depth and perspective. A wide-angle lens also allows for more sky to be included, giving the image an expansive feeling and creating an interesting juxtaposition between foreground objects and mountains/trees/clouds etcetera in the background.
Include some foreground interest in your composition (e.g., trees). This can help anchor your photo to the ground, making it feel like it's taking place on Earth rather than floating around in space somewhere - very cool effect!
Walk Up Close to the Subject for a Better View of Detail.
If you're shooting a landscape, try to get as close to the subject as possible. You can do this by using a wide-angle lens, like the one that came with your camera or by having an assistant hold up a telephoto lens. This will allow you to see more detail in the shot and avoid shooting from too far away or at an angle that makes it hard for viewers to see what's in focus.
Shoot in Shadows for More Drama.
Shadows can be a wonderful way to add drama and depth to a landscape.
Shoot in the early morning or late afternoon, before the sun has risen or set respectively. This will give you long shadows that will add depth to your photos.
If you want to hide an object that doesn't belong in the shot (a powerline for example), shoot into that area of shadow where it can't be seen as well. This works especially well with trees as they tend to block out unwanted elements from view when they are tall enough.
Try shooting at night! Even though most people don't think about it this way but night time is one of the best times for landscape photography because there are no harsh shadows from direct sunlight hitting objects in front of them so everything looks nice and soft looking instead!
Plan Your Exposure.
The histogram is a great tool to use when shooting landscapes. You can use it to determine your exposure, whether the image is properly exposed or not, and if it's overexposed or underexposed.
Here are some tips for using the histogram:
Check your camera manual to see how to view the histogram on your model.
Review all of your photos in "review mode" on the LCD screen as well as on your computer so you can see if they're properly exposed or not. This allows you to correct any problems with exposure before taking more photos!
Use bracketed exposures (take 3 shots of different exposures) so one of them will be correct regardless of what type of scene you're shooting in terms of contrast - bright snow fields versus dark forests; sunny days versus cloudy ones etc...
Use Exposure Compensation to Boost Image Detail (Not Always a Good Idea).
Exposure compensation is a feature that many digital cameras have. It allows you to increase or decrease the exposure of a scene by setting your camera’s meter to +1, +2, or -1, -2. This is helpful for getting the right exposure in tricky situations when you’re trying to capture detail in both dark and bright areas at the same time.
However, it may not always be a good idea to use exposure compensation. For example, if you go too far with it (by +3 or more), then your image will look over-exposed and possibly cause highlights from sky and clouds to become completely white instead of grayish blue or white (depending on what kind of sky you have). If this happens, then there's nothing left but darkness because every bit of information was blown out by overexposure!
Don't Try to Correct Your Exposure by Increasing Your ISO or by Selecting Faster Films.
You can't correct your exposure by increasing your ISO or selecting a faster film.
The ISO on a digital camera is the speed of the sensor's sensitivity to light, which is measured in units called "ISO." Film speed is a measure of how much light it takes to expose the film. When you increase your ISO, you are essentially telling your camera to use more sensitive technology for capturing an image. This causes grainy images with less detail and color saturation when compared with lower ISOs (e.g., 100/200).
If you're shooting on film and using fast shutter speeds (1/1000th second), it may be necessary to bump up its speed rating in order for it not to overexpose; but if that doesn't work, try switching out your lens instead!
The goal is to shoot an image that tells a story.. not a perfect image
The goal is to shoot an image that tells a story.. not a perfect image.
The goal is not to shoot a perfect image.
The goal is not to shoot a technically perfect image either - unless you are shooting for a magazine or for some other purpose where perfection is required, then this should be left behind when you go out shooting landscapes.
Conclusion
Most of these tips are pretty common sense, but they’re worth keeping in mind when you’re out shooting landscapes. It doesn't matter if you’re using a DSLR or point-and-shoot camera, what counts is that you get an image that tells a story. Focus on color and light, not white balance and exposure compensation. Don't try to correct your exposure by increasing your ISO or by selecting faster films; instead, plan ahead so that you can shoot at the right settings before taking a picture.