How to Create Remarkable Landscape Photographs
I must have been about 16 years old when I got my first camera. I remember it was Christmas and I immediately rushed outside in my slippers and started taking pictures. We lived next to a Christmas tree farm so I had plenty of subject matter to work with. I was a natural with the camera. My very first pictures came out great but it wasn’t always this way.
Over the years I learned to use the natural shadows and highlights that nature offers. There are many things that go into making a landscape photograph memorable. Great photographs just don’t happen, they are created. Learn to focus on the composition of your photographs as well as lighting, and lens choice.
Composition
Composition is not something that comes natural to everyone. Composition takes time and patience. Knowing how to organize nature will help you get better photographs. First, look around and just be amazed. Look through your camera lens exploring up, down, and all around. Begin by trying to figure out what the focus is in the scene. The focus should be something that emotionally moves you.
We have all heard the phrase “a picture is worth one thousand words”. Try to incorporate this in your photograph. There are not many photographers whom observe this notion in their landscape photography. Begin by starting with a large area in your lens. Move in tightening around the focus. Chip away what you don’t need until there isn’t anything else to chip away.
Use the horizon line at different heights. Don’t be afraid to play with it. Using the horizon at the top of the frame will help emphasize the foreground. If the horizon is located near the bottom of the frame the sky will seem large and great. Verticals with a lot of sky at the top can be very remarkable.
Also try integrating the human form into your landscape photos. Sometimes the sight of a small woman or child in the midst of great nature can be quite moving. Don’t just snap away when you find a great location. Scope out the lay of the land and recognize where the shadows and highlights exist. If you exploit the shadows the highlights will become exposed bringing greater depth to your photograph.
Lighting
What you see with your eyes may not always be what you get. Sometimes when I take photographs at sunset I am amazed at the colors I did not see with my eyes. Sometimes my camera picks up the darkest reds and brightest pinks that I did not see. Our eyes do not see exactly what the camera sees. Actually cameras probably have better eyes than we do. The mirrors and prisms in a camera more accurately tell the story of a photograph than our eyes.
If you get up early and stay up late you will have better chances of getting some great photographs. Don’t be afraid to use the shadows of sunrises and sunsets. Try photographing birds, animals, trees, plants, and water if you are not comfortable taking in the massiveness of the sky.
Balance the shadows by focusing on a bright image. In sunrises and sunsets this can be captured by using the sun. Try focusing on the sun from underneath a branch or from the side of the mountain. Just taking a picture of the sun rising is meaningless because it happens everyday. What is important is what you capture during these precious moments. Follow a bird with your lens or focus on water dripping from a leaf. Drama exists everywhere in nature. You just have to focus on it.
Early light will create thick and short shadows, while late light creates long and low shadows. Use the edges of time around each one of these to get some great photographs. If you are shooting the sunrise or sunset arrive early so that you are prepared when the action starts. In photography there are no second chances. Photography is the art of capturing life and that can only be done once.
Lens Choice
When you are shooting broad landscape like mountains and plains it is best to choose a telephotographic lens or a wide angle lens, with zoom of course. Using these two types of lens will help bring more light into your camera allowing for better pictures. With a wide angle lens you will see more of the foreground and you will get a wider photograph. A telephoto lens brings objects that are far away much closer. There is also a third type of lens called a panoramic lens. The panoramic lens allows you to get a much wider shot than you could with a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens.
