Do you love landscape photography but don't know how to make yours look right? You've come to the right place.
It's easy to find a beautiful piece of scenery then point and shoot. You can get a perfectly fine picture with your smartphone during a walk along the beach. It's a different story when you're trying to take your landscape pictures to the next level.
In this post, we're going to give you some tips on making your landscape photos as beautiful as the landscape itself. With a little bit of technical know-how and an eye for a good shot, you'll be on your way to becoming a regular Ansel Adams. Come for a walk with us.
Quick Landscape Photography Tips
Getting a good result from your landscape photography takes time, dedication, and a
nice camera. You're not going to turn it around right away, but start using some of these tips and you'll see improvement.
Create Depth
Bringing all elements of the image into focus will give your photograph depth and bring it to life. To do this, you need to use a smaller aperture because it keeps the background and foreground in focus.
Place the camera on a tripod to eliminate any shaking. When you're using a
smaller aperture, less light will enter the lens, so you want to minimize or eliminate shaking.
Use Wide Angle Lens
Using a wide angle lens is great for landscape photography because you get a broader view and thus a better sense of the expanse of nature. These lenses also give you a greater depth of field.
You can use faster shutter speed, allowing more light. Natural light is the most important part of capturing the image. When it's perfect, you've got to get it.
Filters
There are two filters that will work best in landscape photography; polarizing filters and neutral density filters.
Polarizing filters are...well, polarizing. They darken the sky, which brings out the contrast between the blue's in the sky and the lightness of the clouds. Neutral Density (ND) filters prevent too much light from entering the camera on bright days when it can't give you slow shutter speed.
Movement
Capturing movement, like the running water or blowing grass that you'd
see in a postcard, is a skill that you'll develop down the line, but here's how you can do it.
Using TV or Shutter-Priority mode, along with an exposure of 2 or more seconds will get the job done. Or, you can use Aperture-Priority mode and choose a smaller aperture that requires more light.
If you're working in the daylight, remember to use an ND filter to reduce the amount of light in the camera and raise shutter time. Always use a tripod when you're trying to capture movement since it'll keep everything in the image sharp.
Compose in Thirds
The rule of thirds basically separates your image into 9 squares. Picture 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines breaking the image up and decide where you want the focal point of the image to be.
Try to avoid putting your focal point in the center square unless it's undeniably the best spot. By putting the focal point at one of the line-intersections, you'll get an aesthetically pleasing photograph every time. It allows the eyes to wander around the frame, making it more interesting and pleasing to the eye.
Grab Your Camera Bag and Get Out There
The best thing that you can do to improve your landscape photography is getting out there and practicing. Take some of these tips and go shoot everything. We have all of these theories and rules but sometimes the best photographers break the rules. Develop your eye first and get technical after.
For more posts about photography basics, check out
our blog, and if you want to go professional with your photography, get a business card made at
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