How to Shoot Better Landscape Photos

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

-- George Bernard Shaw

This article is aimed at the beginning to intermediate photographer who wants to improve his or her landscape work. Tips for improving artistic and technological quality will both be examined.

Contents:

• Tripod ( or Image Stabilization )
• Location
• Foreground and Perspective
• Weather
• Light - "The Golden Hour"
• Scale - Grand vs Detail
• Random Sharpness Tips

(1) Always use a tripod. Always. Between the depth-of-field you're going to want, the slow film ( or digital ISO ) for better grain, detail, and color response, and the fact that most landscapes look best at sunrise or sunset, when the light is dim, this is one of the best ways to improve the technical quality of a landscape photograph.

The slower pace a tripod demands can actually be a good thing. Once you've found the perfect composition for your photo, you don't have to hold the camera until just the right moment: no cars on the road, a flock of geese to fly across the frame, a ray of sun to break through the storm ... if a tripod is part of a contemplative approach, this can help the artistic quality of your photos, too.

Note: "Image Stabilization" ( or "Vibration Removal" or any number of other names ) is becoming more common in lenses and camera bodies. This technology can help mitigate some of the problems a tripod is used to fix, up to a limit. Outside of waterfall and star trail photography, though, "IS" can make tripods less of a necessity.

(2) "A good photograph is knowing where to stand." - Ansel Adams. Where you set your camera has more effect on framing than zoom does; you could do something obvious, like walking around a tree to keep it out of the picture. You can make a profound difference by setting your camera as low as possible to the ground looking up versus climbing a hill and looking down. Finally, the perspective - how close different elements look to each other - is controlled by how far you are from each of them. Before you open the tripod, take a few minutes to walk around the scene; look at your subject from different angles.

(2A) Foreground. Some photos look more like a window that you could reach into than a print,others just look two dimensional. Occasionally the flat, 2D look is a good thing; it makes a photograph look stately, unapproachable. But, normally, showing perspective, having a strong foreground that trails off to infinity, pulls the viewer in.

(3) Weather. On the other hand, Ansel Adams photographed weather ( storms, snow and ice ) and used Yosemite as a backdrop.

Dramatic weather doesn't need to be a part of every landscape photo, and by itself isn't enough to make a photo great. However, an image with a lot of sky should generally have clouds; big puffy ones tend to create a happy mood, angry gray storm clouds lend tension, and a slow shutter speed with windblown clouds can show movement, create a dynamic feeling.

You can't control the weather, but you can wait for it.

(4) "The Golden Hour." Actually there are two of them: the roughly 30 minutes before and after a sunrise and a sunset. When the sun is near the horizon, its light travels through more of the atmosphere, absorbing blue light and leaving a warm, reddish glow behind.

This effect is more pronounced at higher altitudes; Galen Rowell dubbed mountain sunsets "Aplineglow."

While the sun itself can be a compelling subject, the warm light it provides during 'the golden hour' can make a world of difference, and be used to create several looks: soft and inviting, nostalgic, idyllic, or even dramatic.

(5) Epic vs Intimate. Ever have difficulty with a vast scene, like the Grand Canyon, where photos just don't seem to capture the depth and grandeur? This type of "epic" scene demands an untrawide lens ( or a panorama ), careful attention to the composition, a strong foreground to show perspective, to help the viewer get a sense of the place. Epic or "grand view" photos are often composed to show form more than color.

On the other hand, it can make sense to look at detail in a smaller scene, to create an "intimate" landscape. This type of scene feels more "accessible" to the viewer. Normally this type of photo is shot through a longer lens, often 50 mm or more. The scene is geographically indescript; it could well have been shot at the viewer's local park. This is a testament more to the skills and "eye" of the photographer than the scene itself.

(6) Use a remote or timer mode. Unless you're shooting at a very fast shutter speed, you can blur the image a little bit by moving the camera when you press the shutter release button. Although the difference is small, a remote shutter release, or a 10+ second timer mode will make your photos a little bit sharper. If you're using an SLR with a mirror lock-up ( "MLU" ) mode, use it. Again, this makes a slowish exposure a little bit sharper because the mirror flips up before the photo is created, then gives the camera a few seconds to stop shaking. Don't extend the middle column of your tripod.

(7) Level ( but don't center ) the horizon. If your tripod doesn't have a level built in, you can get one for your flash's hot shoe. On the other hand, you can often make due using the autofocus points to measure tilt in the horizon. This is especially useful with a three-arm adjustment, rather than a ball-head, because after lining up the horizon, you can tilt the camera up or down without moving the other axis.

Artistically, a more important choice is where to put the horizon, in scenes that have one. Dead center in the frame is always the wrong answer.