Advice on Photographing Landscapes
There are so many beautiful landscapes. You don’t even have to travel outside of the United States, just visit a local or national park! These tips will help you take wonderful photographs of landscapes. Whether you are a beginning photographer, or a professional, these are simple tips to keep in mind when photographing landscapes.
1. It is important to consider light quality. Determine whether the light is soft or harsh. Are you photographing in the afternoon, or at sunrise or sunset? Is it overcast, and are there clouds? Generally, the best light is in the mornings and evening (before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m.).
2. Try to look for interesting lighting. For mountains, back-lighting and side-lighting are great. For side-lighting, you can turn 90 away from the sun. For back-lightning, make sure the sun is behind the mountains, and you will create dramatic silhouettes.
3. Carefully compose your photograph. With landscapes, often times symmetry works. And don’t forget that simple is beautiful. Do you want to photograph lakes, mountains, streams, or trees? Compose your photograph with the various shapes you see in the frame.
4. Roads, paths, and bridges are great to include. Use their shapes to lead the eye around the photo. To create that effect, photograph them at an angle. You can always have a road or path start in the corner of the photo.
5. Try using infrared film for your landscape photography. Infrared film is more sensitive to infrared light. This means that your photographs will have darks skies and light/ bright leaves and vegetation. It’s awesome!
6. You will want your entire photo to be in focus, so use a large depth of field (small number, large aperture). Also, long exposures increase depth of field.
Experiment with short and long exposures, especially when dealing with water (ocean, lakes, waterfalls). Take a tripod with you and have fun with landscape photography!
