Taking landscape photos is surely one of the most favorite photo types among many photographers. This way they can find new and easier ways to make their photos more artistic. And the reasons for this approach are quite a few.
The first thing that comes to one’s mind is that this type of photography is very accessible. When taking landscape photos, your photo studio is outdoors, and you don’t need to find a place or rent a room to do your shooting. And you will not need to worry about the time when you take landscape photos. If your shot is not good enough, take a new one, no one will hurry you.
The other point that helps photographers make good landscape photos, is that you will not need too much equipment for it. You can surely make outstanding photos with a simple SLR camera, and the results can be mind-blowing.
And last but not least, you can take all the time you need with landscape photos. It is much easier to take a still photo of a beautiful view outdoors, instead of finding the best angle for an animal shot. You can always experiment with the settings of your camera to find the best option for you.
From the first glance, it can be an easy and simple genre in photography, right? But when you dive deeper, you see that there is so much more than that. In today’s blog, we will talk about all the nuances of landscape photography and all-time favorite tips and tricks to make the best shot.
Use the advantage of the depth of field
Having a focus in your landscape photo is, of course, an all-time classic approach. Some photographers always try new approaches with shallow depth of field, but most of them come back to the good old option. If you want to get the most of the photo’s DOF, try to use the lowest aperture of your lens. You will have a much deeper DOF with a smaller aperture, so always keep that in mind.
Tripod makes it easier
Having a tripod with you during your landscape photoshoot, your experience will be much easier and faster. Tripods are a very important part of landscape photography as they make everything stabilized. It surely gives more stabilization to your camera while you are taking the shots. So when getting your equipment for the landscape shooting day, know that a tripod can make your photos stand out.
Have something in the center of your photo
All photographers know that in landscape photos, you need to have a center of the composition. It should be visually seen in the photo. Therefore, if you don’t have anything in the center, your shot will be practically empty. If you want to explain it easily, you should have something for your eye to catch in the photo, that is why having a semantic center is important. It can be anything you think is beautiful, a building, a tree, a rock, and etc. You can always get out of the box and not follow the rule of thirds, just make sure to make your photo visually pleasing.
Skies are a key part of landscape photography
You may have noticed that almost all landscape photos include skies in them, and it is not a coincidence. Skies and their reflection in water are essential attributes in a landscape photo. If you want your photo to stand out among a boring and repeating list of landscapes, make the skies dominate in the photo. You can see how dramatically it changes the view. And if you compare the photos where you have skies and don’t have any, you can see how different it is. Moreover, you can always play with it. If you don’t like the angle you have taken, change your place, try to take a photo from a different line of the horizon. Experiment and see which angle can be the best to take the most breathtaking shot of a landscape.
It can be quite hard to get the perfect shot of a view for the first time. The key is not to give up. If you decided to take a landscape photo and the weather is not on your side, it is not an issue. Even if it’s cloudy, there are always options for taking stunning shots. Bad weather and puddles on the ground do not always help you, quite the opposite. But you cannot control them. Therefore, take them for granted, use them to your benefit, and work with what is. With some time, concentration, and inspiration, you will get the perfect shot you always dreamed of.