Top 5 Landscape Photography Tips
Taking holiday snapshots with your digital camera is one thing but if you want to take powerful landscape photos then you need to keep the following tips in mind. While a good camera can help it won’t matter of you have a Sony, Canon or Olympus digital camera unless you use the correct settings and the right add on equipment. Obviously, the most important decision you will make in landscape photography is the location followed closely by the time of day you take the shots.
Timing Your Photography
Timing for landscape photography is very important and it is best to start early in the morning or late afternoon. This is not only because of the great sunset and sunrise shots you can get but also because of the richer colours and stronger contrast available. Light in the middle of the day tends to be ‘flat’ or in Summer, too bright.
Researching Your Location
If you do a bit of research before heading a location you might find you already know some great landscape subjects before you get there. Good examples are large landmarks such as mountains or other recognisable features of the landscape. Research will also give you a good idea of how easy it is to access the location so you can get there earlier if it will take some time to walk around.
Increase Depth of Field
Depth of field is very important in landscape photography as you want to have a nice sharp image to show up all of the features of nature. It is best to manually adjust your camera as automatic settings may only give you a basic landscape shot. You may also want to combine this with a slow shutter speed if you are taking photos of waterfalls to create some movement in your photos.
Use a Tripod
Using a tripod is very important as it will make sure you have as much detail as possible. If you are working with a large depth of field and a slow shutter speed you will want to have you camera stationary. No matter how little you shake it can still create small glitches in your photos. A tripod will also allow you to set up the shot in a more professional way to create better photos.
Change Lenses and Filters
Experimenting with different lenses and filters will give you some fantastic results with your landscape photography. Using a telephoto lens can ‘push’ background features closer to the foreground to create more dramatic vistas. This is useful when you have a nice foreground with some mountains behind.
You should also try having a polarising filter handy as well, especially if you are planning on shooting near water. It will also give you a deeper blue colour in your sky and bring out those amazing sunset colours.
The key is to experiment and try a lot of different shots. Do not be afraid to revisit locations if you think you can do thing better. Always be sure to have good cases for your camera if you are travelling into wet or rough terrain. A perfect shot is not worth a broken camera!
