Improve your Landscape Photography

One of the great things about landscape photography is that the possibility is endless on where you can go and what you can take a picture of – and it all starts with a few steps from your own back door. The horizon is the only limit to your imagination.

Lighting speaks volumes in landscape photography. Getting up with the sun at dawn, watching the animals hurry around as they gather their food for the day, and while the sun is just peaking its face over the background would make for great photo with perfect light.

When the sun is on its way down is great time for a landscape picture that conveys peace and serenity. This time of day is when animals and people are heading home for the night, where the land is clear of “clutter” and the trees, sky and land are open. Shadows will add depth to any photo of the landscape, and give it more of a three-dimensional feel for the viewer to enjoy.

Landscape photography should be relaxing and fun to do. It also requires some time to get the precise composition. When a camera is slightly shifted one way or another, you can see how it will dramatically improve the picture you are looking to take. When it comes to taking a picture of the landscape, taking one photo is just as good as taking ten. You do not have to waste film (or digital storage space) on something that can be done right the first time, this can be achieved with a bit of patience, and some practice.

When photographing landscapes, give your photo a feeling of depth by including some close objects (or perhaps one close object) in the frame as well as the distant objects.

A fine lens for landscape photography is the 50mm lens that comes as standard equipment on many SLR cameras. But if you are seriously interested in photographing landscapes, a good lens to have would be a wide-angle lens. The wide-angle lens will give you a much broader area in your photograph, but along with that wider view comes less detail in each object in the frame. It's a trade-off.

Losing detail due to camera shake is the biggest problem in landscape photography. So, a tripod and a shutter release cable are very helpful tools to have. If you don't have a shutter release cable, you can also engage the self-timer that is available on many cameras. This is an automated process, and will not shake the camera like your hand/finger will. Lastly, some cameras even allow you to 'lock the mirror.' In through-the-lens viewing systems, you view the shot through a viewfinder which uses a mirror. When the shutter is snapped, the mirror flips out of the way, and thus causes a slight motion to the camera. Engage the lock and this won't happen.

Now, all you have to do is go take photographs of landscape and nature!