In my earlier days of photography when I used to take Landscape photos my pictures never seemed to quite turn out how I actually saw them that day. Back then I used to take them to be developed and can remember being exited to get them and see my work but only to be disappointed as most of them were flat and uninteresting. I decided to join a photography club and read photography books on Landscapes and realised where I was going wrong. Do you want to know what makes a good Landscape photo? Then read on and I will show you.
1. Use a tripod if possible, as landscapes are normally sharp from front to back (but not always) which will normally mean a slow shutter speed. If you don’t have a tripod then make sure that your shutter speed is fast enough to let you take a sharp image otherwise your photo will be blurred.
2. Use Aperture Priority mode on your cameras dial (it will possibly look like ‘A’ or ‘AV’) and choose about f/5.6 on a compact and at least f/11 on a DSLR and also use the lowest ISO value you can (100 or less) for the best image quality.
3. If you know how, make sure your metering mode is set to Evaluation/Matrix or Centre weighted so that your shots come out at the right exposure (if not have a look at your manual).
4. Make sure you get the Horizon in your image level by using either the lines in your viewfinder or on the LCD screen (you may have to switch this function on, look at your cameras manual), which is also very helpful for taking other pictures too. If you use a tripod use the spirit level if it has one. Personally I prefer to use the lines on the LCD screen.
5. Rule of Thirds is one of the most important rules to remember as dead central compositions very rarely work. What is the rule of thirds you may ask? Imagine your photo with a noughts and crosses board on it, this would divide your image into 9 equal boxes are you still with me? Now all you have to do is put the point of interest or the focal point (see below) on one of the imaginary four points where the lines cross.
6. Focal Point is basically the main subject or main point of interest which will hold the viewers eye.
7. Use Lead in lines (shown on the right) if you can, which are lines that basically lead the viewer’s eye into the image and onto the focal point. Roads, paths, fences, railings, hedgerows, jetty’s etc all work well.
8. One thing I would recommend is try taking your photos from different Viewpoints, never shoot from head height if possible, go down low, try from a height or experiment by using different angles.
9. Remember to keep your photos simple, more often than not you snap away at the trees and the hills in the background or anything else that looks interesting only to find out when you view your photo on the LCD screen the shot looks messy and boring. Remember that less is more, take your time composing the shot, what you need in your photo is some foreground interest which could be a person, a colourful rock or plant, or a large rock. This will draw the viewer’s eye into the scene.
10. Always try and take your pictures around the Golden hour which is about 30 minutes before sunrise and up to 1 hour after sunset as this it the time when the light is much warmer and gives your image much more detail. Never take photos around lunch time as the sun light is straight above and images will look very flat.
I hope this article will help you to take better Landscape photos? If you have any questions please let me know. Do you have any Landscape tips? Then please share them with us.
2 Comments.