subject: Useful Tips For Photographing Landscapes [print this page] Are you amazed by the landscape around you? The change of seasons, the change of weather, the change of light - all create good photographic opportunities for your own pleasure or to share with others from your website.
Here are some top tips to get the best photos of them.
1. Remember the classic photographic principle of thirds. Divide your viewfinder scene into 3rds horizontally and vertically: place important objects along the dividing lines or at the intersection points. This will lead your viewer's eyes into or out of the scene and add a bit of visual tension which excites and fascinates the viewer.
2. Don't feel you have to get everything into your photo landscapes don't have to always take in the big scene. Isolate elements that say something about the environment and complement panoramic views. As with all good compositions, there should be a point of interest to hold the viewer's attention.
3. Try to include something of interest in the foreground to further improve your composition. This can be colourful fauna, people, unusual signs, rocks or formations, etc. Also, look for "leading lines", such as pathways or rivers that snake toward the object of interest. This will help direct the audience's gaze.
4. Pay attention to the horizon - make sure it is straight in the picture. If the sky is dull and lacking detail, it will look flat, so place the horizon in the top third of the frame. If the foreground is uninteresting, place the horizon in the bottom third. If neither sky or foreground do anything for the photo, eliminate them by zooming in.
5. Check for unwanted elements. When we look at a scene, we might see the colour, beauty, scale and main features but we often fail to see the power lines, rubbish bins or the wall on the left. Scan your viewfinder before you release the shutter.
6. Fill the frame with the subject of the photo - one of the main rules of good photography but it's often hard to do in a landscape...since by definition the landscape is off in the distance and won't fill the frame... Perhaps the use of a telephoto lens could compress foreground and background for an interesting effect... Or just zoom in to "crop" the distant landscape in the view finder... thus focusing on a subject in the landscape and filling the frame in what could be a bland shot otherwise.
7. Don't accidentally photograph your shadow. You have to be especially careful when shooting very early or very late in the day when shadows are at the longest. Shoot from a low angle or position your shadow in a shaded area of the 24
8. Choose a high aperture (eg, f16) if you have a manual camera. This will ensure sharpness of focus from front to back. Combine that with a setting of ISO 100 (again useful for sharpness). Shutter speeds will drop below 1/15, so consider using a tripod.
