7 Tips For Landscape Photography

The art of photography has been hailed as a wonderful medium of self-expression since the invention of the camera. It allows us not only to capture the beauty of the moment, but also to convey emotions, feelings, or even take a little piece of history back home. This is the art of capturing nature, as well as man-made features around us. If you have a computer, you’re probably looking at beautiful examples every day through the rotating screen images, I know I am, and sometimes I just stop in my tracks to appreciate how beautiful our world is through a simple photo. I’ve always had a knack for capturing my experiences, so it was natural that I developed a deep love for landscape photography. In this post, I want to share this love with you and also give you seven tips for landscape photography on how you can take better images, no matter where you are or what is in front of the lens.

Tips For Landscape Photography

1. Use a wide angle lens to get as much of the landscape as possible

Sometimes a regular lens doesn’t capture enough. We don’t want to lose any part of the beauty, so I definitely recommend using a wide-angle lens for most landscape photos. This not only gives you the opportunity to capture everything that is in front of you. The wide-angle lens allows your foreground and background to both be in focus.  A wider view also gives you more opportunity to crop anything you don’t like later on and still have a full-sized beautiful photo.

2. Use leading lines to give you a feeling of how vast the area is

I have found that my favorite photos I have taken have always been with leading lines. Leading lines draw the eye into the image. This really allows you to put the space in front of you into perspective and make a great decision on exactly what you want to capture in your shots. It is also making your photo much more engaging since it can feel like the shot itself is telling a story.

3. Take a strong mental image of the place in addition to the actual photo so when you make the edit you can strengthen the colors that really stood out

Let’s face it, the camera doesn’t always do nature’s color palette any justice. I find that it’s very hard to always capture things exactly how they are in nature. It’s can be disappointing to shoot a fresh, vibrant view and be left with it’s a washed-out gray cousin. But it doesn’t have to be!  Because it’s so stunning when you add in the right edit. Simply take a mental note of the landscape and play with the colors in your editing software. You can make them pop and look much more alive, and that will make your photos so much more realistic. It can almost feel just like when you were there and experienced it yourself.

4. Shoot during the golden hour

Golden hour – there is a reason it’s called that. This is when I usually have my most stunning photos whether it’s the early A.M. or the late afternoon-evening. This is the small window of time when the beauty all around us is right in the spotlight. You should definitely make the most of it. This is the time when you can see the world in such pleasant colors and take some of the best photos.

5. Use the rule of thirds

This might sound a bit more technical, but it’s in fact a very simple concept. I’ll give you an example. Imagine you want to take a photo of a stunning sunset. Instead of putting your focus point on the sun, you should shift the focus from the middle of your photograph. Offset your subject. If you put it in the right or left third of the image, that will provide a better outcome. You might want to check out the “law of thirds” in regard to compositions. The general rule of thumb is to make sure to have something in the foreground as well as the background to give the photo “visual depth” and make it more interesting. Try and avoid always placing your subject in the center.

6. Use a drone

My favorite way to capture landscape shots is with a drone. Some places you just can’t reach otherwise. You can use all of those aforementioned tips and then add an amazing point of view by having a drone to reach spots that would otherwise not be possible. The true benefit of the drone shot, is you are giving your viewer a perspective rarely seen.

7. Use a tripod

If you don’t have a drone, don’t worry. You can do many great things without it. However, I would recommend using your camera or your phone on a tripod to give you the most stability when taking a photo. Landscape photos are usually very large and can easily get ruined if you don’t keep the camera stable.

Last Notes

One last thing to consider.  The initial capture or click of the camera is just the beginning. Learn some simple editing skills to increase contrast, pop colors and change the overall color of the image. Remember the mind’s eye sees quite a bit more than the camera.

I hope these tips for landscape photography have been helpful to you and will aid you in your future artistic endeavors. Just remember to always have fun and keep the sweet memories you make along the way, no matter if it’s through photos, friendships or simply existing in this beautiful world of ours. I’m certain that you will have great results if you implement these simple tips, and I wish you many successful experiences in the vast, captivating world of photography!

If you want to see more content from World Nomac (Mac Candee) you can find it on my website as well as through the following social media channels: YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram.