Landscape Photography Tips – Learn to use your Digital Camera like a Pro

June 24, 2009

A landscape shot is considered to be an easy shot by most of the people as it is mistakenly thought to be just a snap of a scene as seen from a single view. Not completely wrong, though the landscape view is a piece of art since it has to be so skillfully captured to include all possible details of what a beautiful scene has to offer. A picture technically handled without overshadowing it’s natural beauty is something we should be aiming to achieve.

Literally speaking, a landscape picture is a natural scenery of land based views excluding those of water bodies since they would be called as “sea scape” , more accurately. They should also not feature people or animal as main objects but may be included in the view as a part of the scene.

Though the basic principles of photography remain the same, the techniques applied are a bit different from that of routine photography. For an ameteur photgrapher, a number of following techniques might come handy when taking snaps of a landscape:

Adjusting the Depth of Field

The most tricky business in taking a landscape sanap is adjusting the Depth of Field i.e, the extent to which the forefround or the background of the picture is to be enhanced. For a larger view when tou require the farthest and nearest details of a scene to be sharp and prominent, a large depth of field i.e, a smaller aperture is to be set. But minimizing the aperture size will result in lesser amount of light striking the image sensor so the picture may apparently appear to be dark. For this the shutter speed should be lowered so that more time is given to the light to enter the camera. This may also be tackled by enhancing the ISO of the camera.

Stabilizing the camera

Since the smaller aperture size is supported by a longer shuter speed, you will require a steady surface to keep the camera in position. You must have seen professional photographers using a Tri-pod stand or a Mono pod stand. Well that not just to make an impression, it keeps the camera sill and its focus intact. Moreover, according to the definition of a landscape, in order to have a single view of the scene, the camera must be kept steady . Like wise the photographer would have an idea of how the picture will come out to be. Even when the shutter speed is fast, a quick jolt will also result in a blurry picture, so why not use a support anyways.

Rule of Thirds

Almost all landscape views are beautiful but the real challenge is how you draw a viewer’s attention to it. Usually, skilled photographers will take an object as the Focal Point of the scene such as a small hut in the middle of a valley or a sky scraper in an urban landscape. They also use people and animals for this purpose. Here, the Rule of Thirds comes handy, according to which a view is virtually divided into three sections and then that particular focal point (a mountain or a building at one of the intersections) not necessarily in the center. This will give character to your picture and will not be just a wider view of a scene. In case of sunset sceneries, a silhouted structure proves to be the best point of attraction same as a flying bird in a sun rise scene.

Adding the effects

The Field of Depth can and should be used creatively just like you can make use of a blur. Imagine a lush green valley pictured from behind a tree; the branches blurred in the foreground and the green mountains with a gushing white spring and the sunny blue sky clearly captured in the background. You have created a master piece! Well this is all about making the picture larger by suppressing a part of the picture.

The Sky element

The landscapes look incomplete without a nicely pictured and well contrasted sky. A blank blue sky will ruin the over all beauty of the scene so for this you can place the horizon in the upper third portion of the image and if the sky is cloudy and has different shades of colours as at the time of dusk, then place the horizon lower. Also add necessary effects by adjusting the colour and contrast especially in case of shots of gardens, valleys or mountains, where the colour defines and distincts one portion of the view from the other. You can use a Polarizing Filter which adjusts the colour and contrast elements.

Turn off the Flash

In a landscape snap, make the most of the natural light; turn ff the flash since in case of a misty, dusty or foggy environment, the flash will be reflected back creating a flare of lighting. The flash, however should be used when the foreground is to b brightened or when there is insufficient illumintaion.

Inertia in the scenery

As misunderstood frequently, the landscape views are not absolutely stagnant images; there is always movement of one kind or the other in it. The motion may be slow but cannot be ignored such a windy field, birds flying or a flowing water spring. These inetrtial aspects help in dramatizing and adding more beauty to a shot. In order to capture the moving scene, the shutter speed has to be loewred which suggests that you should be having a small aperture. Since longer time is given for the shutter release, so the light factor can be controlled by shooting the pictures at dawn or in late afternoon when sun light is soft and subtle.

Wait for the right time not for the weather

Surprising as it may sound to you but a stormy or misty weather sometimes gives better results than a warm sunny day. Reason being the selection of the right time rather than waiting for the right weather. Just be sure that you apply the required settings. For a sunny day, late afternoon is a good time to capture a green field whereas in winters, the snow fall will look the best when covered by a warm mid day sunlight.

Change the Angles

Feel free to experiment; that’s the highly recommended rule! Who says that a river flowing in the middle of the mountains has to be in the middle, you may be standing at the river bank and view the mountains with the river flowing by your side. Change angles while taking pictures of the same view. Like wise you will have a better idea about the view as well as the impact different angles may create on the viewer. Its also advisable because it will allow you to have more than one snap of the same view with different camera settings so you can decide for yourself that which one suits the best.

These were some of the tips that will be helpful to beginners in landscape view capturing but the real catch is how to apply them. You can make your own rules and even if you like break them. Go beyond the limits and conventional ways while capturing sceneries. Too much technical thinking will loose the essence of landscape photograp as its all about being natural.

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