If you have a holiday to the Lake District planned, or are taking off into the hills for a time, you probably want to make sure that you come back with beautiful evidence of a good trip. Landscape photography can be quite fun but you need to keep few things in mind to get the desired result. Here are some handy tips for shooting great landscape pictures.
1. There need not be a person in the picture
This is one of the giveaways of a complete amateur that they always try and frame a picture around a loved one. A landscape doesn’t need a person to be present in it unless you are trying to communicate scale such as the size of a flower or the height of a waterfall and so on.
2. All weather can be spectacular
Sunny weather is not the only type of weather for taking good pictures. Don’t moan if the sky is overcast and the clouds are lowering. These can offer spectacular visual results. A sun obscured by dark clouds, a mist, storms, gusty winds can all produce stunningly dramatic effects.
3. Use a tripod
If you have the time and the space a tripod can enhance a picture greatly because of the complete stillness it can offer the camera. The tripod may even facilitate a better angle for your landscape photos.
4. Wait for the right moment
If you have the time and the inclination, wait for the perfect moment for the shot – when the light hits the water just so, or when the shadows are exactly right. You may be amazed at the difference in a picture you take of the same vista early in the morning, at noon and then later at the time of sunset. Many landscape photographers believe that dawn and dusk are the best times for taking the most spectacular pictures.
5. Think of a foreground
The picture of a landscape need not be all beautiful sky and distant horizon. What is in the foreground can create interesting and appealing detail. Balance a stunning setting sun against a child’s sand castle on the beach for instance. Or compose a shot where the lower half is a meadow full of flowers and the backdrop that of a distant icy hill.
6. Look for high vantage points
Some of the most spectacular photos you take will be from some high points to capture the vista below.
7. Use a wide angle lens
This will obviously give you the ability to capture more of a scene in the photo. Your perspective widens and you are able to convey more of the scene in a single image.
