Following our series of 100 Express Tips, which you liked so much, today I come with those 100 that will help you capture the most spectacular landscapes you can imagine. Because no, photographing a landscape may seem easy, but it isn't if you don't know the most important keys. Here I bring them, get comfortable and take note;).
- Do not expect to find the best nature landscapes at the foot of the road.
- Urban landscapes are also landscape photography.
- A tripod will be your best friend.
- If you are going on a family outing, you better forget about landscape photography and focus on capturing the emotional family moments. You will save yourself the frustration;).
- Landscape photography is best done alone or with a company that has the same interests as you.
- Haste is never a good counselor.
- Arm yourself with patience.
- If it's hot, don't forget the hat.
- If it's cold, don't forget the hat;).
Protect yourself from the cold (or heat) - In short, the safest thing is that you walk quite looking for the most suitable places, wear comfortable and appropriate clothes and do not forget to bring something fresh or hot in a thermos (depending on the season; P) and a snack, you will not faint in middle of nowhere;). It is advisable to tell a close relative where you are going to be and take the mobile battery well charged.
- Do not try to achieve the silky effect of water with lots of light (in the central hours of a sunny day).
- Unless you have a neutral density filter.
- Focus manually. The automatic mode here can fail you and since you are not in a hurry (or you should not), you can stop to focus on manual.
- Chase backlights to draw contours or highlight translucent elements.
- If you are going to photograph a landscape with a compact camera, try to have at least manual controls.
- Try not to go "crazy", improvisation is not the best landscape photography advisor, better good planning.
- A spectacular landscape photograph is not usually the result of good luck, there is usually a great job behind.
- Have a notebook to write down the locations that most impact you.
- When you find a place that you love, where there is at least one tree or some type of vegetation, and you are caught near the house, propose to take a photo at each station with the same frame.
- Try the timelapse to portray the passage of time.
- Get a self-timer.
- When you don't have a remote trigger or you fail, use the trick to shoot with the camera timer. This way you will avoid unnecessary trepidations.
- The landscape lines (trails, streams, crop marks ...) will help you to look at the center of interest.
Search the lines - If you shoot with the camera on a tripod, turn off the image stabilizer. Yes or yes.
- Your favorite objectives in landscape photography will be the wide-angle ones.
- Although never rule out photographing with other focal distances. You can take surprises.
- If there is enough light, why do you want to activate noise reduction? Disable it too, you don't need it and it will detract from quality.
- When you discover the effect of these filters they will become your best friends in the photographic landscapes.
- Keep your goals clean, a decisive factor to achieve clear photographs.
- If you are looking for maximum sharpness, dispense with filters, or at least those of poor quality.
- Lock the mirror, if you have the option, when using low speeds.
- It carries some spare battery.
- RAW photography, this can be a good time for it.
- If you doubt of loading with photos in RAW format practice shooting in JPG and, when you have the more or less expected result, change to RAW and take home the final photo in this format. You will appreciate it.
- Worry about achieving a good composition .
- Get a good backpack. Comfort and health issue.
- It's okay to worry about taking good pictures, but it's also worrying about your safety;).
- If you plan to leave late (or too early), don't forget a flashlight.
- For night landscapes (not stars) the best days (rather nights) are clear and full moon or two or three days before or after.
Best clear skies for night landscapes - To photograph stars better moonless nights.
- Before leaving, see what the weather will be like.
- If it's going to rain, it shouldn't be an impediment to your escape, but you should protect your camera from water.
- If it is very cold, do not forget to protect your camera from temperature changes.
- A compass should always go in your backpack.
- Always carry a plastic bag, it can be very useful for many things;).
- Do not load with all your photographic equipment (if it is very wide) or the only thing you will achieve will be a good back pain. Choose well what you may need.
- The horizontal framing conveys tranquility and is the most used.
- The vertical framing is more dynamic, it will help you to isolate some element, to photograph towering trees, waterfalls, etc. Do not forget him.
Do not forget the vertical framing - Try to adjust the ISO to a minimum. Most likely, you have light or, failing that, carry a tripod. This will not be an occasion to raise the ISO, unless you look for some creative effect, of course;).
- Discover the sweet spot of your goal (where it offers greater precision).
- If it is a little windy, stabilize your tripod. You can hang your backpack, for example, or use the plastic bag with some stones or dirt inside.
- Don't limit yourself to classic landscapes, look for different landscapes too .
- Check the histogram.
- Learn to expose correctly .
- Try to always have a center of interest.
- Including people in your landscape can also be a great success.
People to show the scale (and much more) - Try different angles until you find the one that suits you best.
- Take a good look first of the place that you fall in love with and then frame it with the viewfinder, but if you look only through the camera you will lose opportunities.
- Make panoramas with a very easy technique, trimming;).
- You can also take different photographs and join them later in an editing program.
- Panoramas can also be vertical;).
- Avoid giving a lot of prominence to very clear skies because it will be too bland photography.
- Normally, you will capture landscapes using a lot of depth of field so that the whole scene is in focus, but don't forget to experiment with small depths of field. You will take surprises;).
- Experiment also with the landscape in motion.
- The negative space is a resource that you can use when composing your landscapes.
- The light will determine what kind of landscape you are looking for. Take advantage of the golden hours.
- But do not forget the hard light for black and white landscapes, with high contrast or bright colors, such as turquoise waters or enhance the warmth of desert areas.
- If there is fog, get up early and take advantage. It will give you spectacular images.
Magic fog - Always remember the formula to avoid trepidations: 1 / focal length . That is, if you shoot with a 200mm focal length, you shoot at least 1/200 or 1/250, if you use a 50mm focal length, shoot, for example, at least 1/60.
- When shooting with a tripod, you can use lower speeds.
- If you are not going to shoot in RAW, adjust the white balance well , it is not going to be corrected by that beautiful orange color of dawn after the early morning that you have hit;).
- Does your camera have Live View ? Use it, unless you go very bad battery (and do not carry spare).
- Remember the law of the horizon , unless you want to skip it for some specific reason. Avoid putting the horizon in the center, leave two thirds of the image for the area that you most want to highlight.
- The reflections can fit the horizon in the center to create symmetries.
- But try that the symmetry is not too boring .
- Try not to get bored with mountain photographs either, there are tricks to make them more attractive ;).
Most attractive mountains - Search patterns (repeated elements) to create rhythm in your landscapes.
- Show the scale of the place with a known reference (a person, animal, a flower ...).
- For create depth, include an element in the foreground in the frame.
- Use the natural frames to frame the center of interest.
- If you like landscape photography, you have to try the infrared photography.
- The landscapes of forests are most photogenic in spring and autumn.
- Use the technique of bracketing when there is a lot of contrast of lights and you want to achieve homogeneity.
- The lines in the form of "S" within the landscape very attractive.
- Black and white landscapes can also work great. Here are the tricks ;).
- Do not forget the classic and essential rule of thirds to highlight the center of interest.
- A side light (sunset or sunrise) will help you highlight textures, add volume and achieve very long shadows.
- Search the bokeh in your urban landscapes.
- You can convey emotions using contrast, colors, the type of framing, depending on the weather, the season, etc.
- Use the snowy landscapes to convey loneliness.
- At night you can capture stunning landscapes.
- Some of these objectives will help you photograph landscapes at night.
- When you photograph the snow, compensate the exposure +1.
Compensate exposure by photographing snow - If it is windy and there is sand or dirt nearby, take extreme precautions when changing objectives.
- When you photograph the stars or the moon, always include a portion of the landscape.
- When you include the sun in the frame, measure on one of the sides of the sky, write down the values, reframe and adjust the previous values.
- Use the applications that exist ( Photopills, The Photographer's Ephemeris ...) to know the sunrise and sunset times.
- Decorate your night landscapes with the technique of lightpainting.
- Take advantage of the blue hour for your urban landscapes.
Blue hour for urban landscapes - The most important thing: the best way to achieve your best landscape is to practice.
