Photography 101: Improve Your Landscape Photography

wdoutjah (58)in #photography • 6 years ago (edited)

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Landscapes have long interested photographers as a subject. You can improve your landscape photography with these tips.

Take Photos at Different Times of Day

Don’t limit your picture taking to bright days when the sun is high overhead. In fact, this is when you may get your least-pleasing pictures because bright sunlight can “bleach” everything out and make a photo look “flat”. Instead, try shooting landscape photos on overcast days to create drama in the final shots.

Take pictures at different times of the day, too, such as early morning and late afternoon. You may get more richly saturated colour and create more pleasing photos.

_{Top: Danao Port, Danao City

Bottom: Tungasan Boardwalk, Olango Island}

Add Depth to Your Photos

Another way to improve your landscape photography is to add depth. Take photos with items in the foreground to give viewers a way to enter a picture and then follow through to the background.

_{Bird Sanctuary, Olango Island}

Take close-up shots that focus on a particular element of the landscape, such as a grouping of leaves; take shots from farther away, as well, to create a more complete picture of the landscape.

_{Left: Co Jordan Pond, Consolacion, Cebu

Right: Under Marcelo Fernan Bridge, Lapu Lapu City}

Don’t forget to look for objects built by people and objects in nature that mimic each other in shape; for example, a wooden building in the foreground and a rock in the background with the same shape made a much more interesting photo.

Add People and Animals to the Landscape

People and animals in a landscape photo can add pleasing contrast. Consider framing your photo so that they are at the edge of the landscape and not central to it.

_{Left: Santiago Bay, Camotes Island

Right: Santiago Bay, Camotes Island}

Look for Collections of Objects

Look for interesting collections of objects, such as the boulder, weathered animal bone and flower planter that I came across in a seaside village. These three items and the addition of some colour – the green in the planter – made an interesting and pleasing composition.

_{Buagsong, Cordova, Cebu}

Look, also, for groupings of like-numbered objects, such as two chairs and two wooden buildings in another photo.

Create Shapes

Try to notice shapes that occur in the landscape. For example, a triangle can be created by having two objects in the foreground and one in the background, or vice versa. You can also create squares and circles, depending upon the objects you see through the camera’s lens. Familiar shapes are comforting and can draw a viewer into a photo.

_{Kawasan River System, Badian, Cebu}

Edit Your Photos

Finally, discipline yourself to edit your photos before you snap the shutter, instead of waiting to edit out unwanted items using your computer’s photo editing program or with the help of a good photo shop.

This way you develop a more critical eye, which results in better photographs.

That's it for now guys and stay tuned tomorrow for another episode of our Photography 101. If you wish to check on our previous releases, see the list below.