11 Landscape Photography Tips

1. Maximize your Depth of Field
While there may be times that you want to get a little more creative and experiment with narrow depth of fields in your Landscape Photography – the normal approach is to ensure that as much of your scene is in focus as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a small Aperture setting (a large number) as the smaller your aperture the greater the depth of field in your shots.
Do keep in mind that smaller apertures mean less light is hitting your image sensor at any point in time so they will mean you need to compensate either by increasing your ISO or lengthening your shutter speed (or both).
PS: of course there are times when you can get some great results with a very shallow DOF in a landscape setting (see the picture of the double yellow line below).

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The Sky and our Landscapes

We can also wait for the clouds to do their designs in the sky and the same photographs will have a very different view. The bottom photograph was done with a filter that only darkens the top part (clouds) of the image. The photograph in the middle was done with a polarizer filter, notice how everything is toned down and has basically the same tone. The top photograph was taken with no filter! The clouds started to move around and create shapes, colors and cover parts of the building.

Photographing landscapes

When photographing landscapes it’s a good idea to go to the scene at different times of the day and experiment different lighting. The morning light is very different from the evening light and the stormy day will add a whole different mood. Framing things and editing elements can allow you to photograph the same place many times and make it look like a different place. If the sky is too light or too gray put less sky in your images. If it's cloudy, add contrast by exposing for the sky or you can get a filter that will darken the sky. I haven't used a filter, I control my exposures and frame so that the sky will not take priority unless the clouds look fabulous! These photographs were taken on different days and different times.

Video-Interaction of Shutter Speed and Aperture

This helpful video gives an explanation of the interaction of shutter speed and aperture.

Slow shutter speed vs fast shutter speed

Many times we think that we should do our landscapes with water by freezing the motion of the water and keeping everything crisp. We can make these images have more texture and more life by changing our shutter speed.
A slow shutter speed will make the movement of water softer and more interesting in landscape photography. By using a slow shutter you can maintain a small aperture so that everything that does not move will be sharp. Take a look at the 2nd image. You can see the turtle on the rock because the water is softer around it. The two elements do not compete with each other. On the sharper image above, the turtle gets lost.
You will need a tripod for slow shutter speed photography!

Sharp Depth of Field

A Sharp depth of field will give importance to all the elements in the photograph. This photograph was taken with an F-stop of 11. In Buenos Aires.... for a great tango.... The sharpness was essential to show all the texture in the building, floor and the lady's dress.

Botanicals and the aperture

When you find your beautiful botanical, move around to search for the perfect background, the one that will make your colors and shapes stand out.



These photographs were taken at the Fairchild Gardens in Miami Florida. A wide aperture was used. The wonderful thing about the soft focus is the dream- like quality that the photograph elicits.