If you’re just getting started in landscape photography, welcome to the club! You definitely have a lot to learn, but don’t feel intimidated because expanding one’s skills is part of the fun. The tutorial below from an accomplished British landscape photographer is designed to shorten your learning curve, with three simple tips he say’s “every beginner should know.”
This episode from pro Nigel Danson isn’t about camera settings, exposure, focus, and other technical matters. Instead, the 11-minute lesson involves esthetic considerations and how to view subjects differently than when shooting other types of photos. There’s also a healthy dose of advice for composing images with maximum impact.
Danson says his goal is to help you consistently capture better photos, and he kicks off the video with a discussion focal length and the best lenses to use depending upon the scenes you confront. In this regard Danson insists that the key to photographing expansive vistas is simplifying the scene and drawing the viewer into the frame by accentuating one or a just a few eye-catching elements.
In some cases doing this requires setting conventional wisdom aside, leaving your wide-angle lens in the bag, and shooting with a somewhat longer focal length. Taking this approach makes it easy to eliminate extraneous elements, and thereby your imagery will have far greater impact. You can also achieve this goal with careful cropping, depending upon the resolution of your camera.
Danson’s second tip is also somewhat unconventional, as he says. “Don’t put your camera on a tripod as soon as you arrive on location. The tripod should be the very, very last thing you should pull out before starting to shoot.” Danson prefers to walk around the area with his camera, unencumbered by a heavy tripod, while examining the terrain and taking a few test shots before deciding upon a composition. Then, and only then, is it time to lockdown your camera and get to work.
The last tip has to do with deciphering the quality and direction of prevailing light, and this too may require a bit of experimentation. Danson has some great suggestions in this regard, and they can make all the difference. By combining all three of his tips, better images are sure to follow.
You can find a wide array of landscape photography tips on Danson’s instructional YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit and return often.
And if you missed this morning’s tutorial, with great ideas for shooting landscape photos close to home, take a look and discover opportunities you may have overlooked.
For the past couple months we’ve been bringing you weekly installments of an amazing free Lightroom Masterclass from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel—each devoted to an important tool or technique that can make a huge improvement in your results.
The tutorial below is Part 8 of the series, explaining how to use Lightroom’s versatile Transform tools to easily correct geometric irregularities in images shot outdoors. Whether a photo is spoiled by converging vertical lines, a crooked horizon, or other such anomaly, you’ll learn the quick fix in barely six minutes.
German landscape pro Christian Mohrle is a favorite among Shutterbug readers because of his straightforward tutorials that are illustrated with impactful photos. His demonstration image today is a seaside shot with a few problems, and you can download the Raw file and make the adjustments he recommends while watching the lesson.
Mohrle begins in Lightroom’s Transform panel and explains how it works. Expanding the panel reveals a variety of helpful options for different tasks. These settings can be employed to level a crooked shot, and fix vertical and horizontal lines that don’t appear in the photo like they did with your eyes.
Mohrle explains why these irregularities can be particularly problematic when shooting in the field with a wide-angle lens. The simple rehabilitation process he describes will prove equally valuable when editing architectural and cityscape photos.
You’ll want to start by enabling Lens Corrections with a checkbox in Lightroom’s dedicated panel. Then it’s time to open the Transform tab and get to work, using the various siders and buttons as Mohrle suggests.
Some key Lightroom settings are turned off by default, but you can easily change that so transformations are applied automatically. Of course you can make the necessary adjustments yourself using a manual approach if you prefer. Mohrle’s describes how the different sliders work so you’ll know exactly what to do.
If landscape photography is your thing, be sure to pay a visit to Mohrle’s instructional YouTube channel. There’s plenty there to explore, including previous installments of the Lightroom Masterclass series.
And for another helpful explainer, check out our earlier post with the ultimate guide to bracketing photos for perfect exposure.
If you’re struggling to capture beautiful landscape photographs near where you live, because there’s no time to travel to an exotic location, that’s going to change after watching the tutorial below. And it’s not going to cost you a dime—just 15 minutes of your time.
This episode isn’t about investing in new gear, camera settings, or arcane techniques, but rather about taking advantage of local opportunities you may have missed. You’ll learn five steps used by pro Mads Peter Iversen to shoot “absolutely epic landscape photos in my local neighborhood in Denmark.”
The Danish countryside may be more picturesque that what’s available near were you live, but you’ll surprised what you can accomplish with an open mind, some preparation, and a couple gallons of gas in your car. Just shooting after dark, for example, can pay big dividends, because scenes that appear boring during the day are often transformed into magical tableaus once the sun drops below the horizon.
As Iversen says, this episode is devoted to “all the essential things you do before clicking the shutter button that will make a great photo.” His first tip isn’t the most exciting, but’s it’s crucial when you don’t have time to travel; namely, research and explore your surroundings to discover points of interest and potential compositions.
Iversen notes that epic subjects aren’t necessary to create epic imagery; they just have to stand out from the scene so there’s a strong and impactful focal point. He also offers the important reminder that “epic conditions” can make a huge difference, which is why you should never hesitate to venture out in bad weather.
There’s also a discussion of what Iversen calls the “X-Factor of Landscape Photography” that can make a world of difference. And you’ll see how compositing flat photos can result in impressive results.
Iversen wraps up the lesson with a few more editing techniques that can transform photos of average scenes into truly special and dramatic photographs. Our advice is to temporarily forget about purchasing a plane ticket or investing in new glass, and see what you can conjure up close to home with the gear you already own.
And be sure to take a virtual trip to Iversen’s YouTube channel, where you’ll find more shooting and editing tips when landscape photos are the goal.
We also suggest checking out the tutorial we posted recently from another accomplished pro, explaining how to create stunning bokeh effects in the camera.
