Capture Landscape Photos Like a Pro

Owning and operating a camera does not mean that you will immediately take good photos. On the contrary, compelling photographs are the result of practice and the ability to implement the principles of photographic composition. Composition involves many elements, but in essence it is the art of arranging the contents in the viewfinder in a pleasing way. You may see a beautiful image somewhere, but just taking a photo of it without any thought to its composition, although capturing it, will not necessarily make a compelling photo. Landscape photos are especially difficult to take effectively due in part to the vastness of the subject. A mountain scene, a sunset or a beautiful valley are so big and contain so many elements that often the photograph is cluttered and uninteresting. To take landscape photos like an old professional, a sense of composition is necessary.

Composition

When you look through the viewfinder of your camera you see an image. It may be similar to what you see with your eyes, but simply snapping the photo without any thought to it won’t accurately reproduce what you saw. The eyes tend to focus on one subject and blur other objects in view. Thus, the eye creates an image that is compelling because of the natural compositional ability of the mind. When taking a picture, you have to recreate this artificially through a lens. Basically, you want a photograph that balances a subject of interest with background and foreground elements in a way that is neither cluttered nor boring. The contrast of light and dark, shapes and lines and the framing of the subject are all important to good composition.

Taking Landscape Photos

For landscape photos, good composition requires you to pare down the image to one subject and work with that. If you behold a beautiful valley, pick something to focus on. It could be a waterfall, a lone tree, a hilltop, almost anything. Looking through the camera’s viewfinder, run an imaginary line from the top left corner down to the bottom right. Then run an imaginary perpendicular line from the top right corner until it intersects with the first line. Place your subject at this intersection point by moving the camera. This is known as dynamic symmetry, and it creates balance and perspective. Focus the lens on the subject at this point. The lens will blur out objects in both the background and the foreground in regard to the subject. If the image is not that interesting, try moving the camera until you capture something that contrasts the subject or puts it into greater perspective. Perhaps the sun is setting over the horizon, creating stark lines or shadows. You can always switch the point of dynamic symmetry, too.

Don’t think that by pointing the camera at a landscape and clicking you will capture the essence of the image. You have to work at it, frame the subject in relation to its surroundings and don't try to capture too much. Through the art of composition you can learn to create compelling landscape photographs by working with and blending the different elements involved. With practice, a beautiful landscape will translate well to photographic image by making the camera see what your eye sees.