LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY: COMPLETE GUIDE WITH TIPS

Can you imagine bumping into an article where to find everything, absolutely everything you need to know to get started to make shots of incredible landscapes? A complete and highly detailed guide on landscape photography where you can find the answers to all your questions related to this genre…

I plan to make this article the most comprehensive guide on landscape photography ever created in Spanish in the face of… the Internet. Presumptuous purpose, yes I know, but in these more than 10 years of life which is in this web, we’ve published countless articles dealing with various aspects of landscape photography.

Today, I plan to meet all of these tips and tricks in this comprehensive mega-guide with which I want to help make it a reality for those pictures of landscape that you take time dreaming.

Important: before you begin, I recommend that you add this item to your favourites. This way you’ll be able to use him in the future whenever you need to review some aspect or wish to review some advice before you go out with your camera to do photography of landscapes.

Another thing: don’t get overwhelmed thinking for the extension of this guide, I have worked in presentártela of the most visual and structured as possible, so the more in a hurry, you can go directly to the sections that interest them. Even so I recommend you to prepare your favorite drink, a notebook and pen to pick up inspiration and ideas, and that you feel to spend the time you deserve this guide of landscape photos.

WHAT TYPES OF LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY THERE ARE?

Here are some of the types of landscape photography best known are:

  • Natural landscape
  • Urban landscape
  • Night landscape
  • Winter landscape
  • Rural landscape
  • Landscape black and white
  • Landscape cheap
  • Landscape with foggy
  • Landscape air
  • Panoramic landscape
  • Landscape minimalist
  • Landscape in Long Exposure

WHAT IS THE CAMERA IDEAL FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY?

Unlike other photographic genres, such as sport or photography of animals, for which he is grateful to have a camera with advanced features, beautiful landscape photos are not very demanding in that sense. Any camera (yes, with manual controls) will allow you to get very good results. At the level of photographic equipment, the camera is where the fewer problems you’ll have. The target to assemble the camera itself that can have a crumb. Let’s see it. But before I leave you a list of my recommendations for the best dslr cameras for beginners in photography.

WHAT IS THE BEST LENS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY?

Here you have the most suitable for shooting landscapes:

  • Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
  • Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
  • Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 G
  • Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4
  • Sigma 12-24mm f/4
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS II USM
  • Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 G

If you find a good target, you have half the job done. To photograph a landscape, it is essential to have an objective whose focal length is minimal, if it is a wide-angle lens the better.

WHAT ACCESSORIES DO I NEED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF LANDSCAPES?

What accessories photography refers’m more of a minimalist, I prefer to use the smallest possible number of accessories. Now, if a fixture brings utility, what I want with all my strength and I do not detach too of him ever.

If you’re going to do photography of landscapes, as well as your camera and lens, you will need to, mainly, the following accessories:

  • Filters (especially the Polarizing Filter)
  • Tripod to stabilize the shot.
  • Remote shutter release, also to stabilize the shot.

WHAT IS THE BEST FILTER FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY?

The filters are small crystals that, coupled at the goal, add some effect or contribute any useful extra. They are very useful in landscape photography and there are a wide variety of types, each one serves a different purpose.

For landscape pictures, my favorite is the Polarizing Filter, I think that allows you to capture amazing scenery.

COMPOSITION FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

The composition is an essential element in landscape photography. To be able to capture amazing scenery, it is important to note some rules of composition, and try as far as possible to be guided by them.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH LANDSCAPES CRISP

It is easy to find with an amazing landscape, have photographic equipment excellent, and, even so, chafarlo all with a blurry photo or a little sharp. When composing your picture landscape, be sure to work the part of the sharpness.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH LANDSCAPES OF SPRING

One of the stations that are most amenable to landscape photographs, being able to give us amazing scenery, is the spring.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH WINTER LANDSCAPES

Contrary to what many believe, the winter with its rains, storms, snowfall and bad weather hidden real photographic opportunities that are only within the reach of those who dare to go out to look for them. When it is winter where you live, I recommend that you spend an afternoon out to portray the nature and to capture beautiful pictures of landscapes. What you don’t know where to start? 

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH LANDSCAPES AT DAWN AND SUNSET

Two of the most gratifying moments for the landscape photographer are the sunrise and the sunset. The soft light characteristic of these two moments, the degree to which the light falls on the landscape, the color and the quality of that light become both the sunrise and sunset in spectacular landscape pictures that are all of the photographers we have a real desire to search.

If you like landscape photography of sunrise and sunset, I invite you to read these tips on photography of sunrise and sunset.

PHOTOGRAPHY OF NIGHT LANDSCAPE

Photography of night landscapes is one of the types of photography, less explored for the amateur photographer in general, in large part, by the apparent complexity. What is certain is that such complexity does not exist. In reality the effect is “the whiting that bites the tail”. The less you practice night photography, the more difficult it will be. So, if you like night landscapes, you should ask yourself to grab your camera and start planning outputs photography of the night to make photography night landscape.

If the first few times you get photos with room for improvement, it is important not to throw in the towel. You don’t expect sew the first time a friend right? But calm, we will have a second night, and a third, and in each output you will see that your night landscapes are getting better.

Do you need some inspiration? All that is  Here are Beginners tips for a perfect stars shooting at night

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY BLACK-AND-WHITE (EASY)

The black-and-white never goes out of fashion. The lack of color in a photograph has a special charm in all genres of photography, so in landscape photography was not going to be less.

EDITING PROGRAMS ON LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

The same editing software and photo processing tools allow you to value your photos of landscapes. If you ask me for a recommendation, my favorite program is, without a doubt, Lightroom. For a subscription price very reasonable allows you to completely transform your landscape photos.

If, for any reason, you will not get a lot of Lightroom, here are a few other options that are just as good:

  • CaptureOne
  • Adobe Camera RAW
  • Luminar
  • RawTherapee
  • Darktable
  • DxO Photo Lab
  • Affinity Photo

APPS OF MOBILE PHONE FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Here are some apps amazing of which little is spoken and you can help in one degree or another to get wonderful photos of landscapes:

  • GPS Kit: Amazing app, designed especially for hikers and people who practice outdoor activities such as hiking or the scale, but I think that can help you as a photographer to guide you, you don’t get lost on the way (works even if you don’t have phone coverage/data), in addition to allow you to be able to go back to a particular site with precision time and time again.
  • Focalware: Famous app, which is very common among photographers and video. Helps you get organized to plan your photo out when you want to capture the sunrise or sunset.
  • PhotoPills: App award with which you can plan your pictures in outside, to monitor a given point outside the concrete for a period of time, to verify the changes of light, etc it Also offers social features that allow you to share and plan out with fellow fans.
  • TrueDoF-Pro DoF Calculator: A complete meter of depth-of-field, one of the essential aspects of landscape photography that you have to pay a lot of attention. With this app you have solved.
  • PeakFinder AR: This app based on AR (Augmented Reality), allows you to scan the landscape in which you find yourself with the camera of your mobile phone, and the app will showing signs on the screen of your smartphone, in real time, identifying the mountains that you could have sight. The app boasts a database of more than 650,000 mountains. In addition, it brings other functions that are very useful in the face of landscape photography. (At the time I write this review, the app is number 3 in the category of Apps for Travel in the App Store).

BOOKS ON LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

If you were looking for recommendations on books about landscape photography, I leave here some books that are worth having in your library staff house:

  • The Landscape Photography Book: The step-by-step techniques you need to capture breathtaking landscape photos like the pros Have you ever dreamed of taking such incredible landscape photos that your friends and family say, “Wait a minute, this is your photo?! You took this?” Well, you’re in luck. Right here, in this book, pro photographer and award-winning author Scott Kelby teaches you how to shoot and edit jaw-dropping landscape photographs. Scott shares all his secrets and time-tested techniques, as he discusses everything from his go-to essential gear and camera settings to the landscape photography techniques you need to create absolutely stunning images. From epic scenes at sunrise to capturing streams and waterfalls with that smooth, silky look, and from photographing the night sky or the Milky Way to creating breathtaking, sweeping panoramas, Scott has got you covered.
  • The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography Paperback The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography, 2nd Edition teaches photographers how to convert their visual peak experiences―moments of extraordinary natural beauty that evoke a sense of wonder and awe―into stunning images that elicit the same awestruck emotion in their viewers. Author Glenn Randall is an experienced wilderness photographer, and whether you want to venture into the mountains for once-in-a-lifetime shots of raw nature, or simply hone your landscape photography skills from the safety of your back deck, Randall explains the art, science and craft behind creating stunning landscape photographs.
  • Light on the Landscape: Photographs and Lessons from a Life in Photography Paperback For more than two decades, William Neill has been offering his thoughts and insights about photography and the beauty of nature in essays that cover the techniques, business, and spirit of his photographic life. Curated and collected here for the first time, and accompanying 128 beautiful reproductions of Neill’s photographs, these essays are both pragmatic and profound, offering readers an intimate look behind the scenes at Neill’s creative process behind individual photographs as well as a discussion of the larger and more foundational topics that are key to his philosophy and approach to work.
  • Night Sky Photography: From First Principles to Professional Results Paperback When the night sky transforms terrestrial landscapes into otherworldly works of art, you need to know the professional techniques for capturing your own nocturnal masterpieces. This complete course combines the classic beauty of landscapes with the vast, exotic universe of astrophotography, using tried-and-tested methods that guarantee stellar results. You’ll learn what gear you need and how to make the most of it; clever tricks for squeezing out every drop of image quality from a pitch-black scene; and straightforward post-production workflows to create compelling compositions of the cosmos.

THE BEST LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Here a listadito with some international photographers specializing in landscape photography, you might you might get some inspiration at a given time. I’m going to mix names of both the old school as a young talent current:

  • Ansel Adams: A eminence in photography in general, with an important legacy in landscape photography. Spent a good part of his life dedicated to photographing national parks in the united States, where he was able to obtain a considerable catalogue of shots of incredible landscapes that continue to inspire photographers to this day. You can enjoy his work on the account Instagram , carried by those who manage their rights today.
  • Justin Minns: a Photographer’s current Uk, specialising in landscape photography proximity. You can enjoy their work in their online gallery and on his Instagram.
  • Michael Kenna: A master of landscape photography black-and-white. Very minimalist in his compositions. You can see his work on his website and on his Instagram.
  • Ted Gore: Photographer, based in California, specializing in landscapes of ways unconventional. Website and Instagram.
  • Marco Grassi: a well-known photographer of landscapes with different awards to their backs. He works for several media (National Geographic. BBC, CNN, among others). His pictures of landscapes are very dramatic and serene at the same time. You can view your work in his account of Instagram.
  • Katheryn Dyer: Photographer focused on nature. His works are characterized by a sweet point of dreaming many times combines to people within natural settings.

YOUTUBE VIDEO WITH TIPS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

If you are one of those who prefer learning more “visual”, I leave here a video where share some of the worst mistakes a photographer can make in landscape photography:

This other video it teaches, camera in hand, how to set up your camera to achieve a correct exposure in your photos of landscape:

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ABOUT LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Then, quick answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about landscape photography.

WHAT IS A PHOTOGRAPHY OF A LANDSCAPE?

Landscape photography is the photographic representation of a place, whether natural (forest, landscape, etc) or artificial (city: buildings, etc), taken with a photographic apparatus such as a camera, a mobile phone, or even a drone, ALWAYS with the active intervention of a person. In this mode, a capture urban taken systematically by a security camera in the corner of a street would not be considered to landscape photography.

Within the landscape photography can have many sub-genres. We’ve listed the top at the beginning of this article.

WHAT IS NEEDED TO TAKE PICTURES OF SCENERY?

Landscape photography requires at least:

  • A photo camera (slr, compact, etc).
  • Tripod (for dslr cameras).
  • Basic understanding of photography.
  • Examples of the line photos that you want to get.
  • Locations designed or marked previously.
  • Optional: Program photo processing, such as Lightroom or another.

I hope that you have found this guide helpful and that, from now on, you can show off a few shots of incredible landscapes. Do you still have more questions? Déjanoslas in the comments below and we’ll answer them all.

By the way, have you already shared this guide? I’m sure more than a friend she’ll thank you (and I too) .