A Guide to Successful Landscape Photography

Following is a guide of mostly common sense things that I have found useful while out taking photos. Of course I often don't follow my own tips, and that is why I always get bitten by bugs.

1. Stay alert and aware: Landscape photography usually involves walking in isolated locations, so it is important to be aware of the dangers you may face. Take a friend with you if you can and they can often hold your gear for you as well! Be aware of the location, most suburban places after the sun sets aren't the safest place to be, especially if you are alone. As well as possible dangers from other people, stay alert to other risks you may face i.e snakes, trip hazards if you are out in the dark. Always make sure you tell someone where you are going, and carry a phone with you.

2. Be prepared! Be prepared for the situation. For short walks as long as you wear the right clothes for the conditions you should be ok. Keep extra clothes in your car in case things change by the time you get to your chosen location. For longer hikes, take water, food, a raincoat if you think its necessary and sturdy shoes. Old shirts and cargo shorts work for me in summer, as well as sandals that can get wet (boots for longer walks). Its always handy to wear something with pockets that you can place items like lens caps, keys, spare filters. Suncream and bug repellent are other essential items.

3. Take the right gear: There is nothing worse then the feeling of dismay when you see something you would like to capture, but didn't bring the correct lens for it. Ensure you bring your essential gear, but balance out what you deem neccesary, as you will carry it all yourself. I usually carry only my camera with an attached lens, for landscapes the sigma 10-22mm, with a circular polarizer attached and a ND8 filter and 81b (warming filter). Take a tripod, unless you think you can balance your camera on rocks, your bag, or your shoes, as I have before. The general consensus is the heavier the better when it comes to tripods, but again its as much weight as you are prepared to carry. Your images may suffer from camera shake with a lighter tripod, however.

4. Keep an eye on the weather conditions: If you are planning on shooting at sunset, watch the skies during the day. The best sunsets are those with some clouds in the sky, too much can lead to dull sunsets as the sun becomes hidden behind the clouds, no cloud (which is often the case where I live) leads to boring sunsets as the sun itself is too harsh to shoot until after it has gone below the horizon. Often I wont bother going out if I think the sunset will be weak however many times I have gone out expecting a dull sunset only to be surprised. Heavy clouds can still give you dramatic cloud shots, even if the sunset is dull. No clouds can give you great reflection shots and strong colours in long exposures, as below.


5. Choose your time for going out shooting: Landscapes can look dramatically different depending on the time of day. I personally do not shoot at all during the day due to the sun being too strong. Half an hour to an hour before sunset (I usually use this time to scout out a good location in my chosen area) to half an hour to an hour after sunset is my favourite time of day. You get the sunset and you have time for some long exposures after sunset. Unfortunately it is often the time when the mosquitoes come out (see tip 2).

6. Composition! composition!: While out in the big wide world it is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of things to take pictures of. Don't fall into the trap of being snap happy! Remember some basic rules of composition and take your time to look around and find something suitable. Foreground interest, Z and S curves, leading lines, and rule of thirds I consider very important for clarifying shot composition.

7. Be patient! You may be cold, hungry, tired, bitten by mosquitoes, but if you get one or two decent shots out of it, then to me its worthwhile. Many landscape photographers will set up in a place they think will be their perfect shot and wait for hours until the light is right. Well thats not me, because I cant stand still for very long and prefer to see what other places have to offer. Think of it this way, you might get the perfect shot by waiting for hours in one spot, but what about all the other places you may have missed out on? Its up to the individual photographer in the end, of course.

These guidelines may seem simple but follow them and you will wear the same self satisfied smile I do in the shot below :D