It’s one of the most popular and rewarding types of photography and that of landscape photography. You take the beauty of nature and create stunning images that are available to everyone. If you’re a beginner or an experienced photographer, these landscape photography tips will bring you to the next level in developing your skills and making awesome shots.
We’ll show you through essential photography tips for the beginners and advanced landscape photography techniques in this blog. By the time you are finished, you will have the camera settings for landscapes and tips for making great photos every time.
Let’s dive in!
One of the top landscape photography tips is to watch the light. The best time for landscape photography is with the ‘Golden Hours’, which are early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The sun is low in the sky, and now the path is cast with a soft warm light. Even this light makes your colors pop and puts dramatic shadows into your photos which look more magical.
PRO TIP:
Wake up (early) to the most beautiful light or get there at sunset for breathtaking landscape shots.
2. Use a Tripod for Stability
Stability of the landscape camera is vital when shooting landscapes since any motion blur will be completely unjustified. Tripod is used to keep your camera steady-especially when you’re using slow shutter speeds. This becomes exceptionally important when you’re shooting in low light, the longer your exposure times need to be.
Photography tips for beginners: If you’ve got less light or are using small apertures, a sturdy tripod will increase the sharpness of your images.
PRO TIP:
When searching for the best, optimal tripod to help capture the perfect shot look for a lightweight, portable tripod that you can carry to remote locations easily.
3. Choose the Right Camera Settings
The first setting as any kind of general rule is to use a small (high) f-stop with a large depth of field so that everything in foreground all the way back to the background is in focus. Here are a few essential settings to consider:
- Aperture: sharp focal point throughout scene, f/8 – f/16optical
- Shutter Speed: Use a tripod for slower speeds, 1/125 sec or slower.
- ISO: Trying to keep it as low as possible (ISO 100-400) as a way to reduce noise
- White Balance: You can set it for daylight, or according to the custom setting.
PRO TIP:
Play with your camera settings; it’s not a big deal if they don’t exactly reflect your goal. If the light is worth the scene you’re shooting, they’ll be fine.
4. Use Leading Lines to Create Depth
Leading lines can be used on your landscape shots to add depth and interest to your pics. Natural items such as roads, rivers, fences and the like, can serve as leading lines to help the viewer’s eye to the subject or horizon.
PRO TIP:
So you want to try out natural patterns of your surroundings, like winding rivers or the rows of trees, and apply them to your photos to create an image flow.
5. Focus on Composition
There is so much composition going on when it comes to landscapes. The Rule of Thirds is one of the most popular ways for making strong composition. Picture your frame in two lines horizontally and two lines vertically splitting it into nine equal parts. These lines or the intersection of them can place important elements of your scene for a well balanced photo.
Use of such techniques such as these methods of landscape photography helps to make more dynamic and visually interesting images.
PRO TIP:
You should always spend time in examining the scene carefully. Adjust your viewpoint to get the most interesting and balanced composition, move around to vary up a bit.
6. Use Filters to Enhance Your Images
They can help your stunning landscape shot stand out with contrast and clarity by getting rid of glare or enhance colors. There are several types of filters to consider:
- Polarizing filter: Improves clarity of colors especially in the sky and water; also greatly reduces reflections.
- ND (Neutral Density) filter: This enables you use slower shutter speeds in bright light creating silky smooth water effects.
- Graduated ND filter: Balances the exposure between bright skies and black land.
A good way to break through with your landscape photography techniques is to use filters.
PRO TIP:
If you’re going to invest in filters, do it with high quality filters in your lens size. The quality of your images can decrease depending on cheaper options.
7. Shoot in RAW Format
The advantage of shooting in RAW format is that when you edit the photo later, you have more freedom with what you do. Unlike JPEG the differences between RAW file and JPEG are that the RAW file have more image data so you can adjust exposure, contrast and colours without losing quality.
PRO TIP:
Always shoot in RAW if you plan to change your landscape shot in post processing as this gives you maximum control over your image.
8. Include a Foreground Element
An interesting foreground element will add interest and depth to your landscape photos. It can be a rock, a tree, or whatever else that contextually provides and gives the viewer scale.
PRO TIP:
Natural objects are looked for to blend into the scene so as to create a well balanced composition.
9. Experiment with Different Perspectives
Shooting landscapes shouldn’t make you feel too afraid to change your perspective. Sometimes the best shots result from lying down and looking up, or lugging oneself to a higher vantage. Trial many different angles to see which one throws the best composition.
Photography tips for beginners: Give it a go from high and low and see what works best for the scene you’re photographing.
PRO TIP:
If you’re in an unusual location filled with incredible rock formations, climb to top of a higher elevation for scenic aerial imagery.
10. Post-Processing for Perfection
Once you’ve been able to capture your stunning landscape shots don’t forget post processing. You can improve the colors and anything else of your images on editing. If you’ve been on the fence about a photo, one of the more popular ways you can make it pop is through software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop and adjusting the exposure, contrast, and saturation.
PRO TIP:
Don’t over edit your landscape photos, be mindful of that. Go for the adjustable visual appeal in a way that one can let the stability touch up without seeming artificial.
Read this blog: Top 10 Picnic Spots Near Kolkata – You Must Visit in 2025!
Conclusion
Landscape photography is an exciting one and with these landscape photography tips you will be able to take stunning pictures with confidence. It’s important to remember to shoot in light, with composition and the camera settings but to also experiment and find your way. If you’re a beginner or expert, these tips will take your awesome landscape shots to the next level.
We at Bongo Rise hope you keep practicing and learning. But the better your landscape photography will become, the more you shoot!
People Also Ask
Golden Hours will also make you a better landscape photographer; they are after all the best times to shoot. Just after sunrise and just before sunset. It’s more professional, the light is softer, warmer, and longer shadows add a depth to your photos. These times give rise to the most flattering natural light for beautiful landscape shots.
Your camera is stabilized with a tripod and will prevent shake and blur in your photos. However, it is important to use in low light conditions especially at lower shutter speed. Capturing sharp, crisp details across the scene is more doable on a tripod.
But for landscape photography a smaller aperture (often f/8 to f/16) is used to make sure everything is in focus. Get a low ISO (this will vary between 100 and 400), and adjust the shutter speed based upon the lighting. These are the best camera settings for landscapes to help you take sharp, vibrant shot.
Polarizing filters cut out reflections and add true colors to the sky and water. When the light is too bright, such as shooting a river or ocean in any sort of brightness, ND filters are great for shooting in slower shutter speeds. Without these filters your stunning landscape shots will not only look unpolished they will also have a low quality and a poor mood.
Shooting in RAW format means that you have maximum control over your image in post processing. RAW files are more detailed than JPEG files because you can adjust exposure, colors and contrast and end up with files that have not lost quality. Using this is especially handy when editing landscape photography techniques.
In order to pick up a dramatic sky, its best to use a polarizing filter to bring out the blues and knock down the glare. When using a graduated ND filter to balance the exposure of the sky, it does two things to ensure it doesn’t overexpose the foreground. During Golden Hours, it’s more vibrant because the sky is properly timed.
If you want the foreground to be sharp to the background, use no small aperture (small f-stop such as f/8 or f/11). This gives you a fine depth of field. Remember to focus on a point that is one third from the scene, to keep the foreground and the background sharp in your stunning shots of the landscape.
To add interest and depth, include a strong foreground element like rocks or trees. Use leading lines to guide the viewer’s eye through the scene. Additionally, experiment with perspective by shooting from low or high angles. These elements bring your landscape photography techniques to life.
If you’re looking for a camera for landscape photography, you want it to have at least 24 MP resolution, great low light performance and have wide lens compatible. Landscape photographers like crop sensor cameras for their dynamic range and image quality, but crop sensors can take fantastic landscape photos too.
When you want to avoid blurry photos, try to get a stable camera, either with a tripod or whatnot. Use a shutter speed quick enough (1/125th sec up) to avoid motion blur. Also, make sure your eyes fall on the focus shifter and focus sharply, even in the foreground for that crisp landscape photography shots.
This is all to capture smooth water and in this case the best and easiest way to do this is to use a neutral density (ND) filter to reduce the amount of light that is entering the lens. This gives you the opportunity to slow your shutter speed, thus adding to the amount of time the water appears smooth and silky, while ensuring your shot isn’t overly underexposed or over (killer whale) exposed.
Depth brings more depth to your landscape photos. Adding a foreground element, a few leading lines and distinct foreground/middle ground/background lines create depth. This makes it more interesting — gives it layers.
Finally, spending that some time post processing paying attention to how the exposure, contrast and color balance helps make your photo pop. Maximize flavor, clarity, and natural looking details without sacrifice. Do not over edit to keep the image real. Adobe Lightroom is learning software that will help you perfect your landscape photography techniques even further.
