Almost everyone who takes photos, takes some landscape and scenic photos. It's just that the landscape photos you took didn't capture what you remember. You might be asking your self, what happened? Why didn't the photos come out like I remember? How can I get my landscape photos to be memorable? There are a few things I can do to make my landscape photos look more professional.
The first thing first, you must get to know your equipment. Take the time to read your manuals, understand how everything works, what it does and practice using your equipment at home, not on a scenic tour. Practice until everything thing becomes second nature.
Second, is to get everything organized for your photo shoot. Have your camera and all your accessories clean and in their proper place, have enough empty memory cards and all the batteries charged. It would be devastating to get out there and find your memory cards are full and your batteries are dead.
Good landscape and scenic photography takes time and planning. You can't just go out there and start snapping great photos. Of course you may get a good one every now and then, but you won't consistently get great photos. Take your time, plan your shots, and try several different angles and different positions. Don't always put your subject in the center of the photo. You may want to try several shots with your subject in different locations. But, while you are moving around to get that perfect shot, remember where you are, no shot is worth tripping over something and getting hurt. Take your time and stay safe.
If you want to get that crisp, clear, detailed landscape photo, you may want to use a tripod and a shutter cable to eliminate any camera movement. If you don't have a tripod, you may try leaning against something, pulling both elbows back into your ribs and holding your breath as you squeeze the shutter button, never snap it.
Something else to consider is the time of day for taking great pictures. Early morning and late afternoon or early evening is what is called the "Golden Hour." Just when the sun is coming up or going down, this is when the shadows are at their best; this will also add depth, texture and life to your photos. During midday, the sun will wash out the color and make your photos look flat and lifeless.
A few years ago, when I was in Death Valley, California, it was overcast (which is very unusual in desert country) while I was taking a few photos of what is called "Painters Pallet." The side of the cliff had vivid reds, greens, blues and yellows in the rock. There were deposits of iron, copper, magnesium and sulfur in the rocks that had oxidized. The colors in these photos stood out very nicely. The next day, it was bright and sunny, when I stopped in at the same place to take a few more photos, I couldn't even see the colors in the rocks with my naked eye. The full sun had totally washed out the beautiful colors I had seen the day before.
When taking distant landscape pictures, you may want to move where there is something in the foreground, like a tree, a bush, the edge of a log cabin... this will give your photo depth, contrast and frame the scene you want to capture. You may also want to give your distant landscape photos the greatest depth of field possible by using a small aperture setting. This may be done by setting your F stop at around f/22. Something to remember, the greater depth of field you need, the larger the F stop number should be, which will provide a smaller aperture setting.
One other thought, when composing your photo shot, take note of the horizon, you want your camera and the photo to be square with the horizon. It was terrible to have a great photo and the horizon was so off that it ruined the shot. There was a time when I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and I was taking a picture of the antler arch, at the town entrance, with the Grand Teton in the background. The picture was great, but the horizon was at such a bad angle that it totally destroyed the picture. I don't know about you, but that made me sick.
I hope these tips and suggestions will help you capture those wonderful landscape and scenic photos you have always dreamed of.
Have a great photo experience.
Thank you
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