Top tips for shooting landscapes

You can stumble upon all kinds of interesting places and stunning scenes when out and about. But it takes dedication to seek out photo-worthy spots. So when you find a great location, you want to do it justice. In this article, we'll look at some of the most common landscape photography mistakes and how to fix them.

Think about how to complement distant scenery with closer details. Often referred to as foreground interest, these closer details can do wonders for your composition by leading the eye through the scene. By contrast, a dull empty foreground simply wastes a large portion of the frame.

When seeking out foreground interest, try using Live View and experiment with camera positions to find the best balance between foreground and backdrop. A camera with a vari-angle screen like the Canon EOS RP is convenient for getting low to the ground, which is often necessary when framing rocks or plants. Including objects like this in the front of your scene, you can craft a balanced composition. But also keep in mind that not every landscape photo necessarily needs foreground interest. It's simply a useful compositional device to call upon when you need it.

Wide angle lenses let you capture the whole breadth of a beautiful scene, but not every shot needs a wide field of view. Sometimes zooming in to distant details can lead to more interesting landscape photos. A standard zoom lens like the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM used here has a useful focal range for landscape beginners. Our two highlighted shots were taken at either end of the 24-105mm range, so if you're just getting started with landscape photography then this lens is ideal. When the time comes to upgrade, L-series lenses like the Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM offer a step up in weather proofing and a faster max aperture. But for beginners, a standard zoom will let you capture stunningly detailed scenes.

The light you shoot in is a creative choice, it adds atmosphere, and this can take landscape photos to the next level. A classic mistake is to photograph scenes in hard sunlight. While this can be good for bringing out bold colours, it usually results in scenes with too much contrast. Look at the difference in these two images. The first was taken in direct sunlight. It captures the scene, but lacks atmosphere. The details in the tree are a distraction, there's an unsightly band of shadow along the bottom of the frame and even a careless photographer-shaped shadow. Coming back to the same scene later in the day, when the tree is in shade, results in a scene with less detail, but more atmosphere. Now there's colour in the sky, the tree makes for a bold silhouette and the distant misty scenery looks more dramatic.

There are several ways to ensure a level horizon while shooting. Engage Live View and use the thirds grid to level out the horizon. If you're using a tripod, there may also be a helpful spirit level in the head. Even with these aids, you may still occasionally have to correct an uneven image. This is easy enough in Canon Digital Photo Professional. Simply use the angle slider within the Crop tool settings to correct the tilt.

Often with landscape photography, the goal is to capture your scene completely sharp from front to back in order to show the maximum amount of detail. This is called maximum depth of field. To achieve this, you need to set a narrow aperture (high f number). The examples above demonstrate the difference between shooting a landscape with a wide vs narrow aperture.

In the first image here, an aperture of f/4 was used. The tree in the foreground is sharp, but the scene beyond is soft. In the second frame, a narrower aperture of f/16 records both foreground and background more clearly. If the aim is to single out a key feature of the landscape, a wide aperture can be very useful, but most of the time a narrow aperture and maximum depth of field is preferable. An easy way to set your aperture for landscapes is to use AV mode, then dial in a narrow aperture like f/16. Watch the shutter speed – if it drops too low you may need to use a tripod or increase your ISO to avoid blurred images.

For the sharpest landscapes, you also want to be shooting at the 'sweet spot' of your lens. A general rule of thumb is that your lens is sharpest at two f-stops from your widest aperture setting. So if using a lens that is f/2.8 at its widest setting, your sweet spot on that optic will be around f/5.6.

A common problem for landscape photographers is that you can focus on something in your foreground but risk everything behind it being soft. Conversely, if you focus on elements in your background, your foreground is blurry. Hyperfocal distance focusing helps you get more of your frame sharp by finding the closest point at which you can focus and keep your background acceptably sharp. This technique isn't as complicated as it sounds, and the Depth of field (DOF) and Hyperfocal distance calculator on the Photo Companion app does all the hard work for you.

It's common to shoot at eye level, but this might not always result in the most interesting shot. Try moving your camera up high or down low to experiment with different heights – you might find more interesting angles. Reflections, for example, will often look better if the camera is held low to the water. It helps if you use a camera with a vari-angle screen, such as the Canon EOS RP, as this lets you compose from a comfortable height while holding your camera low to the ground or high above your head.


Written by James Paterson