Arm yourself with the skills and techniques you need to become a master of shooting the great outdoors

By Jon Adams and Andrew James

Getty

The landscape provides a rich, varied and everchanging subject for the keen photographer. A typical approach to capturing the natural beauty of the great outdoors is to frame up with a wide-angle lens – anything from 16mm to 35mm is generally regarded as the focal length zone for shooting classic landscapes. But while a wide-angle lens means you fit more of a scene into your frame, this often causes extra compositional headaches that need to be overcome.

Over the next 12 pages, we’ll delve deep into the best approaches for shooting stunning landscapes. We’ll show how bringing together the art of designing your image, shooting at the optimum time, and using tried-andtrusted techniques to make sure your scenics technically hit the mark will ensure you’re never disappointed with your efforts. And we’ll touch on the other essential part of modern digital photography – polishing up those raw files to give every landscape photo you take maximum quality and visual impact.

While landscapes can be taken all year round, as autumn turns to winter, the shapes, structures and textures of the countryside become even more apparent. With the daylight hours shortening, too, sunrise and sunset also happen at a more civilised hour; so if you’re feeling inspired, grab your kit bag, put on your walking boots and waterproofs, and head for the hills.

A classic, wide-angle landscape, shot at dawn with the sun low in the sky, on the Great Ridge leading to Mam Tor in the Peak District.

1 Building blocks The basics of classic scenics

Now you know what a classic landscape is, discover how to ‘work’ the scene and successfully combine the elements

You can’t just point your camera in the direction of a great scene and expect the results to look impressive. The key components of an outstanding landscape image can be broken down into four key pillars: the building blocks that make your photo stand out. Each of these adds its own important element; combined, they take your shots from being a snap of what’s there to a carefully constructed fine-art landscape.

1 Composition

When you have a wide-angle lens on your camera, a great foreground is essential in your classic landscape. Whether it’s something prominent like a large boulder, or more subtle textures leading you into the frame, the foreground is the base on which you build the design of your image.

2 Timing

You’ll never take your best images in perfect sunny weather or in the middle of the day. For a moody image with the best light, it’s important to be out shooting early and late, or when the weather is more unpredictable. This is when you’ll get the best conditions to accentuate the shapes within the scene, provide interesting skies, and give your composition an injection of drama.

3 Depth and sharpness

A classic landscape has depth, and is as sharp as possible from the foreground to the far distance. This sharpness allows you to capture all the interesting details and textures within the scene with absolute clarity, giving the viewer the sense that they could almost step into the photograph.

4 Movement

Admittedly not every classic landscape shot has to have movement, but when you can include it – perhaps as water flowing down a hillside, waving wheat in a rural field, or clouds scudding across the sky – it acts as the softer foil to the sharper edges of the land. You’ll need slower shutter speeds, though, from 1/15 sec to several seconds.