Your First Five Steps into Landscape Photography (Even in Your Local Park!)
What if I told you that you don't need to travel to exotic locations to capture breathtaking landscape photos? Even in your local park, garden, or quiet street, the principles of stunning landscape photography apply. In this episode, we're making the possibility of creating great landscape photos accessible to everyone, right where you are. Yes dear listener – where you are right now. How exciting eh?
Landscape photography isn't just about vast, sweeping vistas. It’s about capturing a sense of place, the beauty of an environment, or the interaction of light and nature. This could be a grand canyon or a single tree in your local park. The goal is to convey the mood and atmosphere of a scene or place, making the viewer feel as though they're standing right there with you. It’s about composing, finding the right light, and understanding your surroundings to make a compelling photograph.
Hello and welcome to the Photography Explained Podcast! That was the answery bit.
This is Photography Explained Podcast - Episode 213: Your First Five Steps into Landscape Photography (Even in Your Local Park!)
A very good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to you, wherever you are in the world. I'm your host, Rick, and in each episode, I try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish), without the irrelevant details. Yes, really.
I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my utterly splendid podcast.
Today, we're taking those first crucial steps into the world of landscape photography. Whether you dream of capturing epic mountain ranges or want to make your local park look incredible, we'll cover the fundamental techniques that apply to any scene. This isn't complex theory; it's practical, easy-to-understand advice to get you started on your landscape photography journey.
How utterly splendid. Let’s get into this.
Here are the 5 top tips that are your first five steps into landscape photography! These will help you start capturing stunning landscapes, no matter where you are. These things will simplify the process and help you achieve engaging, professional-looking landscape photos. Photos that you can be proud of. What is not to love!
1: See the Scene: Finding Your Best Viewpoint for Landscapes
Your very first and most crucial step is simply to look around and explore. Don't just stand where you first arrive and lift your camera. Walk around your chosen scene – even if it's just a small area in your local park or garden. Get low, get high (if safe), move left, move right. Pay attention to how your viewpoint changes the relationship between foreground and background elements. What looks ordinary at eye-level might look dramatic from down low, making a small flower appear enormous against the sky, or from up high, revealing interesting patterns. This deliberate act of exploration helps you eliminate distracting elements, find unique perspectives, and control what appears in your background, ensuring a cleaner, more compelling image. Look for natural lines or shapes that lead your eye into the scene, like a winding path, a row of trees, or the curve of a river. This simple act of exploring for the best angle is free, requires no special gear, and makes a huge difference to the final impact of your photo.
I have talked about these photography superpower many times before – walking, looking and thinking.
2: The Light Magic: Best Times for Landscape Photos
Light is truly everything in photography, especially in landscapes. Well, photography is drawing with light after all! The quality, direction, and colour of light can transform an ordinary scene into something magical. Generally, you want to avoid the harsh, direct midday sun, which creates strong, unflattering shadows and blown-out highlights. But if that is all the time that you have, check out episode 209, Taking Great Photos in Direct Sunlight: 5 Tips For Beating the Harsh Light. But if you can, aim for the 'golden hour' – the hour just after sunrise or before sunset. During this time, the sun is low in the sky, producing soft, warm, golden light and beautiful long shadows that add depth and drama. This warm light makes greens richer and enhances textures. Overcast days can also be fantastic, providing soft, even, diffused light, perfect for intimate landscapes like woodlands, waterfalls, or misty scenes, where you want to highlight subtle colours and details without harsh shadows. Even in your local park, golden hour light falling on a familiar tree or building can create a completely new feeling. Always pay attention to the direction of light – side light will bring out texture, front light will flatten the scene, and backlighting can create stunning silhouettes or glowing edges. Checking the weather and sunrise/sunset times before you go out is always a good idea.
But if you live in England like me, just make the best of what you have. I have learned to do that over the years, and when I am photographing a building, I am often given fixed times to have no say in the timings.
Sure golden hour is great but the realities of life often mean we have to take what we have in front of us.
3: Build Your Photo: Simple Landscape Composition Rules
Composition is how you arrange all the elements within your photo to create a balanced, pleasing image that guides the viewer's eye. Don't be overwhelmed by complex theories; start with simple, powerful rules. The Rule of Thirds is your best friend: imagine two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines dividing your frame into nine equal boxes. Instead of placing your main subject dead-center, try placing points of interest where these lines intersect or along one of the lines. For landscapes, a common thing to do is to place the horizon on either the top third or the bottom third, depending on whether you want to emphasize the sky or the foreground, rather than splitting the image exactly in half. This creates a more dynamic and less static image. And a much nicer composition. Additionally, actively look for leading lines – these are natural or man-made lines within your scene that draw the eye from the foreground into the background, towards your main subject. Think of winding paths, rivers, fences, roads, or even the edge of a field. Leading lines add incredible depth and guide the viewer on a journey through your photograph. This is what we want to do – make the experience of looking at a photo an interesting and pleasurable experience.
4: Camera Settings Explained: Basic Landscape Photography Settings
For sharp landscapes that are in focus from the very front of the scene to the distant background, your primary tool is aperture. You'll want to use a narrow aperture, which is represented by a large f-number like f/8, f/11, f/16, or even f/22. A narrow aperture creates a deep depth of field, or depth of sharpness as I like to call it, ensuring that most, if not all, of your scene remains sharp. Because narrower apertures let in less light, you will often need a slower shutter speed to achieve a correct exposure. This is precisely where your tripod becomes incredibly useful (as we discussed in Episode 210!). Using a tripod allows you to use very slow shutter speeds without any camera shake, resulting in pin-sharp images even in low light. For ISO, always use the lowest possible setting (typically ISO 100 on most cameras) to keep your images clean, free of digital noise, and rich in detail. This combination of narrow aperture, a potentially slow shutter speed, and low ISO, all supported by a tripod, is the foundation for sharp, high-quality landscape photos. You might also consider focusing about one-third of the way into your scene to maximize the depth of field ("hyperfocal distance)," but just moving your focus point can help). And yes, although I call it depth of sharpness, depth of field is ok if you are in a field, ha!
5: The Small Details: Using Foreground Interest to Boost Landscapes
While landscapes are indeed about the grand picture, paying attention to small things close to your camera can make a massive difference. Adding foreground interest gives your photo depth, draws the viewer's eye into the scene, and can add a sense of scale. Look for elements like a solitary leaf, an interesting rock formation, a patch of vibrant wildflowers, a gnarled tree branch, a weathered fence post, or even a puddle reflecting the sky. These elements can transform a flat, two-dimensional image into a captivating, three-dimensional one. They act as an anchor, inviting the viewer into the scene and providing context. When composing, ensure this foreground element is also in sharp focus along with the middle ground and background, by using that narrow aperture we just talked about. It's about creating a visual journey for the viewer, rather than just showing them a distant, unengaging view. Yes dear listener, a visual journey. That is what our photos need to be.
So, there you have it – your first five steps to getting started with landscape photography, applicable wherever you are. It’s about looking differently, understanding and using the light, composing thoughtfully, and knowing a few key camera settings.
Here is something for you to do.
Grab your camera or phone, and head to your local park or a nearby spot. Try applying these five steps. Walk around, look and think. Explore different angles, getting low or high (Tip 1). Go during the golden hour or on an overcast day (Tip 2). Practice composition with the Rule of Thirds and leading lines, thinking about how you guide the eye (Tip 3). If you have a camera, experiment with narrower apertures like f/11 or f/16, using a tripod if you have one, and keep your ISO low (Tip 4). And actively seek out foreground interest to add depth (Tip 5). See how these simple changes transform your photos from simple snapshots to compelling images.
And try to get the best one photo that you can of each one thing you are looking at.
What if I use a phone to take my photos?
Your phone is a surprisingly capable landscape photography tool, especially with these tips in mind. Most smartphone cameras inherently have a very deep depth of field, which is fantastic for keeping everything in focus from front to back – exactly what you want for landscapes! And the default focal length is probably a wide-angle one too. Just tap on the foreground element you want to be sharp, ensuring your phone is steady. Use the built-in grid lines for the Rule of Thirds. Panorama mode can be great for wider scenes. And remember, the "golden hour" light principles apply just as strongly to phone cameras – the light itself is what makes the magic, not the device.
Just make sure you don’t have photos with everything too small and too far away, a common problem with phone photography.
What do I do?
I love landscape photography. This is my down time, my fun time. And I love walking around places, looking and thinking. This is really what I do.
And some of the best landscape photos I have taken have been in local parks. A combination of trees and great light and careful composition selection have resulted in photos that I love.
My approach to landscape photos (which is actually the same as my approach to my architectural photography work) boils down to the following:
Meticulous Viewpoint Selection: I spend significant time finding the absolute best angle and framing, eliminating distractions, and controlling the background. This is the walking, looking and thinking bit.
Narrow Apertures: I consistently use narrower apertures (f/8 to f/16) for maximum depth of sharpness, ensuring everything from a foreground shrub to a distant building is crisp.
Tripod Dependence: I nearly always use a tripod for absolute stability, allowing for the slower shutter speeds required by narrow apertures and low ISO, ensuring pinpoint sharpness.
Composition First: I prioritize strong composition, actively using leading lines to guide the viewer, and foreground interest to add depth and context, all within the framework of rules like the Rule of Thirds.
Lowest ISO: I stick to ISO 100 on my Canon 6D for the cleanest image quality, crucial for fine details and large prints.
This is what I do with the aim that every photo that I take is crystal clear, professional, and reflects my precise vision.
Final Takeaways and Summary for Your First Steps into Landscape Photography
Getting started with landscape photography is easier than you think, and the principles apply everywhere. Remember:
Explore Your Viewpoint: Move around; experiment with high/low angles to find the most compelling view and eliminate distractions.
Chase the Light: Shoot in golden hour or on overcast days for soft, flattering light and rich colours; avoid harsh midday sun.
Compose with Purpose: Use the Rule of Thirds for dynamic placement, and actively seek leading lines to guide the viewer through your scene.
Dial in Your Settings: Use narrow apertures (f/8-f/16) for deep depth of field, use a tripod for sharpness with slower shutter speeds, and keep ISO at its lowest (ISO 100) for clean images.
Embrace Foreground Interest: Add depth, scale, and story by including compelling elements close to your camera, ensuring they are also in focus.
Practice these steps in your local park, and you'll be amazed at the professional-looking landscape photos you can create.
Some thoughts from the last episode
Mastering depth of field is a cornerstone of creative photography. I hope you're experimenting with those wide apertures for blurry backgrounds and narrow ones for sharp landscapes! Let me know if you are and how you are getting on.
Next Episode
Next week: Episode 214: Finding Your Best Angle: Simple Tips for Better Composition.
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I've been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast and for giving me 27 minutes of your valuable time. I reckon this episode will be about 21-23 minutes long after editing out the mistakes and bad stuff.
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Cheers from me, Rick