How to improve your landscape photography

This image creates balance due to the cloud and wave formations being placed to the right to counteract the strong foreground element of the posts to the left.

How to improve your landscape photos 

Landscape photography is now one of the most popular forms of photography for many reasons. People like to take photos to remind themselves of the places they have been and to show others. It is also a great way of getting out into the countryside more and fulfilling your desire to be creative.  

Unfortunately when we go around snapping the places we have been to with little thought it often leads to disappointment in the pictures we end up with.  

The photos are often flat and what we thought was an interesting feature is now insignificant, often the picture does not reflect just how beautiful we thought the scenery was.  

So what can you do to improve your photos and really wow your friends and family next time you show them your pictures.? 

We’ll I’m going to pass on some of the best tips that I have learned during my time as a professional landscape photographer so that you can not only take photos that you like, but also wow your friends and family.  

When you see a beautiful scene don’t immediately start snapping away with your camera, have a look around and try to think what it is that makes this worth taking a picture of. Is it the light , the lie of the land or some prominent feature?  

Once you have worked this out then you are better placed to try and capture it in a photo.  

Now here is a really simple tip that helps to create depth in our images and in turn draws people in to look at them. Try and include an interesting foreground, middle and background in the photo.  

Maybe there are some interesting rocks or beautiful flowers close by that you can use as your foreground, so place them in the frame at the bottom of the picture.  

In all likelihood your middle will be the main subject of your photo and the reason you are taking the picture. Finally have a background which complements the rest of the image, this may be an interesting cloud formation in the sky or a feature on the horizon line.  

If you follow this tip then your photos will instantly look and feel much more interesting. I use this technique a lot in my work and it has helped to create some of my best selling images.  

This remote bothy on the Isle of Lewis is the main focus of this image. I used a telephoto lens to compress perspective. This allowed me to frame the image bringing the foreground (bridge), subject and background (mountains) elements together into a pleasing and engaging composition. A simple snapshot focusing purely on the bothy would be much less interesting. This image has sold to a number of private collectors including the owners of this land after they saw a 30x20” print of it hanging in the Morvern gallery on the Isle of Lewis.

Now another tip that you can combine with the previous one is to try and create balance in your images. What do I mean by this? 

Well the human eye (actually the brain) likes balance and will work to create it wherever possible, including in your image. If there is no balance then the brain is left feeling a little uncomfortable which is not usually what you want people looking at your landscape photos to feel.  

So to create balance we should place features carefully within the frame of an image. If your foreground is in the lower left corner of your picture then to create balance we may place the background subject in the upper right corner.  

Creating balance is not an exact science so it takes some experimentation with our composition’s to find this balance but the more you practise the more naturally you will find it.  

This lobster trap had washed ashore one evening and I knew that I wanted to use it as the foreground element on an otherwise empty beach on the Isle of Harris. To balance the image I composed so that the Isle of Taransay in the distance offset the weighting of the pot within the image by placing it centre left as opposed to the pot being centre right. This image was displayed in several galleries and tourist spots and is one of my best selling images. It has earned its keep many times over simply in print sales.

Another simple but effective tip is to place your main subject using what we call the Rule of thirds.  

This basically means dividing your image frame into nine equal sections using lines to form a grid. There are then four places where the lines intersect with each other and these are where you should place your main subject.  

The reasoning here is that this creates interest because the eye does not feel comfortable resting upon items placed in these positions and therefore flits around the frame looking at other elements. If you place your main subject centrally then the eye rests upon it and in turn the image can be a little boring.  

Notice how the foreground rock and background cliffs are placed close to the intersecting lines.

 The rule of thirds is one of the most often quoted rules of composition and while it is definitely a useful aid please do not stick to it rigidly. Like all so called rules it is helpful to have the knowledge and understanding which can then be used along with everything else that you learn to guide your photography. Remember photography is not a rigid, robotic process. We don’t or shouldn’t have a checklist to tick off when creating images but use knowledge and experience to aid us in creating the work that we wish to produce.

There is of course much more to creating great landscape photographs than this and I shall be discussing many more tips and techniques in upcoming articles.