Thinking about Landscape Photography

[Diamond Lil]

These are just some thoughts that go through my mind when attempting to make landscape photographs. What is on your mind when thinking landscape?



Dawn and dusk are pretty much the best time to make landscape photographs
Stand looking at the landscape composition in front of you and then slowly turn at to least ninety degrees to the right then left. Ask yourself which perspective looks the best to you.
Just for the fun of it, look at the area through your camera in both landscape and portrait orientations.
Ask yourself what the sky looks like. Will more or less of it work best in your composition?
What is in the foreground? Will it help or hinder?
Where should you focus? Where is the most contrast?

[J. R. Weems]

LIL~ I must agree with your time frame, for the most part. Beyond that, I simply hope I can covey the beauty I find into my photos for others to see, or to remind me of the moment they were found. Hopefully, if I can accomplish this, I will have achieved all else. :)

[EZE RIDER]

I like the way you wrote down what goes through most folks head when snapping off a pic. For me the most important is the lighting conditions. These cameras record the light so accurately that if you dont have good lighting you really will have a hard time getting a good landscape.

[Vrod-Brad]

Lil,

Landscapes for me demand that I "enter" the viewfinder or display screen. I have to view the entire composition of the area to be photographed.

Think about the "view" and do not cut off elements of the image you are making. You want the person viewing your image to want to see more - but not because you cut off a building, peak, beach etc.

Make them want more because the image you take is only a portion of larger area and provides interest and the desire to see more of the area.

Before I take any picture, I look around the screen to really see if all of the elements provide balance, interest, composition and then try to capture it all - it's a truly difficult task that takes practice and patients...

And as EZE said, lighting is absolutely key. Think how light looks at different times of the year even from the same location - it's one of the first things we were taught in school...
Brad

[Diamond Lil]

Great input folks. Keep it coming. Thank you!