Landscape Photography Woes

Maybe it's just me but I seem to be having problems taking good landscape pictures because I want to keep to all of the ideals of composing my shots well except there always seems to be something distracting in the frame like too many trees, or excessive brush or the light not being just right.

I can almost see why painting landscapes might be a more productive art in that at least you could paint the perfect image, devoid of all the imperfections of nature...except, I'm not a very good painter.

Can you folks offer up some advice or perhaps an example or two of your more successful attempts at this puzzle of good landscape photography?

I need some help and inspiration.

Cheers!

Try this -
1) Shoot only during the magic hours - dawn and dusk
2) Look for bright colors
3) Incorporate a foreground element
4) Include water and related reflections if possible
5) Use a grad filter to reduce sky brightness in relation to land
6) Use a tripod and shoot at high f-stops for long depth of field

It sounds like you are going to an area with a preconceived idea about what picture you are going to get. I know that gets me disappointed every time. Don't try and force it. Get somewhere early and just spend some time being there. Then set up for a picture when you know what you can get from that site.

Are you going to where you have scouted previously or just picking a spot.

I know your frustration. As well as the before mentions also look for simple landscapes. Those with a bit of foreground and say water or feild as middle and sky/mountians/ hills as background.

Remember our eyes and brain block out a lot of distractions but the camera picks them all up.

Post a sample of what you have taken and what your ideal would have been.

eddarr wrote in post #5430703
It sounds like you are going to an area with a preconceived idea about what picture you are going to get. I know that gets me disappointed every time. Don't try and force it. Get somewhere early and just spend some time being there. Then set up for a picture when you know what you can get from that site.

Are you going to where you have scouted previously or just picking a spot.

I have a really nice parkland area near my house which has a winding river running through it. The city believes in keeping the park in a pretty natural, untouched state so often there are dead trees that have fallen over or the brush is heavily over-grown. In Essenes, it's an ugly park and I have this fantasy about getting great pictures out of it...crazy, I know!

I also go camping up north in Ontario as there are many really nice parks up there with much better photo opportunities but I only get to go up there 2 or 3 times a year and like taking pictures way more often then that.

I'm not prepared to move either!

Cheers!

weka2000 wrote in post #5430709
I know your frustration. As well as the before mentions also look for simple landscapes. Those with a bit of foreground and say water or feild as middle and sky/mountians/ hills as background.

Remember our eyes and brain block out a lot of distractions but the camera picks them all up.

Post a sample of what you have taken and what your ideal would have been.

A sample?

OK.

Here's a shot I recently took and at the time that I took it, I saw the beautiful curve of the river, the muted reflections on the water and the early spring bloom of the smaller trees and wild flowers.

What I ended up with was a picture that had too many distractions on the left side with the dense brush and half leaning trees that looked ready to topple over into the river.

Ideally, I'd love to figure out a way to make this a better picture...perhaps by being there at the better times of day or perhaps from a different angle?

The shot is here;


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I would say look at the smaller scenes. That's usually what I end up doing when I can't figure out how to not include unwanted items in a picture.

That light was tough. You might try getting down close to the water so you can look down the tunnel created by the overhanging trees.

eddarr wrote in post #5430827
I would say look at the smaller scenes. That's usually what I end up doing when I can't figure out how to not include unwanted items in a picture.

That light was tough. You might try getting down close to the water so you can look down the tunnel created by the overhanging trees.

Good advice!

Thank you. I will try to incorporate it the next time I'm out there.

I guess I also need to slow down and look much harder before I shoot. Often, I am so excited to come across something worth capturing that I don't take enough time to really think the shot through. I need to slow down!

Cheers!

The Ghost of FM wrote in post #5430904
I guess I also need to slow down and look much harder before I shoot. Often, I am so excited to come across something worth capturing that I don't take enough time to really think the shot through. I need to slow down!

Cheers!

That's why I suggested to get there early. Allow yourself some time to just wander around. Relax. Get an idea of what is available. Set up the shot and then just wait for the light to be right.

Another point with the sample is what about portrait mode and the "creek" is the focus. tight crop.
Get lower or higher, staning and shooting is easy but not the best results

Dont forget that the better landscape photographer use filters and blened exposures and PP to make the landscapes pop

weka2000 wrote in post #5430940
Another point with the sample is what about portrait mode and the "creek" is the focus. tight crop.
Get lower or higher, staning and shooting is easy but not the best results

Dont forget that the better landscape photographer use filters and blened exposures and PP to make the landscapes pop

Good points!

I do have a decent B+W polarizer and ND filter but no grad filters. Perhaps picking the time of day to shot a bit more wisely can avoid the absolute need for a grad filter?

About the shot in question;

I was actually kneeling down when I took that shot but now on second thought, scaling down the 10 foot embankment would have gotten me closer to where I needed to be. At 46, I don't play in the mud as good as I used to but perhaps I need to dress appropriately with proper hiking shoes to allow myself to get a bit closer to where I need to be. At the time, I was dressed in street shoes and was fearful of getting them dirty...embarassing to admit to but true.

Cheers!

I would also like to add the old saying "some of the most boring photographs are taken from 6 feet high". get low to the ground and see what you can see from there. likewise get high up and see if that gives you a better view. Ansel Adams used to take his photos from the top of his car with the camera pointed steeply downwards, getting a lot of foreground in his shots. its all about your vantage point.

eddarr wrote in post #5430703
It sounds like you are going to an area with a preconceived idea about what picture you are going to get. I know that gets me disappointed every time. Don't try and force it. Get somewhere early and just spend some time being there. Then set up for a picture when you know what you can get from that site.

I am so susceptible to this myself, and have to consciously remind myself to slow down.

eddarr wrote in post #5430827
I would say look at the smaller scenes. That's usually what I end up doing when I can't figure out how to not include unwanted items in a picture.

That light was tough. You might try getting down close to the water so you can look down the tunnel created by the overhanging trees.

+1. There are two things that could make it better, IMHO. (1) The time of day. The light here is just too harsh. (2) Wait a few weeks for some leaves on the trees. I;m going through this right now, spring is late and I'm itching to get out there and shoot, but everything still looks so bad right now. I've either got to wait, or try and be creative and purposely use the bad looking stuff for effect.

I like the 'tunnel' idea, also.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #5431190
I am so susceptible to this myself, and have to consciously remind myself to slow down.


+1. There are two things that could make it better, IMHO. (1) The time of day. The light here is just too harsh. (2) Wait a few weeks for some leaves on the trees. I;m going through this right now, spring is late and I'm itching to get out there and shoot, but everything still looks so bad right now. I've either got to wait, or try and be creative and purposely use the bad looking stuff for effect.

I like the 'tunnel' idea, also.

That's an excellent point!

We had a spell of above seasonal temps here and I wanted to get outdoors and start shooting! But, you're exactly right. It is too early yet as many of the trees are still bare from the winter.

Hurry up, Mother Nature! I've got the itch!

Cheers!

Bare trees can be good!

Sometimes you have to wait or go looking for shots - others will appear in front of you.

I would agree that the most boring shots come from 6" high - something im struggling to get away from myself! Try forcing yourself to get down to just above the waters surface or pick angles that you dont normally see.