5 Common Mistakes in Landscape Photography (and How to Fix Them)
Landscape photography is a rewarding but challenging art form. Even seasoned photographers occasionally make mistakes that can affect the quality of their photos. Recognizing and addressing these common pitfalls can help you elevate your skills and consistently capture stunning landscapes.
Ignoring the Foreground
Ignoring the foreground completely is one of the most common mistakes made by photographers when it comes to landscape photography. Even the most breathtakingly gorgeous landscape can become flat, uninteresting, and ultimately uninspired due to a lack of foreground interest. You may give your photos depth and dimension by include eye-catching foreground components, which will make your visitors' visual experience more captivating.
How to Fix It: To bring visitors into the picture, use features like flowers, pebbles, or leading lines. A carefully considered foreground enhances your image by adding depth and establishing a feeling of scale. You may watch my attempt to make motion the primary foreground feature in my seascape photography in the YouTube movie below.
Pro Tip: Use a wide-angle lens and get low to emphasize foreground details. If you are interested I use the Sony 16-35mm f4 lens, which I find to be a wonder lens for Landscape photography.
Overlooking Composition
Poor framing may quickly destroy an otherwise stunning sight that could have pleased viewers. In landscape photography, composition is important. Photographers frequently encounter common problems such as positioning the horizon too high or too low in the frame, centering the subject in an uninteresting fashion, or adding cluttered items that detract from the photograph's main emphasis. The overall impression of your photos may be greatly altered by paying attention to these aspects.
How to Fix It: Adhere to compositional rules such as the golden ratio, leading lines, and the Rule of Thirds. Spend some time carefully framing the photo, and don't be scared to move to get a better viewpoint.
Pro Tip: Use a grid overlay in your camera’s viewfinder or screen to help with alignment. I the example YouTube video below we explore the importance of scouting for compositions.
Shooting in Harsh Lighting
The harshness of midday sunshine can result in subdued colors that lack brightness, overexposed highlights, and deep, distracting shadows. Unfortunately, a lot of photographers make the mistake of taking beautiful landscape photos at the wrong time of day, missing out on the ideal lighting conditions that may enhance their images. I understand that this is something of a contentious issue in the field of landscape photography, but let's be cautious. For instance, black and white photography can be produced using harsh light.
How to fix it:
Take pictures during the blue hour, which is right before dawn or right after sunset, or the golden hour, which is right after sunrise or before dusk. Bright hues and softer, more diffused light are available during these hours.
Pro Tip: If you must shoot during the day, use a polarizing filter to reduce glare and enhance colors, or find shaded areas to work with. In the YouTube example I purpsonly head out anf shoot in the midday sun. Leading to some surprising results. Another tip would be to shoot seascapes photography.
Neglecting Weather and Timing
Great landscapes frequently rely significantly on the appropriate conditions, and failing to take into account how weather patterns change over time or just showing up at the wrong time of day may, regrettably, result in really poor photos. To really capture the majestic majesty of nature at its best, you must take the time to meticulously arrange your visit. This will enable you to thoroughly immerse yourself in the spectacular surroundings and ensure that every photo is memorable.
How to Fix It: Pay attention to weather forecasts and do prior research on the area. To schedule your photos around lighting, tides, and astronomical events, use programs like PhotoPills or The Photographer's Ephemeris.
Pro Tip: Embrace unexpected weather like fog or rain for dramatic and unique shots. In this example YouTube video you can follow along as I shoot in fast changing weather and manage to capture some wonderful coastal Photography. Just be sure to protect your gear!
Overprocessing Images
Post-processing is an essential part of landscape photography, and it plays a significant role in enhancing the beauty of your images. However, going overboard with saturation, excessive sharpening, or aggressive HDR effects can easily make photos look unnatural and overly processed. This is a common mistake among beginners who are trying to make their images stand out and “pop” visually, often leading to results that stray too far from the authentic beauty of the original scene. I have a crazy example image below, its mad looking!
How to Fix It:
Aim for a natural look by using subtle adjustments. Enhance colors and contrast judiciously, and always review your edits with a critical eye. Working in layers in Lightroom or Photoshop allows for non-destructive editing and fine-tuning.
Pro Tip: Step away from your edit for a few minutes and return with fresh eyes to assess whether the adjustments look realistic.
A final thought
Avoiding these five common mistakes will significantly help you produce more professional and visually striking landscape photos that truly capture the essence of nature. From carefully paying attention to the foreground elements to mastering the nuances of post-processing techniques, every small improvement you make adds up to better overall results when you're out in the field. Investing time in these areas can elevate your photography and enhance the beauty of your landscapes.
If you would like to learn more about landscape photography you are most welcome to join up with one of the Photography Workshops I have organized, Or if you are based in Ireland you can of course get in touch for a one 2 one photography sessions.
Thanks a million for getting this far and If you have any other tips or tricks you’d like to share you are most welcome to leave them in the comments below.
Take it easy everyone, Cheers