I find it hard to believe, but I’ve been told that not everyone takes landscape photography seriously. Apparently, some people don’t like carrying around a dedicated camera, tripod, or other equipment specifically to take landscape photos when on holiday.
And they don’t want to drive/hike long distances at anti-social hours, spend hours at a location finding a good composition and waiting for good light. It sounds crazy to me, but apparently people like this exist. If you’re one of them, here are some tips to help you get good photos nevertheless.
1. Buy a Good Smartphone
If you’re not going to buy a dedicated camera to take amazing landscape photos, then at least try and get a reasonably late-model smartphone. I personally have an iPhone SE (2020 version) and am seriously impressed at the quality of photos straight out of the camera. Smartphones have the benefit of decent processing power over standalone cameras, so you don’t need tools such as Lightroom and Photoshop in order to process your photos (although you can if you want to). This means the standard photo processing on your phone is usually better than what you’d get with a dedicated camera. Of course it doesn’t hurt to also use other apps to further enhance your photos.
Just to illustrate the point, here’s a photo of my sister’s cat that I took with my phone (sorry I don’t have any landscapes taken with my phone – I use a real camera!)
2. Use the Golden Hours
The hours around sunrise and sunset are the best times to take landscape photos, as that’s generally when the light is at its best. Of course, if you’re on a holiday to relax, you don’t want to be getting up at 5am just to take some photos, but if you’re travelling during winter in some locations then sunrise is often at a much more reasonable hour. Why not pop out somewhere nearby, a beach maybe, just before or after breakfast and take some snaps? Sunsets are a lot easier as most people are usually awake when they happen. Just take a mental note of what time the sun sets at your location, and set aside some time each day to take photos wherever you happen to be.
3. Work On Your Composition
You might not be on top of a mountain with glorious expansive views, or have amazing rock stacks in the background, but try and make do with whatever views you do have to create some interesting compositions. Try using creative angles, like getting really low to the ground, or get really close to an object in the foreground. Maybe point the camera up to the sky from a low angle, or down to the ground from a high angle. Perhaps use branches of a tree to frame your shot. There are countless ways to get interesting shots even when you’re not at an epic location. Just experiment!
Here’s an example of using branches to frame a shot and taking the photo in reasonably good light. While this is a photo of a cute dog, the same principle applies to landscapes.
4. Take Lots of Photos
Sometimes the best conditions occur when you least expect it. The benefit of using your smartphone to take photos is that you’ll usually have it with you at all times. Don’t be afraid to take lots of photos, it doesn’t cost anything. You never know, you might get lucky with the light or catch some interesting scenes while you’re doing touristy things.
Conclusion
While I’m still not convinced there are people out there that aren’t obsessed with landscape photography like I am, if you are one of them then I hope the above tips help you take some good photos.
