One of the lessons I teach in my photography classes is on how to properly photograph a landscape. When I ask my students “What is a landscape?”, they usually describe an image similar to the one below, containing a subject element, some ground and some sky.
That is not incorrect. It is simply inconclusive.
The image below is another example of landscape photography. There is no sky, no large element, but flowers are part of the landscape, after all, and make a nice respite from sweeping images of a large scene. I like to make diptych or triptych groupings of a specific area showing closeups as well as large scale photos.
One thing to pay close attention to in landscape photography is your depth of field. If you set your camera to the landscape setting (the one that looks like mountains), you will be allowing your camera to set a high F stop, which will give you unlimited depth of field, fine if that is what you want, like the photo below. However, as I talked about in this post earlier, sometimes limiting your DOF makes a better image.
If you opt for a more creative landscape, you can set your camera on aperture priority (AV), and lower your F stop number. Then turn off the auto focus, so you can control what is in focus in the shot.
If you are shooting in relative brightness, the shutter speed set by the camera should be fast enough that you won’t need a tripod.
Thank you for this. I am trying to learn more and have just started taking some photos with my AV and M settings. Most of the time I am set to auto and I have noticed that I prefer the M for night shots so far. I was determined to get a moon photo and I did. Still a beginner (as my photos reflect that) but I enjoy these to the point blog posts. Count me in as a follower. ; )) thechatteringsquirrel.com
Thanks so much for following. I teach photography classes and most of my students say they are afraid of taking their cameras off auto. I have posted a lot of instructional entries. I’m glad you found it helpful and hope I can help in the future.