How to Take Perfect Landscape Pictures Every Time

Landscape photography can provide a new photographer with some of the most incredibly breathtaking pictures imaginable, regardless of which compact digital cameras are used. When you take into account the inherent beauty of natural landscapes, coupled with the simplicity of automated digital metering and exposures, even a novice photographer can come away with some astonishing photographs.

One of the best landscape photography tips that can be provided takes place before one ever sets foot outside. With a conscientious approach to learning some of the basics of composition, being able to go out and take some fascinating photos without the need for tremendous amounts of experience, is not only very possible, but very doable as well. However a little study/homework is necessary, to realistically grasp a sense of the art of landscape photography.

First, locate 3 photos that represent the best and most desirable landscape images you can find. Find ones that specifically appeal to you, and that spark a desire within you, to replicate their results. It is easiest if all three are related (same general type of scene) in some way (however it is not a necessity, it may simply accelerate the learning curve), or represent the type of photographs that you would like to mirror. Whether you obtain the images online, or from a magazine stand while standing in line at the drugstore, or any other source, the origin is not relevant. What is relevant is that they appeal to you.

Take note of the photo's structural components, and the natural lines created by elements within the scene:

• The skyline
• Shadows
• Roads, highways
• Walkways
• Grove of trees
• Hedges
• Water's edge
• Sides of buildings
• Edge of a lawn
• Mountain ridges
• A river

This list represents just a few of the many variables that create visible "lines" a scene or photo. They are critically important for understanding the basic flow and interrelationship of a scene's compositional elements. For the sake of this article, we will call these lines the "lines of composition” or LOC for short.

You want to absorb, not only what you see, but equally as important, you want to attempt to understand how the individual who photographed this scene, came across the scene. Where did they need to "position" themselves to get the image? Do you think they may have noticed the scene differently at first? Maybe then after studying the scene, they moved over a few feet, or a few yards, or even a greater distance, to physically arrive at a new or different vantage point before they finally saw the scene, as it was ultimately photographed?

Next, recreate the LOCs from the photos on a sheet of paper as a rough draft or sketch, very rough. Do this for each photo. There is no need at all for detail. It should take you less than a minute or two. The only important thing at this point is the LOCs, and how they converge and intersect within the scene. Study them.

Understand where you yourself would need to stand if you had taken the image. Imagine if you were walking up a path towards the scene, and how things around you would likely look and appear, as you approached the scene.

Now, look at the photos again. Immerse yourself in the picture. Even if you do not know what was around the actual scene, extrapolate and hypothesize, how it may have looked if you were actually there within the scene. What's important is that you are able to conceptualize how you believe it may have looked, not what it actually looked like. Imagination is everything. Imagine how elements of the scene appeared if you then turned to your left, or your right, or looked around. See the LOCs and how they change as you walk up towards the scene from different angles, and look around. Imagine walking up, and deciding to stop at the very location where the photo was taken. Look at how the LOCs enter the picture.

Then, look at what fills in the areas that are either side of the lines. Attempt to understand the relationship between the LOCs, and what fills in the areas that are "sectored" or cordoned off (the expanses, or areas in-between) by those lines. By capturing a sense of that relationship, a photographer can then go out and look for similar type settings. A photographer can then apply these dynamics and scenic features to a landscape, to assess a given scene, and determine if it fulfils the desired criteria. The expanses or areas outside of the LOC, are incidental to composition.

Once you can "see" the LOCs and the structural compositional of your scene, the remaining areas of the scene, which is everything else, will naturally fall into place. Think of it as if one is viewing the structure or “framing” a building. You can only then fill in the structure's framework with walls, a roof, shelving, rooms, color, etc., once the framework is in place. Without the "framework" your scene doesn't exist. It is much the same for landscape photography. Your purpose is to understand the framework of the photo or scene. Without understanding composition or framing, your photos will forever pale.

At this juncture, a standard lens is fine. Flashes are unnecessary. A tripod can help one study the scene, and maintain a specific vantage. The "eye's" view and perspective is everything. If you recall a scene that you had spied once before, and thought perhaps it would make a great landscape photo, revisit that location if possible. Set up your camera for the photo, and assess how the compositional attributes of the scene ascribe to what you know.

Compact digital cameras, such as the Canon PowerShot S95, are your ticket to incredible photographs. Once you can place your LOCs within the scene, everything else in the photo, falls into place, and you'll be able to take perfect landscape pictures every time.