Landscapes make deceptively difficult subjects to photograph, especially with a 35mm camera. Finding a beautiful landscape is the easy part, having the final print or slide live up to what you see with your eye is harder. If you compare your results to those of an accomplished large-format photographer such as David Muench or most notably Ansel Adams, you will probably find your pictures possess less depth and clarity. Don’t switch formats yet. Try some time-tested techniques to improve your landscape photography. By working with your lighting and composition, you can add depth to your landscapes and improve the impact your photographs make.

Lighting: Photography is simply a matter of capturing light on film. The quality of light you photograph will determine the quality of the slides or prints you take. Flat lighting results in flat photographs. If you want your two-dimensional prints to capture a three-dimensional landscape, you’ll need the right lighting.

There are three basic types of lighting in any photography--front lighting, side lighting and back lighting. A front lit subject is taken with the sun at your back. Side lighting means the is lit from a 90 degree angle (from either your left or right). When photographing a back lit subject, the sun will be in your face. Of the three, side lighting is preferable for most landscapes, and certainly so when a strong feeling of depth is wanted. The strong directional light will cast shadows across the frame and show the separation among the subjects in the photograph.

Photographers who specialize in nature and wildlife learn to nap during the middle of the day to maximize their morning and evening time. If you want to capture a landscape at its best, you would do well to emulate their shooting schedules. Arriving well before sunrise and leaving after the light has faded from the sky is the surest way to find the “sweet light” that can make your pictures stand out from the crowd. The morning and evening light is warmer in color than midday light. The best pictures will usually be found about a half an hour before sunrise and two hours following it. In the afternoon and evening, the best light will be found between 2 hours before sunset and up to an hour after it. There is also less contrast between the highlights and the shadows in the softer light just after sunrise and before sunset.

Try an experiment in landscape lighting. Place your camera on a tripod somewhere that you can take several pictures throughout the day without having to move the camera. Your yard could serve as the subject for this exercise. Take a picture early in the morning, say around 7 a.m. then at two hour intervals until early afternoon (9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.). When the pictures are processed you can compare the four photos to see what a difference a couple of hours can make.

Composition: Morning light might be golden, but the best light in the world is worthless without proper composition. Arrange the subjects in your frame to maximize a sense of depth. If the view you are photographing is a pond with mountains in the distance, add a foreground element as well to give the photograph a three-dimensional look. A small group of water lilies, for example, lying on the surface of the water in the lower third of the frame will add to your picture the right foreground to match the subject and background. By having elements in the frame which are in three planes--a water lily, the pond, and the mountains--you can add depth.

Another more common method of increasing the apparent depth is to add a framing element. A tree branch, archway or window can be used in the foreground to frame the main subject. The frame can also be used to block out an otherwise boring or overexposed sky. The framing element can be at the top of the frame, along one of the sides, or it can enclose the subject entirely.

Depth of Field: Whether you add an object to the foreground or use a piece of a larger foreground object as a frame, you will want to have adequate depth of field to maintain sharp focus from foreground to background. If your print is sharp from foreground to background the apparent depth will be greater than if part of the picture is out of focus. Wide angle to normal length lenses (24mm to 50mm) are good choices for landscapes as they allow for a generous depth of field. Telephoto lenses, while nice for some landscape work, compress the elements in the frame and take away from the overall sense of depth.

As you stand on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the sweeping vista may take your breath away, but capturing that feeling on film is tough. With these few tricks of the trade you can begin to capture the grandeur of the landscape you photograph by adding depth and impact to your pictures.

~Copyright 1994 Frank Logue

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