Landscape photography is one of the interesting and satisfying genres of photography, so it is not surprising that it is extremely popular. It is a subset of photography and focuses on capturing the beauty of natural landscapes.
Landscape photography aims to convey to the world the sense of beauty they would feel if they stood in the same place as the photographer.
In this article we mention some tips to help you improve your photography skills and be able to take memorable photos.
How to take landscape photos:
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Use a good camera
A DSLR or mirrorless camera is the ideal type of camera you can use to capture landscapes. While today's more advanced smartphone cameras are able to produce very nice landscape shots, they do not cover the quality of professional cameras. A DSLR or mirrorless camera has a larger and more improved sensor size that produces higher quality images. Moreover, they have more settings that allow you to fully adjust the exposure of your photos. Finally, to capture the widest possible view with your lenses, choose a full-frame camera with a 35mm sensor.
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Choose your lens
To take amazing landscape photos, you need to use the right equipment. The most important pieces of equipment to look at are the lenses that will help you realize your creative vision. There are four main types of lenses that are commonly used in landscape photography, obviously, the choice depends on the type of landscape you are going to take.
A lens is characterized by two main factors, its focal length and aperture. As for the focal length, the following type of lens can be used in landscape photography:
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Wide-angle lenses
Wide-angle lenses are the most popular lenses for landscape photography. Their focal lengths are usually less than 38mm. They allow you to capture a wide range of view and a great depth of field, which is basically what most photographers want when they start photographing landscapes.
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Standard zoom lenses
Standard zoom lenses usually range from 24-70mm. It provides a similar field of view to the human eye (about the range of 35-50mm). Thus, you can create images that are more realistic and catch the eyes of your viewer.
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Telephoto lenses
Telephoto lenses usually fall in the range of 70-200mm. They are ideal for situations where you want to demonstrate a sense of scale, as they allow you to compress the landscape. They are also useful when you can't get close to your subject.
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Prime lenses
Prime lenses are those with a fixed focal length – that is, they have no zoom capability. They are most often used for some applications, such as photographing landscapes at night or when shooting stars.
As for the lens aperture, you need to look for a lens with a fixed aperture. Although fixed-aperture zoom lenses can be expensive, they are more versatile when it comes to applications.
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Plan the right time
Photography is all about the quality of the available natural light. A good photo needs soft and diffused natural light. Landscape photos will vary dramatically when taken at different times of the day. There are two known hours in the day that offer the most amazing quality of light: The golden hour and the blue hour.
The golden hour is also known as the magic hour, when the sun is close to the horizon on a sunny day, its light seems warmer and softer, which is very suitable for stunning landscape shots.
On the other hand, blue hour refers to the darkest stages of morning and evening twilight, when the sun is well below the horizon, coloring the sky deep blue. This is also a favorite moment among landscape photographers.