by Mary Ann Melton

Created on: January 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Landscape photography brings a lot of reward as you try to capture the beauty of nature, but there are some tricks that can help you transform your photos into works of art.

1. Lighting: Most of us take landscape photos on our vacations as we travel down the road. We take them as memory photos of the beautiful places we see. And because we are driving throughout the day, we take our photos all day long. However, the sun's light during the day is very bright and harsh. For beautiful landscape photography, plan to be at your most scenic areas the first two hours of the morning and the last two hours of the afternoon. Sunrise and sunset are especially "magical" for photography because when the sun is at the horizon everything takes on a golden hue.

2. Composition: Composition involves what you include in a photo and where you "place" it in the frame. As you scan the scene you want to photograph, what is the dominant feature or point of interest? Trying to put too much of a scene into one photograph can cause two different parts of the scene to compete for your attention or give you a "cluttered" look. Simplify your shot so that one aspect is obviously your point of interest. One important element of composition is the "rule of thirds." Imagine dividing up the picture in thirds by drawing two lines vertically and two lines horizontally dividing the areas into thirds. Where these lines meet is a good place to place your point of interest. Sometimes you have horizontal or vertical elements in your scene - such as a stream or the horizon on the ocean. These should show up in your photo along one of those thirds lines.

3. Distractions: Scan the entire area in your photo, especially the corners for distracting elements such as the branches of the tree above you which will pull your eye away from the point of interest in your photo.

4. Technical details: If you are shooting with a digital camera, use the lowest ISO to minimize the "noise" for a cleaner photo. If you are shooting with film use ASA 100 film for shooting landscapes. Because you will be using a slower shutter speed, a tripod and a remote shutter release will help you get sharper images. If your camera is not equiped with a shutter release, you can use the timer feature to release the shutter so your finger does not shake the camera during the exposure.

5. Color: Become familiar with the color wheel. Complimentary colors are those that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Combining complimentary colors in a photo (such as bright yellow fall foliage against a blue sky) adds a dramatic and pleasing look to your photos. Analgous colors are those that are next to each other on the color wheel. They can be used together to create a softer more restful photo.

6. Practice: Over the years I have found that the more photos I take, the more "good" ones I end up with. Going back to scenic spots at different times of the day and different times of the year will give you very different photos.

Learn more about this author, Mary Ann Melton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.