Elements of A Landscape Photograph

by William Lulow

Whenever I go out on a photoshoot of some kind when I am looking for interesting images for myself, I am mostly looking for interesting compositions that contain different kinds of lightings. I am not only looking for light, but also trying to showcase my particular vision with other photographic tools like composition and post-production as well. Sometimes I am not quite sure what the final image will be until I download the files and begin to manipulate them. This is a spot that I have photographed often but this time the landscape looked a bit different to my eye.

This time there was that often seen sailboat but nice, puffy clouds in the sky as well, placed just at the right height for an image shot with the camera near the ground. Here is a panorama made from nearly the same spot a few years ago:

One of the ways to make effective landscapes is to either stay in one spot and observe it at various times of day or night to see how the same place looks with different lightings. So, the same place looked different in the early morning. Looks like that sailboat is always moored at that same spot. Here’s another shot of the same bridge from a different angle and time of day:

Another view of the bridge from another angle, with some unusual nimbo-stratus clouds, same sailboat.

So one of the secrets to doing great landscapes is to be present at a certain place at different times of day to be able to record different lightings from different perspectives. And, of course, the entire scene can change depending on all of the various surroundings. I have often referred to tourists who pass by a scene or particular place once during their trip and never get to see it from any other perspective other than at that very time as “one chance shooters,” where they have to deal with whatever conditions exist at the moment. Here is one of those moments I had in Amalfi, Italy last year:

There certainly was no way to do a landscape image here with no people, so I waited until I saw an interesting composition with all the people present.

This was one of those times when I could just stand there, like the master photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson used to do, and watch for interesting people to walk by his position. But even then, that kind of photography takes some time and quite a bit of effort as well as a keen eye to notice subtle changes in compositions. Cartier-Bresson’s thought was to stay in one spot until he, himself blended in to the environment so much so that no one really noticed him.

This image was shot originally in color and since it was a fleeting moment, I couldn’t re-capture it in Black&White so I had to convert it in post-processing. The color image was so busy with the various colors, that the effect of the composition was lost. It worked much better in monochrome mode. It looked more classically Black&White. Here’s the comparison:

The elements of a good landscape photograph are:

1. An interesting location
2. A great lighting
3. A great composition
4. Unique angle
5. Reflections
6. Good cloud formations
7. Deep blue skies
8. Other interesting features

Keeping all these elements in mind each time you go out on a photo-safari will help you find them even when you are just sightseeing. I still use my iPhone when I don’t have my regular DSLR to capture scenes I see that fill some or all of the requirements listed. If the iPhone is used purposefully and carefully, it can capture beautiful landscapes as well:

Since this was a hand-held image, it’s probably not as sharp as it might have been, but the compositional elements are all there including the reflection. The colors worked as well. If I was out to make interesting images on this hike, I would have taken the regular camera and the tripod. This was just a scene that I saw and captured with the iPhone.