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CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Quick Guide
Written by Jo Plumridge
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 Landscape photography is a hugely popular genre, Here’s what we’ll cover:
with most photographers enjoying the chance to
capture stunning images in the great outdoors. It is ·· Camera gear
an accessible genre as even those people who live in ·· Composition tips to get you started
a city can find a green space to take shots in. And the
world is full of beautiful locations that offer fantastic ·· Camera settings for different landscape
photographic opportunities. photography opportunities

In this guide, I’ll be looking at some camera settings ·· Where to go next

to help you start out with, as well as exploring other
tips and tricks to help you get the best landscape Recommended Reading: If you’d like to
images possible. learn more and improve your landscape
photography, grab a copy of Photzy’s bestselling
premium guide: Complete Landscape
Photography.

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 2

 CAMERA GEAR

The most important piece of equipment for capturing You’re also going to need a tripod. A lot of landscape
landscapes is a decent wide-angle lens. Decent photography requires long exposures for which you
optics and good glass can make a real difference won’t be able to hand-hold your camera. Choose
to images, so I’d always recommend investing in one that’s lightweight enough to carry but also sturdy
lenses before you invest in an upgraded camera. The enough to support your camera. Carbon fiber tripods
best wide-angle lenses will have a fixed maximum are the lightest on the market but do have a price tag
aperture. Often, a slightly cheaper way to get a good to match!
lens is to look for a prime lens, which only has one
focal length (e.g. a 24mm lens). Zoom lenses with a Key Lesson: I’d also recommend carrying a
fixed aperture throughout their focal length range few filters. A circular polarizer will help you cut
are often expensive! You can save some money by out glare and reflection, as well as allowing you
buying a zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f4 to polarize and enhance a blue sky. Neutral
instead of f2.8 as landscapes generally require the density filters (both solid and graduated) will
use of a large depth of field (and therefore a small allow you to use longer shutter speeds and, in
aperture). It can also be useful to carry a telephoto the case of a graduated filter, help average out
lens such as a 70-200mm (on a full frame) to capture the difference in exposure between the sky and
smaller details within landscapes. the landscape.

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 Photograph by Kal Visuals

The most vital piece of equipment for landscape photography is a wide-angle lens.

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 COMPOSITION TIPS TO
GET YOU STARTED

One of the most basic composition tips

is the Rule of Thirds, and it’s particularly
relevant to landscape photography. To
sum it up briefly, the idea is that you
divide the photograph into a grid like the
one at left.

For a balanced landscape, you place the

sky in the top third, the horizon in the
middle third, and the foreground in the
bottom third. You can then add points of
interest to draw the viewer into the shot
at the points where the lines intersect.

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 In conjunction with the Rule of Thirds,
you can improve landscapes by looking
for leading lines within your shot. These
can be used to create a feeling of depth;
remember that you’re taking a 3D setting
and turning it into a 2D image, so it’s
important to prevent the photo from
looking flat. Using lines and shapes helps
to make an image look more realistic and
helps to lead your viewers into the image.
Don’t forget that the sky and cloud
formation can also be used to add lines
and shapes.

Obviously, there are multiple composition

tips to explore, but these are just a few to
start working with.

Photograph by Matthew Ronder-Seid

Using the Rule of Thirds will give you a well-balanced image that helps to draw the viewer’s eye into your shot.

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 CAMERA SETTINGS FOR DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE
PHOTOGRAPHY OPPORTUNITIES

Before I start talking about specific landscape shots, Key Lesson: Digital cameras come with
there are some general settings that you should use various white balance settings, including auto
for landscape photography. Firstly, I would always white balance (AWB). In most circumstances,
recommend shooting in RAW format for landscapes. AWB does a really good job of rendering a
Landscape shots can be tricky to get right in-camera, scene with the correct color temperature. But its
so having RAW shots will allow you far more range in job is to essentially remove color casts and, if
post-production. you’re shooting in the Golden Hour (around
sunrise and sunset), you’ll find that AWB will
It’s also advisable to keep an eye on your histogram actually minimize the colors. Make sure you
while you’re shooting. The histogram gives a clear switch to the daylight white balance preset in
indication of how your shadows and highlights will this situation and, indeed, in any landscape shot
look and will indicate any under- or overexposure. where you have very strong and vibrant colors.
This is important because when you’re shooting
landscapes, it’s always easier to draw detail out of
the shadows in post-production. Once something is
overexposed, however, it’s gone for good.

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 GOLDEN HOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

The Golden Hour is defined as the hour

after sunrise and the hour before sunset.
The sun is near horizontal and creates a
warm and soft light with gentle gold and
pink tones. It is deservedly the favorite
time of day for landscape photographers
to shoot in, but getting it right takes
a little care and attention. You will be
facing challenging lighting conditions –
the sky is very bright but the landscape
and foreground will be dark. This means
that there’s a huge dynamic range (the
range of light values) within the image.
And the difference between these two
values is often too much for the camera
to handle. So, how do you get around
this? Let’s look at some different scenarios
and settings. And for all these examples,
make sure you’ve changed your White
Balance setting to Daylight.

Photograph by Hu Chen

The Golden Hour produces light with beautiful pink and gold tones and is a great time to
shoot. Using a longer exposure allows for softer clouds and a dreamy look.

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 Single Shot – Take a meter reading off the brightest as the brightest area of the photo will be the horizon.
part of the foreground (this will be at the horizon) and Start with an ISO of 100, aperture of f16, and a
make sure that you shoot in RAW. This should give shutter speed of 1/8th of a second.
you a shot that’s well-exposed enough across the
image to allow you to recover any lost details in post- Two Shots – If you don’t have any ND filters, then
production. Start with an ISO of 100 and an aperture this method will give you the most accurate results.
of f11. Your shutter speed will vary depending on Take one shot that is exposed for the sky and another
the amount of light available, but start at 1/15th of a that’s exposed for the foreground. You can then
second and make sure to use a tripod (you will get blend these together into one shot. Some cameras
camera shake if you try and handhold below 1/60th). will do this for you, but if not, you can do it in post-
Adjust your shutter speed as necessary to let more or production. It’s important that you use the same
less light into the shot. ISO and aperture settings for both shots (I would
recommend ISO 100 and an aperture of f22 to
Reverse Neutral Density Filter – These filters make ensure the whole scene is pin sharp) and then simply
shooting sunsets and sunrises far easier! You expose alter your shutter speed accordingly for each shot.
for the landscape where the filter is clear. The top of You will use a faster shutter speed for the sky than for
the filter is darker to bring down the brightness of the foreground.
the sky. In the middle is the strongest filtering power,

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 SLOWING MOTION

One of the most popular effects in landscape

photography is slowing motion to create an
ethereal and dramatic feel in an image. You’ll
see this most commonly with the blurring of
water (waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and even the
sea) but it can also be used to blur clouds and
stars. You’re going to be using long exposures
to slow the motion, so this means using a tripod
and ideally a camera remote to prevent camera
shake. If you don’t have a remote, make sure
you set a self-timer of around five seconds to
allow any vibrations from pushing the shutter
button to dissipate.

Blurring Fast-Moving Water - Keep your ISO

as low as possible (usually 100 or 200) and use
an aperture of f16. Start with a shutter speed
of 1/8th of a second, which you can then slow
down if you’re not getting enough blurring.

Blurring Slow-Moving Water and Clouds -

Use the same ISO and aperture as above but
start with a shutter speed of three seconds. If
the longer shutter speeds are giving you an
overexposed image, then you can use a ND
filter to cut down on stops of light (ND filters
usually range from 2-10 stops).
Photograph by Nathan Anderson

Using a long exposure to blur water is particularly effective when shooting waterfalls.

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 10

 WEATHER

As we all know, wherever you live in the

world, the weather can be unpredictable
and ever-changing! Let’s look at some
settings for different types of weather.

Bright Sunshine – Bright sun can be

tricky to photograph as there will be
strong shadows to contend with. Use an
ISO of 100 and an aperture of f22 along
with a fast shutter speed of 1/500th of a
second to minimize the amount of light
hitting the camera’s sensor (and therefore
overexposing the image). You can also
use a circular polarizing filter (CPL) which
will polarize the sun and, if you need it, to
remove glare and reflections. A CPL also
means that your shot will lose one or two
Photograph by Sebastian Unrau stops, so do bear this in mind. If there are
Overcast skies can still work well for landscapes, particularly in autumn when there are strong colors to photograph. strong shadows in the shot, you can either
wait for the sun to go behind a cloud
to reduce them, or, if there aren’t any
clouds, you could use a little fill-in flash to
brighten the shadow area.

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 11

 Snow – Snow is one of the most challenging things WHERE TO GO NEXT
to photograph. Your camera is set to meter for 18%
gray, making everything mid-toned, and this can lead As I will stress in all of my ‘camera settings’ guides,
to snow looking gray in your final image. Make sure there are no absolutes when it comes to camera
you set your White Balance to Daylight. Set your ISO settings. Your settings will alter with the available
to 100, aperture to f16, and shutter speed to 1/250th. light as all photography is reliant on light being
Now dial in +1 EV on your exposure compensation available. So, after you’ve tried out shots with my
button. This overexposure will ensure that the snow suggested settings, make sure you take the next step
looks white but won’t blow out other objects in the and try out different settings that suit the light you
image. have available.

Overcast Skies – Overcast skies can actually be very Recommended Reading: If you’d like to
flattering for landscape photography. The clouds learn more and improve your landscape
are almost like a giant softbox, creating a gentle photography, grab a copy of Photzy’s bestselling
light that softens out shadows. I like to use a longer premium guide: Complete Landscape
exposure with these skies to blur out the cloud and Photography.
create an even softer feel to the landscape. Start with
a shutter speed of 1/4th, aperture of f11, and ISO
200.

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 12

 CONCLUSION

We all want to be able to take beautiful

photographs of the landscape around
us or indeed that of the wider world
when we’re exploring it. Landscape
photography is a huge genre with many
possibilities, so hopefully this guide will
give you some tips to get started with.

Photograph by Cosmic Timetraveler

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 13

 Self-Check Quiz:

1) What lens is vital for landscape photography?

2) What is the Rule of Thirds?

3) Why is the Golden Hour so popular for landscape photography?

4) What shutter speed should you start with for blurring slow-moving water?

5) Why is snow tricky to photograph?

CAMERA SETTINGS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY // © PHOTZY.COM 14

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we're here to help you every step of the way! Here are 3 of our most useful (and
FREE!) photography resources:

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Grab 3 free photography cheat Take this 30 second quiz to find out Free access to our library of 250+
sheets that will help you the #1 thing holding your downloadable (pdf) tutorials on
understand the basics. photography back. everything you can imagine.

Download Cheat Sheets → Take Quiz → Download eBooks →

Want quick photography tips?

Check out our friends at DailyPhotoTips.com they'll send you 1 solid photography tip
to your inbox, 5 days a week. So you can start your day right, with actionable tips to
help you on your creative journey. Subscribe now →
(free for a limited time)

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Congratulations! You’ve completed
this Photzy guide!

If you liked this photography tutorial,

check out this premium guide to help you
transform your landscape snapshots into
beautiful scenic works of art: The Complete
Landscape Photography Guide.

Jo Plumridge is a UK-based freelance writer and photographer.

She writes photography, travel, and opinion pieces for
magazines, websites, and books, and specializes in portrait and
corporate photography. You can view some of her work on her
website, www.joplumridge.co.uk, and follow her on Twitter at
JoPlumridge. IF YOU’D LIKE TO CONTINUE
LEARNING AND IMPROVING
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