My Photography Book

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

How to Take Great Scenic Photos

By Rob Jackson


Nearly everyone loves photography. There isn't a person alive who doesn't adore taking pictures and making them look as professional as they can. Likewise, one of the most loved kinds of photos that we take as a whole is landscape or scenic photos. The stillness and the solitude, reflected in your lens is a powerful feeling. Used as canvas prints, or even smaller photo keyrings, your scenic photography will shine.

You want to give the best representation of that beauty that you can, but where do you start? How do you make a scenic photo that is worthy of being used for products, such as the photo keyrings?

Like most of us, you've probably begun with a regular camera and progressed to an SLR or a more capable camera. Even if you haven't, and you're still using your first Minolta, there are certain tips that will serve you very well and may be used no matter what kind of camera that you're using some tips on how to take a great scenery photo will serve you well. Many people actually use their photography as gallery wraps or canvas prints to display on the walls of their homes.

Learning how to take scenic photos doesn't require a photography school, although they do have a lot to teach you when you're ready to dive in and learn. In the meantime, just a few top tips on how to take scenic photos will help you to make the most of your pictures of the outdoor world.

One of the first things that you need to know about how to take a scenic photo is that you want to maximize the depth on all or your pictures of the outside world. Make sure that you can get as much of the images surrounding you as possible in the picture. You can do this by setting what is called a small aperture. When the aperture is set to smaller (increasing the numbers) then you're going to get a great deal of the background in the focus field and get a wider shot. Bear in mind that the smaller the aperture, the less light you're actually going to get so you will need to fix that by making the ISO bigger, or else making your shutter speed longer. You may actually want to do both in some cases to assure that you get that whole background image and get enough light into the camera to make it a viable photo.

Try a stabilizer such as a tripod. Using a tripod in your outdoor photos is going to be helpful in hundreds of ways. There is simply no way to correct that wobble that you're going to get when you need to hold very still for a long shutter speed. Even if you're using a faster shutter speed the tripod can stabilize the camera and make sure that your shot is far more successful than it might otherwise be, but with a longer shutter speed, the chance for a wobble or two exists that will offer you a blurry photo for your trouble. No one wants to display a blurred vision of the Grand Canyon in canvas prints on their wall, do they?

Find a great focal area. Focal points, as most of you will likely already know are the single most important or most beautiful element in your picture. Finding that point and focusing on it is important. A very wide image of all landscape, no matter how breathtaking, tends to feel somewhat empty or like something is missing if you don't have a focal point. Look for a particularly craggy tree, the reflection in the water, a single animal in the photo, even a rock or mountain and then focus on that. Not only is it important what the focus of your photograph is, but also where in the photo that you place it, so pay close attention.

Point of Interest. The foreground of the image is as important as the back spots. Find something interesting or unique and make sure that it is featured in the foreground, even if it's not the focal point. Make your photos come alive by paying attention to every aspect of the landscape and then arranging it to make the best and most spectacular shot that you can get.

Your photos--if you follow just a few simple tips--will be adequate to display on gallery wraps or canvas prints, and carried with you on photo keyrings, to be shown with pride. How to take scenic photos is simply a matter of knowing your camera, knowing what your camera will do and then paying a little extra attention to what you're pointing it at. That and a little artistic sense will take you a long way in photography.




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