Guest Post: ‘What Makes a Spectacular Landscape Photograph?’ by Mark Dumbleton

What makes a spectacular landscape photograph? What is it that catches our attention? Why does a specific photograph work so well.

These are, among many other some of the questions I ask myself when photographing landscapes.

When I’m out in the field, capturing the essence of the destination is my goal. Many different factors contribute to the success of a landscape photograph. Initially when I get out to a destination, I like to take time to scout the area, looking for unique charactersistics, planning and seeing how the light will fall on the landscape. Light direction and characteristic plays a major role in landscape photography, and can make all the difference between an amazing or very bland photograph. Spend as much time scouting out in the field as possible, walking, driving, whatever it takes to find that magic something to capture.

Getting a feeling for a destination and possibly “seeing” your images before you even have a camera in your hands will make all the difference when the light is at its peak.

I have been out shooting many times when the light peaks, and I dont really have anything to shoot. That results in a very dissapointing outing. Rather get out early, find your shot, set-up and be ready and waiting for when nature shows you its beauty.

The best time for landscape photography can be anything from an hour before sunrise to after the sun is up. The same for sunset, just before the sun sets until about an hour after the sun has dissapeared. Spectacular things can happen around these times, especially when you have some clouds present in your sky. When the sun is below the horizon, if the lights path is clear, it will reflect on the bottom of the clouds creating spectacular pink and red effects. These clouds can make for such an attractive element in your image.

The advances of technology has opened up so many different possibilities with landscape photography. One of my favorite things to do, is get out when the stars are out on a clear night. This can be such an amazing experience especially when there is no moon and no light pollution around. Positioning your camera facing the stars, with a setting of about ISO2500, f/2.8 and about a 25second exposure, you will be able to capture the amazing beauty of the heavens above. Combining this with a charactersitic tree for example, you have captured something unique about your destination. For example I travelled to the Richtersveld National Park recently, and in one photograph captured the amazing clear starry skies with a very characteristic dead Kokerboom tree. This is something you can associate with the destination. Try and find those unique characteristic and focus your attention on that.

I find with landscape photography, simpler can often be much more succesful. Having fewer elements can create a far more pleasing and interesting photograph, as you’re focussing the viewers attention on something specific. For example if you have an ocean scene with the sun setting, blurring the water can create a smoother, more ethereal less distracting element, allowing the viewer to focus his/her attention on the details of the rock and in the example below, the ship wreck. The light levels in the image below were very low, allowing for a very long shutter speed. You can also create longer exposures using nuetral density filters.

Image composition plays another major role in succesful imagery. Arranging elements within a frame is no easy task. There are no rules or perfect recipe when composing an image. Its all about finding what works best. I like to try include a foreground interest in my images. This acts as a base for my composition. Obviously its not always possible to include this, but I try as best as I can to include something to hold the viewers attention. Shapes and lines work well in images too. In the Ship Wreck image above for example, the rock leading from the bottom to the middle of the frame acts as a “lead line”. This line leads the viewers eye from the bottom and into the frame and moves the interest to from the rocks to the ship-wreck and sky very easily.

These are just a few important aspects of landscape photography, and there are many more factors to take into consideration. The main thing is to get out and about, seeing and planning as best as you can, finding that unique characteristic and dynamic of your destination to photograph in the best way possible.

Mark Dumbleton

Mark’s Links:

- Website:  Mark Dumbleton Photography