run-landscape-photography

Run Landscape Photography

Plan and execute landscape shoots around light quality, weather, and foreground interest rather than arriving and reacting.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: Ansel Adams' Zone System established the principle of pre-visualization — knowing what the final image will look like before pressing the shutter. Modern digital landscape photography (Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite, Michael Kenna) builds on this: the shoot is 80% planning, 20% execution.

Impact: Landscape photographers who arrive at a location with a planned composition, known light direction, and tide/sunrise time retrieve dramatically more usable images per outing. Reactive landscape photography — "drive somewhere nice, hope for good light" — produces tourist snapshots.

Why best: Landscape light peaks for 15–30 minutes per day. Missing golden hour by 20 minutes means flat midday light. Pre-planning is the only way to be in the right place at the right second with the composition already decided.

Steps

Step 1: Scout the location before the shoot

Never attempt a landscape cold at golden hour — you'll spend the good light finding your composition.

1. Satellite view (Google Maps): identify the general scene, access points, horizon obstacles
2. PhotoPills or The Photographer's Ephemeris: calculate exact sunrise/sunset azimuth, golden hour window, moon position
3. Ground scout (previous day, midday): walk the scene, test compositions, identify foreground elements, mark the exact tripod position
4. Weather apps: use a dedicated app (Windy, Yr.no) — cloud cover, wind, mist; overcast = soft even light; broken cloud = dramatic; rain = saturated colors post-storm

Step 2: Choose conditions over clear skies

Condition	Why to seek it
Golden hour (30min after sunrise / before sunset)	Warm directional light, long shadows, texture
Blue hour (20min before sunrise / after sunset)	Balanced sky-to-foreground exposure, deep blues
Storm clearing	Dramatic clouds, shafts of light, rainbow potential
Morning mist/fog	Atmospheric depth, layers, mystery
Overcast	Even light, no harsh shadows; ideal for waterfalls, forests

Avoid midday sun unless intentional (harsh desert, abstract shadow play).

Step 3: Set camera for landscape

Standard landscape settings:

• Aperture: f/8–f/11 (sharpest on most lenses; full depth of field)
• ISO: 100 (base ISO for cleanest file)
• Shutter: whatever the meter requires at f/8 ISO 100 — use tripod if below 1/30s
• Focus: manual or single-point AF on hyperfocal distance or 1/3 into scene
• RAW format (mandatory — post-processing headroom essential for landscape)
• White balance: daylight (not auto — consistency across bracketed frames)

Step 4: Build foreground interest

Flat landscapes with a distant horizon fail. Strong foreground elements anchor the scene and create depth.

Good foreground elements:

• Tide pools, wet sand with reflections
• Rocks, wildflowers, fallen leaves, frost patterns
• S-curve paths, leading lines (Step 4 = apply-leading-lines)
• Strong shadows at golden hour

Position the camera low (tripod at minimum height) to exaggerate the foreground's scale. Get as close as f/8 allows while maintaining full depth of field.

Step 5: Compose and bracket

1. Set composition with the foreground element at bottom-third grid line
2. Place horizon at upper or lower third (never center unless using reflection symmetry)
3. Shoot the metered exposure
4. Bracket ±1 stop for RAW blending if the sky-to-foreground contrast is beyond sensor range
5. Shoot multiple frames (5–10) at peak light — cloud shapes change second to second

Step 6: Process for dynamic range

Landscape RAW files almost always require tonal range management:

• Pull highlights down to recover cloud detail
• Push shadows up to reveal foreground texture
• Use graduated filter (top half) to balance sky and ground
• Apply lens correction (distortion + vignette)
• Sharpen selectively for texture in foreground; keep sky clean

Rules

• Be on location 30 minutes before golden hour starts — not at golden hour
• Use a tripod for any shot below 1/60s; no exceptions for landscapes
• f/8 at ISO 100 is the default; only deviate with a clear reason
• Shoot RAW — JPEG cannot hold the dynamic range of a landscape scene
• Always shoot with a foreground element; horizon-only compositions are weak

Common Mistakes

Arriving at golden hour: Light is already peaking. Setup takes 5 minutes; light lasts 15. Arrive 30 minutes early.

Horizon in the center: Unless shooting a mirror reflection, a centered horizon splits the frame and says nothing. Place it at 1/3 or 2/3.

No foreground interest: A beautiful mountain vista 10 miles away with an empty field in front is a postcard, not a photograph. Walk forward; find rocks, flowers, water.

Shooting in clear blue sky midday: Flat, shadowless, high-contrast. This light is not good for landscapes. Reschedule or scout.

Ignoring bracketing when contrast is high: Bright sky + dark foreground exceeds sensor dynamic range. Blend 2 exposures rather than losing detail in both zones.

When NOT to Use

• Street or environmental portraits within a landscape: design-portrait-session governs
• Aerial/drone landscape: different planning tools (airspace, drone regulations, perspective)