Weather & Location

Great photos can come from calm or inclement weather and deciding which to take advantage of is a challenge for beginners. Dark and moody clouds can make for a beautiful backdrop but watch out for rain drops on your lens or sensitive digital equipment. Where you place your camera is an important determination in how your photographs will turn out. Check weather reports before and during your photo session and adapt your photos accordingly. Be sure to take your own safety into account when shooting landscape photos and consider bringing a friend just in case.

Use a Tripod

Using a tripod to shoot your landscape photos is a must or at the very least a monopod. Stable photos are crisp and clear and handheld shots may look fine on the screen or viewfinder but will be blurred and disappointing when you view them full size. The key here is stabilization — most modern cameras will provide some level of stabilization and higher-end lenses may even feature their own dedicated system for compensation of movement. All this is great for the photographer on the go, but you aren't shooting wedding photos or a sporting event so mount your camera and enjoy crystal clear photos every time.

Multiple lenses

Many modern cameras for beginners will feature detachable lenses for greater variability and flexibility in shooting. If you own more than one lens, consider taking the same photo with each one and comparing the difference. Wide angle lenses are great but your other lenses may offer more depth of field or increased details you wouldn't otherwise know about.

Shoot in RAW or RAW + JPEG

Your camera can produce normal photo files called JPEG’s but these are compressed and not as high quality as your camera’s RAW format. Each camera has a RAW format that preserves the image without any compression or filtering. Professional photographers trained in photo editing and optimization software will typically shoot in RAW. If you are unsure of what you want to do choose to shoot in RAW + JPEG which will produce two files, one compressed as normal and one in the special RAW format. If you know for sure you won’t ever want to edit the RAW files or if your camera’s memory card just doesn't have the room, shoot your photos in JPEG format.

Extra Batteries

Don't let a great shot pass you by — by packing extra batteries you can shoot all the photos you need for as long as you need. Consider getting an adapter for your car’s power outlet and keep your batteries charged on the road. There is no greater frustration than running out of juice at the critical moment.

Extra Memory

Just like extra batteries, extra memory cards can keep your shots coming all day or night long. If you only have one card and it’s the card the camera came with be sure to look at one of the many affordable upgrades online especially if you want to shoot RAW and or RAW + JPEG photos.

Perspective

Once you've fired off a few great shots of your scene be sure to move locations to try out different angles and perspectives. Use the natural lines of your scene to create the impression of more depth and don't just shoot your subject straight on.

Isolate your Subject

Framing your shot is as important as the other factors presented in this article and perhaps more so. Time and again, beginning landscape photographers complain that their photos are not as dynamic as what they see with their eyes. Because we see in stereo (two eyes) we see the world in 3d but the camera has just one sensor so if you don't line up your shots with various angles you will miss out on the depth you can see with the naked eye.

Beginning photographers have a long way to go in capturing breathtaking scenes but the process will make you into a better photographer. By not giving up and continuing to persevere even when your shots don't turn out like you expect, you will improve dramatically. The key is to keep trying and to keep experimenting and whatever you do, don't give up and decide you can't produce amazing landscape photographs. Anyone can pick up a camera and take a picture, but to craft professional level photographs takes patience, planning, and persistence.

Good luck.