Landscape Photography Tips Video: Creative Composition


 

In this short 5-minute video, Jim Harmer walks through the steps to create a stunning landscape photo.  Follow Jim as he takes a landscape picture on the beach in Naples, Florida and then takes the photo home to post-process the image using Lightroom 3 and Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw.

Creative photography tip for landscape photographers. Using a long exposure to show foreground movement in waves will create a sense of depth in your photos. The image is taken and then processed in Lightroom 3.

Photography Tips from this Video:
Photography Tip #1: Consider placing a foreground element very close to the camera.  This will add depth to the photo and draw the viewer into the scene.  Whenever you compose a landscape photo, remember: FOREGROUND, MID-GROUND, BACKGROUND.

Photography Tip #2:  If you’re near water, you can use the waves as a foreground element by using a slow shutter speed and using the motion blur to add interest to the photo.

Photography Tip #3: When the sun is about to rise, or right before the sun sets, there is hidden color in the sky that isn’t yet pronounced.  If you capture these delicately lit scenes in a RAW file, then you can bring out the hidden color in Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw, or in Lightroom 3.

Photography Tip #4: Using a tripod for landscape photos will make the fine details in the foreground more clear and sharp.

Photography Tip #5: Don’t get locked into only shooting from eye-level.  GET DOWN LOW to shoot landscapes!

 

Further Reading:

Avatar of Jim Harmer

About Jim Harmer

Landscape photographer, author of six photography instructional books, writer of daily photography tips at Improve Photography, and all around geek. follow me on Google Plus and check out my About Me page.

17 Responses to “Landscape Photography Tips Video: Creative Composition”

  1. Is the video missing?

  2. Woops! Thanks for letting me know. It’s fixed now.

  3. Hi Jim, can you tell me where I can find the video?
    Thanks!!

  4. The youtube code keeps messing up, but it is fixed for me. Can everyone else access the video?

  5. Avik Chatterjee March 29, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    I can see the Video

  6. very nice lightroom software veery nice post verry usefull software

  7. Amaizing tips ,, thanks

  8. Fantastic, thanks :)

  9. Definitely helpful! At first glance you would never think you could get all that color out of that grey morning (I think that was morning)

  10. There’s certainly a lot to find out about this issue. I like all the points you have made.|

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Where to Focus for Landscape Photography - February 21, 2012

    [...] should caution you, however.  If you follow my advice on landscape composition and include foreground elements, you may want to focus much closer than one-third the way into the [...]

  2. 30 Sunset photography tips - April 1, 2012

    [...] Photography Tip #2. Find the foreground first.  The best recipe for a good sunset is some object of interest in the foreground.  It could [...]

  3. How the Contest-Winning Fireworks Photo Was Taken - July 23, 2012

    [...] positioned my tripod and Canon 5D Mark II over the water as close as I dared.  I tried to position the rocks as a foreground element leading to the area from where the fireworks would be coming. I was also hoping the longer [...]

  4. How to Photograph Lightning - August 24, 2012

    [...] far away from the city as possible to avoid light pollution that will ruin the shot, and (3) has a great foreground element.  Don’t think that you can just throw composition out the window simply because you’re [...]

  5. How to Photography Long Exposures of Cars at Night - August 24, 2012

    [...] Scout for a good location when it is still light outside. Compose the photo in daylight, check your basic composition for a story or feeling. This will only make your image more captivating once you get the lights [...]

  6. Seminggu.com » Blog Archive Cara Melindungi Foto Anda Dengan Watermark A » Seminggu.com - September 22, 2012

    [...] Tips Video: Komposisi Kreatif [...]