How to take great landscape photos

Nowadays, you do not need to lug around clunky equipment to obtain stunning nature shots. Your mobile is enough if you know what to do.

It’s easy to become spellbound by a beautiful landscape while travelling. By learning to photograph that ‘aha’ moment effectively, you can turn a mundane trip into a memorable experience.

Landscape photography is about capturing a natural or outdoors scene in an artful or compelling way. Stunning nature shots is all about photographing the main elements like the sky, clouds, sun, mountains, waterfall or any natural settings in the most creative way. And you do not need high-end mobiles or cameras to take good landscape pictures. It is possible to take your creativity a notch higher with these tips and, of course, your smartphone.

* Shoot at the right time: In photography, timing is everything. What is considered the most suitable timing is just after dawn and just before dusk, when the low-angled sun bathes everything in gentle, golden hues. This is called the ‘Golden Hour’. It’s also the most dramatic time to shoot because the sun’s angle tends to create dramatic shadows. Planning your travel around this time can result in interesting and beautiful pictures.

* Compose it with care: Imagine that your photo is divided into nine equal parts. Place your subject and other points of interest at the points where the lines intersect. Look for anything that will draw the viewer’s eye; are there rocks, trees, or even walkways? Frame the elements on the intersecting lines; this will keep the picture well-balanced.

* Pan it: Turn on the panorama mode in your camera app to capture beautiful sweeping landscapes. The phone takes a series of shots, which it then automatically stitches together to create one long panoramic image. Landscapes looks beautiful in panoramic view. Pro Tip: You can stop the panning midway instead of a full panorama. Experiment and take multiple photos.

* Level your horizon: This may seem obvious, but it’s a step that many amateurs and even some pros neglect. By levelling the horizon, you keep our eyes from spending that extra effort on keeping things straight (which can get uncomfortable). Avoid keeping the horizon in the centre of the frame; rather move it lower and give extra space to the sky. Or in contrast, you can choose to keep the horizon on the top half and fill the frame with foreground.

* HDR it: HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It’s important to turn HDR on to make sure your photos are perfectly exposed. This mode captures the highlights while preserving the shadows. For example, when shooting in midday light, HDR mode will capture the highlight, while preserving the shadow areas. Hence the name dynamic range. Most phones will give you the option to keep both the normal and HDR version of a shot. You can achieve the effect in editing tools too, but don’t over do it. Pro Tip: Remember to tap the screen at the point where you want the focus to be sharpest.

* Use tools smartly: In the Snapseed App, tweak structure and sharpness in the details tab. Then adjust contrast, brightness, saturation and ambience in the Tune Image tab. Remember to keep it subtle; subtlety is the key. There are other apps with the same or similar features. The goal is to create the impression that you haven’t adjusted anything at all.

Photos involve putting a lot of thought into your shot before you actually click the shutter button. But don’t stop there; challenge yourself to mix landscape photography with a bit of your creativity. Use some of these tips to try your hand in other niches.

P.S: Don’t forget to enjoy the scene!

Lenscraft is a monthly column on all things photography — tips, tricks and everything in between.

The writer is a photojournalist who tells stories with his pictures. Find his pictures on Twitter and Instagram @pushkarv