Landscape photography, like any other art, has certain elements that determine its beauty and art-worthiness. For the untrained eye, taking photos might appear simple. However, experts know what makes a picture more captivating than others.
Here are the five factors that help develop an award-winning landscape photo:
Practice Technical Perfection
Technical perfection refers to the correct execution of the basics—focus, sharpness, unwarranted blur, and the amount of noise. Photos need the right blend of the basics to avoid blurry images, distracting noises in the picture, and a super sharpened photo.
When you put value into the basics, it will show in the resulting picture, which your audience will love and appreciate more than a haphazard shot that disregards the standards set by the norm.
Be Original
Originality is more than just creating something new that no one has done in the past—that’s just called uniqueness. Originality doesn’t necessarily require shooting in new locations. Even the most photographed spot can get an original take if you shot a photo differently than others.
Being original stems from not just following a compositional formula, but rather the bold step of taking a risk to redefine the norms. When you successfully do that, you can make an original piece nobody has ever seen before.
Capture That ‘Special’ Moment
Special moments don’t need to be grandiose once-in-a-lifetime events. Sometimes, it only requires the sunset, a lightning strike, or the autumn leaves dancing in the wind. Although unique and rare phenomena are excellent candidates for the special moment, it’s not a prerequisite to taking a kick-ass photo.
The real secret in finding the special moment is to take a long look at your surroundings. Most people fail to recognize the beauty of their surroundings. Have you seen the northern lights swaying with the night breeze atop the snowy mountains? How about the perfectly-timed moment when a cloud lines up with a huge tree? How about two rainbows converging in the middle of the road as flocks of birds fly their way through? ‘Special’ moments are non-special moments that are given the attention it deserves.
Capture Realism
Realism refers to the ability to capture a moment and make it look “real” as much as possible. There’s a vast difference between seeing a scenario in real life than in photos. Realism has the goal of bridging that gap by making the audience feel as if they’re actually in that moment the photo was shot.
Pay Attention to Aesthetics
Aesthetics require the perfect blend of beneficial light, composition, and color. A seasoned photographer can improve the harmony of stable composition, useful light, and color. When successfully done, it improves the aesthetics of a photo to transform it into a more visually appealing object.
Aside from the three mentioned above, there are also other factors with lesser influence on the aesthetics of your photo—balance, symmetry, depth, and visual flow. However, getting too focused on the technical aspects of photography limits your creative freedom and can result in dry and mundane photos. Instead, it is best to find the perfect blend of photography rules and artistic rebellion.
Conclusion
Taking a landscape photo isn’t limited to the elements that make it an art. It also needs to invoke a feeling to its audience. Furthermore, landscape photography is an excellent way of communicating with an audience about the identifiable abstracts of landscapes.
If you are looking for an excellent landscape photographer, reach out to get in touch with me today to see how I can help.