We all love nature, don’t we?

And to capture it in a frame and cherish it forever is the wish of every landscape photographer!

In case you think you are not a landscape photographer, allow me to tell you something you might not know about yourself. Every now and then you become a landscape photographer, too.

Let’s be honest; you couldn’t resist the beautiful mountain view you saw a few weeks ago on a hike and you went for your camera, opened the lens cap and went on a clicking spree!

Your social media profiles are full of landscapes of canyons, lakes, and forests that you have visited. Even your grandma sent you a picture of a sunset from her backyard the other day. Your friends keep tagging you on the landscape pictures they clicked on their vacation.

The bottom line is, everyone is or has been a landscape photographer some or the other time. Now, you may be a regular nature lover or a landscape enthusiast, it’s always better to improve your photographs and make them more appealing.

So, here are 4 tips to improve your Landscape Photography:

Minimalism

I know you are excited to show the whole world how beautiful nature is around you. However, often showing everything is equal to showing nothing.

For instance, look at the image above. It is simple and straightforward. You clearly know what the photographer tried to show.

Now, imagine there is a road below the greenery, two smaller mountains on the right and little pond on the left. You could capture all of that instead; it would give much more information about the location. However, then your viewer wouldn’t know where to look.

Zero Distractions

Your viewer is exposed to thousands of images every day (social media, streets banners, TV, online advertising, etc.). Don’t give him any more work. Seeing your photo should be an effortless and enjoyable process.

Therefore, there should not be any unnecessary objects like wires or poles or any other obstruction between the viewer’s eyes and the photograph. For example, check out the image below.

There is nothing obstructing your view of those beautiful mountains.

Color Contrast

This is an extremely important concept that you need to be familiar with.

Our brains are wired in a way that when we look at a picture, we first respond to contrasts in color and light, then to the shape, size and other characteristics of the scene. Make sure you know the theory of color contrast.

The general rule is that cold and warm colors work well together. Here’s an example:

Thumbnail Test

In a perfect world, you would make a large format print of your image and people would come and spend hours savoring every detail of it. In reality, your picture will be one of many tiny thumbnails on someone’s social media feed.

A great exercise is to look at your image as a small thumbnail. Can you tell what’s on it? Would you pay attention to it if you saw it on your Instagram timeline or would you scroll past it? You’ll notice, that simple images with high color and/or light contrast stand out the most.

Here’s an example of how your thumbnail should look: