Landscape Photography Tips and Techniques: A Comprehensive Guide

Landscape photography is more than just capturing beautiful scenery, it’s a way to slow down, connect with nature, and express your creativity. Whether you’re hiking into remote wilderness or photographing a familiar view near home, the process can be deeply rewarding.

But let’s be honest, learning how to consistently take great photos takes time. Most of us start by simply pointing the camera at something pretty, only to be disappointed when the results don’t match what we saw. That’s normal.

This guide is written for you, whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been shooting for a while and want a refresher on the fundamentals. We’ll break down everything you need to know: from the essential camera settings and gear, to composition tips, light, and basic post-processing.

By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of the tools and techniques that form the foundation of strong landscape photography, and most importantly, the confidence to head out and capture images you’re proud of.

Jump to Section (Click to Expand)

The Fundamental Camera Settings
Applying Settings in the Field
Essential In-Camera Settings and File Management
Recommended Equipment for Landscape Photography
Composition: The Heart of Landscape Photography
The Importance of Light in Landscape Photography
Creative Use of Camera Settings
Post-Processing Basics
Conclusion

The Fundamental Camera Settings

Before you start capturing breathtaking images, you need to understand how your camera works. Not just where the buttons are, but what the core settings actually do. Mastering your camera settings is the first step to improving your landscape photography.

There are three key settings that form the foundation of every photograph: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. These are often referred to as the Exposure Triangle, a concept that illustrates how the three settings work together to control the brightness and overall look of your photo.

Each of these settings plays a unique role:

• ISO controls your camera’s sensitivity to light
• Aperture determines how much light enters through the lens and affects depth of field
• Shutter Speed dictates how long the sensor is exposed to light and captures motion

Understanding how these settings interact is essential for anyone who wants to go beyond auto mode. Once you’re in control of the Exposure Triangle, you’ll be able to make creative and technical decisions in the field — whether you’re shooting at sunrise, capturing motion in waterfalls, or freezing action during a storm.

Recommended Reading: The Exposure Triangle in Photography [Comprehensive Guide]

In the following sections, we’ll break down each setting individually so you can use them confidently.

ISO: Light Sensitivity and Image Quality

ISO is one of the three essential camera settings in the Exposure Triangle. It controls your camera’s sensitivity to light. While it might seem like a minor adjustment at first, ISO can have a major impact on your exposure and image quality, especially in landscape photography.

In simple terms, a low ISO value (like 64 or 100) makes your camera less sensitive to light, which results in cleaner images with less noise. A high ISO (like 1600 or above) increases sensitivity, allowing you to shoot in darker conditions or use faster shutter speeds, but it also introduces more noise and can reduce image quality, especially in the shadows.

Most landscape photographers aim to keep ISO as low as possible to preserve detail and dynamic range. That’s because, unlike aperture and shutter speed, ISO doesn’t offer creative benefits; it’s a technical compromise you make when the lighting or exposure settings demand it.

ISO in the Field

Here’s how this applies in real situations:

• On a bright day with a tripod, use the base ISO (usually 64 or 100)
• In low light or when hand-holding the camera, you might need to increase ISO to avoid blur
• When photographing fast-moving subjects like wildlife, raising ISO allows for a quicker shutter speed
• When shooting night photography, a high ISO is often necessary to capture enough light, especially if you’re not using a star tracker or stacking multiple exposures

Just remember: noise levels vary between camera models. Some entry-level cameras start showing visible noise at ISO 400, while modern full-frame sensors can handle ISO 3200 and beyond with ease.

Recommended Reading: Introduction to ISO in Digital Photography

While ISO may seem technical, learning to manage it properly will help you create cleaner, sharper images in every kind of landscape, from golden hour mountainscapes to dim forest scenes.

Aperture: Depth of Field and Light Control

Aperture is the second key component of the Exposure Triangle, and it plays a dual role in your photography. It not only controls how much light enters through the lens, but also has a powerful impact on depth of field, or how much of your image appears sharp from front to back.

Aperture is measured in f-stops (such as f/2.8, f/8, or f/16). A lower number means a wider opening, which allows in more light but produces a shallower depth of field. A higher number narrows the opening, letting in less light but resulting in more of the scene appearing in focus.

In landscape photography, you’ll often want everything from the foreground to the background in sharp focus. That’s why many photographers choose an aperture between f/7.1 and f/13 for general scenes. This range typically delivers the best balance between sharpness and depth.

Creative Use of Aperture

While f/8 to f/11 is great for classic landscapes, don’t be afraid to explore other options:

• Use a wide aperture (f/2.8–f/4) to isolate a subject with a soft, blurry background (great for flowers, wildlife, or intimate scenes)
• Use a narrow aperture (f/16–f/22) when you want a sunstar effect or maximum depth of field (e.g. when shooting into the sun)
• Just be cautious, extremely narrow apertures can introduce diffraction, which softens image sharpness

If you’re unsure how aperture affects your images, a simple experiment at home can help: photograph a subject at different f-stops, keeping the focus point the same. You’ll quickly see how changing aperture affects both exposure and sharpness.

Recommended Reading: Introduction to Aperture in Landscape Photography

Mastering aperture gives you greater creative control, whether you’re chasing golden hour light in the mountains or creating abstract images with a shallow focus. It’s one of the most expressive tools in your camera.

Shutter Speed: Freezing or Embracing Motion

Shutter speed is the final piece of the Exposure Triangle, and it may be the most visually impactful setting of the three. It determines how long your camera’s sensor is exposed to light, in other words, how long the shutter stays open when you take a photo.

A fast shutter speed (like 1/1000s) captures quick-moving subjects with crisp detail, freezing the action. A slow shutter speed (like 1 second or more) records movement, creating smooth, flowing effects, such as soft water or streaking clouds.

In landscape photography, shutter speed is more than a technical setting; it’s a creative decision that changes how a scene feels.

How to Use Shutter Speed Creatively

Here are some common uses:

• Use a fast shutter speed (1/1000s or faster) to freeze wildlife, wind-blown grass, or ocean spray
• Use a moderate speed (1/30s–1/2s) to show gentle motion in water or light wind in foliage
• Use a long exposure (1s to several minutes) with a tripod and ND filter to smooth water, clouds, or even create minimalist scenes

Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Long Exposure Photography

Shutter speed is also the most sensitive setting for camera shake. That’s why using a tripod is essential when working with slower speeds; even slight movement can ruin sharpness.

For fast-paced subjects, or when shooting handheld in lower light, you may need to use a higher ISO or wider aperture to maintain a fast enough shutter speed. It’s all about finding the right balance between light and your creative intent.

Recommended Reading: Introduction to Shutter Speed in Landscape Photography

The Exposure Triangle: How the Camera Settings are Connected

Now that you understand ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed individually, it’s time to connect the dots. The Exposure Triangle is the concept that brings them all together, showing how these three settings work in balance to determine your image’s overall exposure and creative impact.

Think of it like this:

• Aperture controls the amount of light entering the lens and affects the depth of field
• Shutter Speed controls how long light hits the sensor and affects motion
• ISO controls how sensitive the sensor is to light, with trade-offs in image quality

Changing one setting always affects the others. If you slow your shutter speed to brighten an image, you may need to narrow your aperture or lower your ISO to avoid overexposure. Likewise, opening your aperture to blur the background might require a faster shutter speed to compensate.

Here’s a real-world example:

You’re photographing a waterfall at sunset. To capture that silky flow, you use a slow shutter speed, but now the image is too bright. You stop down the aperture to f/11, but it’s still not enough. The solution? Drop your ISO to its base value, or add an ND filter to cut the light even further.

The more you shoot, the more instinctive this balancing act becomes. Don’t be discouraged if it feels confusing at first; with a bit of practice, you’ll begin to make exposure decisions automatically based on the scene.

Recommended Reading: Understanding the Exposure Triangle in Photography

Once you’ve mastered the Exposure Triangle, you’re no longer just guessing; you’re in control of how your images look and feel.

Applying the Settings in the Field

Understanding your camera settings is one thing; knowing how to apply them in real-life situations is where everything starts to click.

Landscape photography often presents challenging lighting and dynamic environments. That’s why it’s helpful to have a practical starting point, a baseline you can adjust based on the scene and your creative goals.

A Common Starting Point

For most standard landscapes, this is a good place to begin:

• ISO: Use your camera’s base ISO (usually 64 or 100) for the cleanest image
• Aperture: Set between f/7.1 and f/13 to maximize sharpness from front to back
• Shutter Speed: Let this be your flexible setting, adjusting it based on available light or desired motion effect

If you’re using a tripod, you can afford to lengthen the shutter speed, allowing for lower ISO and ideal aperture. But if you’re hand-holding the camera or shooting moving subjects, you may need to adjust ISO or aperture to maintain sharpness.

Common Landscape Scenarios

Scene 1: A bright mountain landscape at midday
Set your ISO to 64, aperture to f/11, and use a fast enough shutter speed to avoid overexposure. Not much adjustment needed unless clouds roll in.

Scene 2: A long exposure of a waterfall
Use a tripod, set ISO to 100, aperture to f/11, and slow your shutter speed to 1–2 seconds. Add an ND filter if it’s too bright.

Scene 3: A handheld shot at blue hour
To avoid blur, you’ll need a faster shutter speed. Open your aperture slightly (f/5.6 or f/4) and raise the ISO to 400–800 depending on your camera’s performance.

Recommended Reading: Why Neutral Density Filters Will Improve Your Photography

There’s no single formula that works for every situation, and that’s the beauty of photography. The more time you spend in the field, the more intuitively you’ll adjust these settings based on the light, subject, and desired look of the final image.

Essential In-Camera Settings & File Management

While shutter speed, aperture, and ISO form the creative foundation of landscape photography, there are a few in-camera settings that play a big role in determining your image quality and post-processing flexibility. Understanding these options, especially file format and color management, will help you make the most of each shot.

RAW vs JPG: Choosing the Right File Format

One of the most important decisions you’ll make in-camera is whether to shoot in RAW or JPG. This setting defines how your camera saves the image and how much flexibility you’ll have later when editing.

• RAW files contain the full, uncompressed image data from your camera sensor. They preserve the most detail, offer more dynamic range, and allow for non-destructive editing in post-processing.
• JPG files are compressed and processed automatically by the camera. They’re smaller and ready to share immediately, but they discard a significant amount of image data and limit your ability to make adjustments later.

For serious landscape photography, RAW is the clear choice. Even if you’re not editing much now, capturing RAW files ensures you’ll have the best possible version of your photo when you’re ready to process it later.

If you’re unsure or just getting started, you can shoot in RAW + JPG. This gives you immediate access to shareable images while keeping the high-quality RAW files for future use.

Just keep in mind that RAW files are significantly larger than JPGs; often two to five times the size. If you’re planning longer trips or shooting frequently, make sure you have enough memory cards and backup storage to accommodate the extra space.

Recommended Reading: How to Set Up Your New Camera for Professional Results

White Balance: Controlling Color Temperature

White Balance is a camera setting that controls the color tone of your images, specifically, how warm or cool they appear. It adjusts for the color of the light in your scene so that whites appear neutral and other colors remain true to life.

Different light sources produce different color temperatures:

• Daylight is relatively neutral
• Shade and overcast skies tend to be cooler (blue)
• Sunrise, sunset, and incandescent bulbs are warmer (orange)

White Balance tells your camera how to interpret those tones.

When Does White Balance Matter?

The importance of getting White Balance right depends on the file format you’re shooting in:

• If you’re shooting in RAW, you can change the White Balance later in post-processing without degrading image quality. This gives you a lot of flexibility, and it’s one of the reasons many landscape photographers don’t worry too much about perfect in-camera white balance.
• If you’re shooting in JPG, the camera applies White Balance permanently to the file. That means any major corrections later can harm image quality, so it’s important to set it correctly in-camera.

Most cameras offer presets like Daylight, Cloudy, or Shade, which can work well in predictable conditions. You can also use Auto White Balance (AWB), which does a decent job in most situations, though it may misinterpret scenes with very dominant colors (such as sunsets or snow).

Recommended Reading: Master White Balance Like a Pro

Color Space: Maximizing Color Accuracy

Color space might sound technical, but it’s an important concept if you want your photos to look their best, especially when editing or printing.

In simple terms, a color space defines the range of colors your camera or editing software can capture, display, or export. Choosing the right one ensures your images have accurate, vibrant color across different devices and platforms.

The Two Most Common Options

• sRGB is the standard color space for web and social media. It’s supported by virtually all devices and platforms, so your images will look consistent when shared online.
• AdobeRGB includes a wider range of colors (a larger gamut), especially in greens and blues. It’s more useful for printing, but not all screens or web platforms support it fully, which can lead to dull or inaccurate colors when viewed online.

What Should You Use?

If you’re not printing professionally or working in a fully color-managed workflow, it’s safest to stick with sRGB. It’s the most widely compatible and will prevent unexpected color shifts when sharing your photos.

If you do plan to print your work, you can shoot in AdobeRGB and convert the files appropriately before exporting or publishing but this requires more control over your editing and output pipeline.

Recommended Reading: What are Color Spaces in Photography?

Recommended Equipment for Landscape Photography

You don’t need the most expensive gear to take great landscape photos, but having the right tools can definitely make your life easier, especially in challenging environments.

Below is a breakdown of the essential gear most landscape photographers rely on, along with a few items that are helpful as you grow.

A Solid Tripod

A tripod is one of the most important pieces of gear in landscape photography. It allows you to:

• Use slower shutter speeds without camera shake
• Maintain precise compositions
• Work more deliberately in the field

Avoid the cheapest models, as they often wear out quickly or perform poorly in wind. A reliable tripod is worth the investment, especially if you shoot in rough conditions like beaches, rivers, or snow.

Recommended Reading: How to Choose Your Next Tripod

Filters: ND, GND, and Polarizers

Filters help you control exposure and enhance contrast in ways that can’t always be replicated in post-processing.

Here are the most useful types for landscape photographers:

• Neutral Density (ND): Reduces the amount of light entering the lens, allowing for long exposures even in daylight.
• Graduated ND (GND): Darkens only part of the frame (typically the sky), helping balance bright and dark areas.
• Circular Polarizer (CPL): Cuts glare and reflections, and deepens contrast in skies and foliage.

You don’t need a huge collection; a basic starter kit with one ND, one GND, and a CPL is a great place to begin.

Recommended Reading: How to Choose Your First Filters (and Which Systems to Use)

Remote Shutter Release

A remote shutter release lets you trigger the camera without touching it and is especially useful for long exposures or seascapes where even slight movement can blur your image. Many newer cameras also offer remote apps via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

A Comfortable Camera Backpack

If you hike or travel to shoot landscapes, a well-designed camera backpack is essential. It protects your gear and makes it easier to carry over long distances, especially when combining photography with outdoor gear like snacks, layers, or water.

Personally, I use the NYA-EVO Fjord 60-C and highly recommend it for landscape photographers. CaptureLandscapes readers also get 10% off using the code CaptureLandscapes at checkout or by ordering through this affiliate link.

Lens Cleaning Accessories

Dust and moisture are part of shooting outdoors. Keep a microfiber cloth and basic cleaning kit in your bag to deal with foggy lenses, fingerprints, or water spray, especially when working near waterfalls or the ocean.

Memory Cards and Storage

RAW files are large, and it’s easy to underestimate how quickly they fill your memory card. Make sure you carry:

• A high-speed, high-capacity SD or CFexpress card
• A backup card or two for longer trips
• Plenty of external storage at home to organize and back up your photos

Recommended Reading: Step-by-Step Guide to How I Back Up My Photography

L-Brackets

While not essential for everyone, an L-bracket can be a game-changer in the field. It allows you to quickly switch between horizontal and vertical orientation on your tripod without adjusting the ball head or introducing instability.

This helps:

• Maintain your composition when switching to portrait mode
• Avoid awkward tripod tilts that compromise balance
• Save time when working in changing light conditions

Once you’ve used one, it’s hard to go back. I personally wouldn’t want to shoot landscapes without one.

Composition: The Heart of Landscape Photography

You can have perfect light and technical settings but without a strong composition, your image may still fall flat. Composition is how you guide the viewer’s eye, create depth, and give your photos impact.

It’s often said that composition is the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. That’s why mastering this skill is one of the most important landscape photography tips you can learn.

The good news? There are proven techniques to help you build better compositions, and once you start using them, your images will instantly improve.

Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is one of the most well-known and reliable compositional guidelines. Imagine your frame divided into nine equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Placing key elements along these lines, or at the intersections, often results in more balanced and visually pleasing photos.

Most cameras offer a grid overlay that can help you apply this rule in the field. While it’s not a rule you must follow every time, it’s a powerful starting point for beginners and a useful tool for evaluating your framing.

Recommended Reading: The Rule of Thirds Explained

Leading Lines

Leading lines are natural or man-made elements that guide the viewer’s gaze through the frame. Rivers, paths, fences, rock formations, or even beams of light can all serve as effective leading lines.

Using strong directional lines adds depth to your photo and helps the viewer move through the scene with intention, often toward your main subject or the distant horizon.

Golden Ratio

Also known as the Fibonacci Spiral or Phi Grid, the Golden Ratio is a more advanced and subtle alternative to the Rule of Thirds. It’s been used by artists and designers for centuries and can produce compositions that feel more organic and natural.

If you want to go deeper into visual design, exploring the Golden Ratio can offer new creative perspectives.

Perspective and Point of View

One of the easiest ways to improve your compositions is to simply change your point of view. Most people shoot from eye level, but what happens when you get low to the ground, climb higher, or shift your angle?

Adjusting your perspective reveals new foreground interest, aligns lines differently, or emphasizes scale. It’s often the difference between a flat image and one with real depth.

Break the Rules (With Intention)

Rules and guidelines are helpful, but great photography also means knowing when to break them. Once you understand the basics, you can start bending or ignoring them to create more expressive, unique work.

Just make sure it’s a deliberate choice, not an oversight. When you purposefully break the rules, you develop your voice and vision as a photographer.

Recommended Reading: 5 Compositional Guidelines to Know in Landscape Photography

The Importance of Light in Landscape Photography

Without light, there’s no photograph, it’s as simple as that. But in landscape photography, it’s not just about having light; it’s about learning to see and use it creatively.

Light affects everything: the colors in your image, the mood it conveys, and how your subject is perceived. Harsh midday light creates a very different atmosphere than soft morning light, and both can be used effectively when you understand how to work with them.

Golden Hour and Beyond

Many landscape photographers prefer to shoot during the golden hour, the time shortly after sunrise or before sunset. The sun is low in the sky, casting long shadows and bathing the scene in soft, warm tones. It’s an ideal time for dramatic, glowing light and vibrant skies.

But great photos don’t only happen during golden hour. The blue hour, which occurs just before sunrise and after sunset, brings cooler, more subtle tones that can feel peaceful or mysterious.

Even midday light, often considered “bad,” can work beautifully in the right conditions, such as when photographing bold shapes, deserts, high-contrast scenes, or creative black-and-white images.

Learn to Read the Light

Rather than chasing specific types of light, learn to observe how it interacts with the landscape:

• Is the light soft or harsh?
• Where are the highlights and shadows falling?
• What mood does it create?

Once you start seeing light this way, you’ll make more informed decisions about exposure, composition, and how to bring out the best in your scene, regardless of the time of day.

Recommended Reading: There’s No Such Thing as Bad Light

Creative Use of Camera Settings

Understanding camera settings is essential, but knowing how to use them creatively is what transforms a technically correct photo into something more expressive and compelling.

Once you’re comfortable with the Exposure Triangle, you can begin to make artistic choices with settings like aperture and shutter speed. These aren’t just tools for achieving correct exposure, they’re tools for shaping the mood and feel of your image.

Here are a few landscape photography tips to help you use your settings more creatively:

Use a Shallow Depth of Field

Most landscape photography is shot with a narrow aperture for maximum sharpness, but sometimes, using a wide aperture (like f/2.8 or f/4) can create a more intimate, focused look.

This works especially well for:

• Isolating a subject like a flower or rock formation
• Creating depth by blurring the background
• Drawing attention to texture or detail

Try experimenting with a wider aperture when you want to simplify a scene or highlight a single subject.

Slow Down with Long Exposures

Long exposures are a classic creative technique in landscape photography. By slowing your shutter speed, often with the help of a tripod and ND filter, you can:

• Smooth out water or waves
• Blur clouds to show motion
• Eliminate distractions like moving people or vehicles

Even changing your shutter speed by a second or two can completely transform the feeling of a scene.

Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Long Exposure Photography

Try Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)

Intentional Camera Movement involves using a slower shutter speed and moving the camera deliberately during exposure. This can produce abstract, painterly effects, perfect for experimenting and breaking out of creative ruts.

It’s not about sharpness or realism, it’s about expression.

Recommended Reading: What is ICM Photography (And How to Master It)

Break the Habit of Safe Settings

One of the best ways to grow as a photographer is to intentionally use settings outside your comfort zone. Try slowing the shutter more than you normally would. Open the aperture wider. Bump the ISO and shoot handheld. Push the boundaries of your gear, and your creativity.

Post-Processing Basics

Post-processing is the final step in your landscape photography workflow, and for many photographers, it’s where the creative vision fully comes to life. Whether you’re applying subtle refinements or building a more dramatic atmosphere, editing gives you control over how your photo is seen and felt.

It’s not about “fixing” a bad image; it’s about making the most of a good one.

Recommended Reading: Post-Processing for Landscape Photography: The Complete Guide (A complete walkthrough of the editing workflow, tools, and techniques)

Do You Need to Process Your Images?

The short answer: it depends on what you want your images to say.

If you’re capturing moments just for fun and don’t plan to print or share widely, you may not need more than in-camera JPGs. But if you shoot in RAW, or want your photos to reflect your creative vision, post-processing becomes essential.

Even minimal edits like exposure adjustment, contrast correction, and lens profile fixes can significantly improve your results and create a more polished final image.

Recommended Software for Landscape Photography

There’s no shortage of editing software available, but a few have become favorites in the landscape photography world:

• Adobe Lightroom Classic: Ideal for RAW processing and managing your entire photo library. Lightroom makes it easy to apply global and local adjustments and is beginner-friendly yet powerful.
• Adobe Photoshop: Perfect for advanced techniques such as exposure blending, luminosity masking, or precise object removal. It’s more complex but offers unmatched control.
• DxO PhotoLab: Known for its exceptional RAW conversion, optical corrections, and noise reduction. The DeepPRIME denoising engine is especially effective for high ISO images, making it a solid alternative (or companion) to Lightroom.
• Nik Collection: A plugin suite that adds powerful creative tools to your workflow. Tools like Color Efex and Silver Efex are widely used for mood, contrast, and targeted enhancements.

Recommended Reading: Nik Collection 8 Review & DxO PhotoLab Review

Solving Common Editing Challenges

Post-processing isn’t just about color and contrast, it’s also how you deal with issues that come up in real-world shooting. Here are a few tools and tips worth exploring:

• Noise Reduction: High ISO images, especially from night shoots or handheld scenes, often need noise reduction. Learn how to reduce noise without sacrificing sharpness using tools like Lightroom, DxO DeepPRIME, or plugins like Nik Dfine.

Recommended Reading: Noise Reduction in Photography: In-Field and Post-Processing

• Sharpening for Web: A perfectly edited photo can still look soft when posted online. That’s where dedicated web sharpening comes in, ensuring your images look crisp and professional at smaller resolutions.

Recommended Reading: Best Web Sharpeners for Photographers

Start Simple, Grow with Experience

If you’re new to editing, keep it simple at first:

• Correct exposure and contrast
• Adjust white balance
• Crop for better balance
• Apply gentle local adjustments (like a gradient on the sky)

As you grow more comfortable, explore advanced techniques like dodging & burning, color grading, luminosity masking, and blending exposures. These give you the tools to truly shape the mood of your image and communicate your creative intent.

Conclusion: Take Your Next Step in Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is a rewarding mix of creativity, technical skill, and time spent in nature. By understanding the fundamentals, from camera settings and composition to light and post-processing, you’ve taken the most important step toward capturing images you can be proud of.

Whether your goal is to create dramatic mountain scenes, minimalist seascapes, or intimate forest details, the landscape photography tips shared in this guide will help you approach each scene with greater confidence and intention.

Remember, the best way to improve is to get out and practice. Start with the techniques you’ve learned here, experiment with your camera, and review your results. Every photo, even the ones that don’t turn out, is part of the learning process.

Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to share this guide with others who want to learn or level up their landscape photography.

Frequently Asked Questions about Landscape Photography