Landscape Photography: 6 myths that beginners should ignore

There is certainly no shortage of advice that an beginner landscape photographer can find online. Landscape Photography forums on the Internet are populated by self-appointed experts who ask nothing more than to give unsolicited suggestions and to warn against the evils of not following some arbitrary set of rules or what is perceived as common wisdom. Unfortunately, many half-truths or outright lies, if repeated enough times, sometimes assume the status of truths-that-should-never-be-questioned. These become like myths, but one can only grow in their craft when myths are examined ruthlessly and if necessary, abandoned.

Let’s look at some of those myths in detail.

#1: You must have great light to take landscape photos

Great light can really make a picture if you know how to use it and how to combine it with an interesting subject and compelling composition. However, that doesn’t mean you should leave the camera at home or in the trunk of the car if the light is not great.

Here is a landscape photo taken one morning in Norway under overcast skies. It took some work in post-processing to bring out those pinks. They were there, but a straight conversion from RAW did nothing to them.

Landscape photography from Senja Norway under partly overcast skies by Ugo Cei

A good photographer finds ways to exploit almost any kind of light. Overcast skies are perfect for shooting waterfalls and even harsh, high noon light can create interesting shadows and graphical subjects.

Moreover, digital cameras nowadays are very good at capturing colors and details that our eyes cannot see very well unaided. Careful and expert post-processing can bring out those colors and details and infuse life into an otherwise flat and boring scene.

#2: Always use Manual exposure for Landscape Photography

Here’s my dirty secret: I use aperture priority mode about 90% of the time. I sometimes use manual exposure mode and very rarely shutter priority mode. If I feel a landscape photo might be over- or under-exposed, I use camera exposure compensation (I love the fact that my Fuji cameras have a dedicated camera exposure compensation dial).

Modern cameras are exceptionally good at nailing the camera exposure in almost every circumstance. Do you think you can do better? I’m not so sure.

Landscape photo shot in aperture priority mode. Notice: There is no overexposure on the water, Plitvice Lakes NP, Croatia

I have nothing against photographers who only use manual mode. Sometimes we learn to use our cameras in a certain way and we stick with what has always worked for us. If manual works for you, be my guest.

What I can’t stand are photographers who look down on “beginners” who use aperture priority or, god forbid, the dreaded P mode. Give me a break!

That said, there are times when I use manual mode, but that has nothing to do with getting the right exposure and everything to do with getting a consistent exposure. For instance, I use manual mode when I want to get the same exposure for the main subject even when my framing changes because I moved or zoomed. I also use it when I’m taking a series of shots to stitch into a panorama or to combine for focus stacking.

#3: You need a full frame camera

Here’s another confession: I’ve never owned a full-frame camera and I don’t feel the need to own one. If you are looking down on me because you use a full frame camera and I use one that only has an APS-C sized sensor, let me introduce you to my friends who only shoot with medium format cameras.

Here are is an example on Visual Wilderness taken with an APS-C sized sensors:

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  Landscape photo captured with crop factor camera, Havasu Falls by Jay Patel

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  Landscape photography with a crop factor camera from Dry Tortugas, Florida

#4: You must always use a Tripod

If I can use a tripod, I will, but I won’t refrain from increasing my ISO, if necessary.

Handheld travel photography from The Colosseum, Rome Rome, Italy

I didn’t have a tripod when I took the image above. I had been walking around Rome all day with some minimal gear; my legs and my back were tired enough and, if I had had to carry a tripod too, I would have probably already gone to bed and missed the best light of the day.

As the light at the edge of the day was getting marginal, I set the camera to auto-ISO with a minimum shutter speed of 1/60s to ensure I could get a sharp picture even when hand-holding. The camera chose an ISO of 2500 which adds some noise in the sky that is only visible when zooming in at 100%. If you print it, it goes away.

There are time when shooting handheld is the only way to capture a landscape photo for example if you are shooting from an air plane or a drone. Here are landscape photography hand held landscape photography example on Visual Wilderness:

Handheld aerial photography from Landmannalaugar, Iceland by Jay Patel

#5: Special ball head is needed to capture panoramic landscapes

Nature does not alway conform to 3×2 format. There are times when a panorama is best suited to capture the stunning beauty of the scene. And you dont need any special equipment to do that. Photoshop and Lightroom have become insanely good at stitching together panoramas, if you take some precautions when shooting them. Special panoramic equipment such as panoramic heads are bulky, heavy, expensive, and not necessary 99% of the time.

I like to turn the camera to portrait orientation when I am taking panoramas because it gives me more vertical resolution. For this reason, I use an L-bracket so I can mount the camera on the tripod without turning the ball-head 90°; this gives it more height and more stability.

Here are few panoramic landscape photos on Visual Wilderness that were taken with a regular ball head.

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  Panoramic Landscape from Hraunfossar, Iceland

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  Panoramic Landscape photography of La Sal Mountains Overlook, Arches National Park, Utah

#6: Avoid HDR for landscape photos

HDR, or High Dynamic Range imaging, has gained a bad rep from people abusing it to produce garish, overcooked clown vomit. The best HDR, in my opinion, is the one that doesn’t look like it’s HDR; and I firmly believe it can be done.

HDR travel photography example created by combining three bracketed shots at -1, 0, and +1 EV

I often bracket shots just in case I might want to do a HDR version of the scene later. On the computer, I have my own workflow for creating natural-looking HDR images and it has served me well on a number of occasions.

In this article, I listed six prevalent myths in landscape photography. This is not an exhaustive list and I am sure someone will disagree with me….if you do, please leave your comment below. So please don’t take this list as anything definitive; I wouldn’t want to establish a contrarian mythology.

Above all, use your own judgment and never stop experimenting and breaking the rules.

About Author Ugo Cei

Ugo Cei is a fine-art travel and landscape photographer from Italy. If you were to ask him what he does, he would say that he is an educator who helps photography enthusiasts sharpen their skills, so that they can take amazing pictures.

He does this in various ways. First of all, by providing a wealth of free content here on Visual Wilderness and on his own website.

He leads photography tours and workshops to some cool destinations, including Scotland, Venice, Cappadocia, Oman, Greece, Kenya, and others.

He co-hosts and publishes a weekly podcast about travel photography, The Traveling Image Makers. Every week, they pick the brains of famous and not-so-famous travel photographers to learn what it means to travel for the love of photography and photograph for the love of travel.

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