Landscape photography is one of the most practiced genres worldwide because it allows us to capture nature's stunning beauty and freeze it in a single frame. That said, one of the most important elements of landscape photography (and one people typically know the least about) is color.
Color can one hundred percent make or break a landscape photo, and knowing how to use it to your advantage in your photos is one of the keys to improving the quality of your work. For example, vibrant and well-balanced colors can transform what would have been an ordinary scene into a breathtaking work of art.
In this article, we’ll share valuable tips for landscape photography that you can start applying today. From understanding how color theory works to what you can do during and after a shoot, you’ll learn it all here.
Whether you're a beginner looking to add more depth to your photographs or an experienced professional wanting to refine your color palette, our tips will help you create stunning landscape photos that will leave your friends and clients speechless. Ok, what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in and discover how to maximize the color in your photos!
Check out the video above by Mark Denney to learn more tips and tricks to enhance your landscape photography's colors.
Table of Contents
- Tips for Landscape Photography: Learn the Basics of Color Theory
- Tips for Landscape Photography: Shoot at the Right Times of Day
- Tips for Landscape Photography: Use RAW Files
- Tips for Landscape Photography: Edit Your Photos (But Don’t Over Edit Them!)
- Tips for Landscape Photography: Have Your Photos Professionally Printed
- Recommended Photography Gear
Tips for Landscape Photography: Learn the Basics of Color Theory
The first thing you can do doesn’t require a camera, and that’s to spend a little time teaching yourself the basics of color theory. So, what even is color theory anyhow? Well, it’s the rules and guidelines artists use to create visually appealing color schemes in their work. To learn and understand this, most people use what is known as the color wheel or color circle.
Once you have that down, you can use colors to express emotions or specific color combinations to tell a story. For example, blues and greens convey calmness and peace, while yellows and oranges communicate fun and happiness. On the other hand, color relationships include complementary colors, contrasting colors, analogous colors, and more.
Tips for Landscape Photography: Shoot at the Right Times of Day
The light you are shooting in will also greatly affect the colors in your photos. The simplest way to control this when practicing landscape photography is to shoot during the times we call “Golden Hour” and “Blue Hour.” The golden hour is right after sunrise, and the Blue hour is just before sunset.
If you can’t go out during these times and you find yourself shooting when the sun is high in the sky, you can also use lens filters. Polarizing filters and ND filters help boost contrast and darken overexposed scenes.
Learn More:
Tips for Landscape Photography: Use RAW Files
Another of the best tips for landscape photography is to shoot RAW images instead of JPEGs. RAW images store anywhere from three to six times as much data as JPEGs, allowing you to make your colors pop in post-production. Make sure you have memory cards with enough space to store many RAW files, though (32GB or more).
If you don’t like editing photos, you can shoot JPEGs with the vivid color profile turned on. It’s definitely not a replacement for shooting RAW images and editing them, but it will slightly enhance the color of your out-of-the-camera colors.
Tips for Landscape Photography: Edit Your Photos (But Don’t Over Edit Them!)
Speaking of editing, it’s an essential part of the photography process today. Using programs like Adobe Lightroom, you can quickly and easily adjust everything from the saturation to the hue to the vibrancy of your colors. On top of that, you can change things like exposure, contrast, and brightness. You can even remove people or objects from your photos!
However, be careful to avoid getting carried away when editing. If you over edit your images, they can begin to look fake and unrealistic, which takes away from the quality. Another thing to avoid is applying too many filters when sharing your photos on social media platforms like Instagram.
Tips for Landscape Photography: Have Your Photos Professionally Printed
Finally, you should always partner with a trustworthy and reliable professional printer to get the best results when making hard copies of your photos. Not only do they use the best machinery and materials when printing your photos, but they also employ experienced professionals who will ensure your pictures look fantastic.
With that in mind, one of our go-to printers is Pure Art Printer. They are an innovative online printing company known for their high-quality prints, state-of-the-art printing technology, and friendly support staff. Moreover, they offer a wide range of products, such as metal prints, canvas prints, and velvet fine art prints.
Recommended Photography Gear
Learn More:
- The Benefits of Printing Your Photos: Why You Should Print Your Memories
- 3 Unique Photo Printing Options You Need to Try