Beauty in Scapes of Land

Where do you find the beauty of God's earth? In His landscape. I think my favorite place to take landscape photos so far is in a little town called Washougal, WA. It is smack-dab on the Columbia River and has a few pretty waterways of its own and the best part of all-it is a small town that doesn't have a lot of distracting commercial buildings. In other words, there is still space to live between the bricks (if you know what I mean). So, there you have it- simplicity is excellent in capturing landscapes. Distractions can be...well...distracting to the beauty that you are trying to capture, but it is still important to have a focal point in the picture so that your viewer isn't just wandering through it and wondering why you took the picture. For example: don't just take a picture of a grassy field with just grass, take a photo of a grassy field,  because the flowers or some object catches your eye and draws you into the photo.

Next, make sure your aperture is where you want it to be. Ask yourself: how much of the landscape do I want in focus? Where is the focal point of my picture? Then set it according to your desired depth of field. This is where you might want a tripod. I haven't had the opportunity to use a tripod much with daylight landscapes, but I am certain it helps! The tripod will allow you to get a better exposure just as it did for me with the night photography. Your camera needs to be as still as possible.

Also, make sure you look at the sky! Clouds are amazing. Whether you are laying on your back finding shapes in them or photographing the way they can help dramatize a simple landscape. And even if there aren't any clouds in the sky (I know that is rare around here) a brilliant blue, cloudless sky can still help accentuate a landscape.

But, don't get too lost in the "bigger picture". Landscapes, I think, don't have to be all that big to catch the eye. When taking landscape photos, don't forget to look for the details along the way. A collection of details is what makes a landscape in the first place.