Landscape photography, a craft of patience and seeing
Landscape photography is one of the oldest forms of photography, and at the same time one of the hardest. Not because the technique is complex. Not because you need expensive gear. But because you work with something you cannot control. The light does what it does. The clouds move or they don't. The sea is calm or rough. You can stand at a spot that looks stunning in other people's photos, and in your moment it just looks flat and dull. That is exactly why it becomes so addictive once it does come together. That one evening when the light turned soft and then gold, and you feel back home at the editing screen that you have something in your hands.
That is what you do it for. In this article I take you through the most commonly used lenses for landscape photography, what they do, what you typically bring with you, what to look out for as a landscape photographer, and three destinations I would personally love to visit with a camera and tripod.
The lenses and what they do
A persistent misconception is that you need a wide-angle lens for landscapes. It is true that wide-angle often works, but it is far from the only option. In fact, one of the best lessons you can learn is that the landscape forces you to think across multiple focal lengths.
Wide-angle, roughly 14mm to 24mm
This is the classic. A wide-angle lens captures a lot, adds depth and pairs well with a foreground that draws the eye into the frame. You use it for sweeping views, for coastlines, for mountain ranges. Be careful not to cram everything in. A wide-angle photo without a clear subject quickly becomes a list of things.
Standard zoom, roughly 24mm to 70mm
Underrated. Many iconic landscape photos were taken around 35mm or 50mm. The image feels natural, similar to how your eyes see, and you have enough room to compose without distorting the world. If you could only bring one lens, choose this one.
Telephoto zoom, roughly 70mm to 200mm or longer
This is where it gets interesting. A telephoto lens compresses the distance between foreground and background. Mountains feel larger, layers of mist stack behind one another, a solitary tree on a hill separates from the horizon. For many photographers this is the lens that takes their work in a new direction. Many landscape photographers now use it more often than their wide-angle.
Macro or short tele, for the details
Not every landscape photo shows a grand view. Sometimes the landscape is a pattern in the sand, ice crystals on a branch, moss on a stone. A macro or short telephoto brings you into that small landscape, and those photos often say more about a place than a wide overview. Want to explore these choices further?
Nando Harmsen wrote De Landschapsbijbel, an accessible book with 101 practical tips. He covers lens choice among other things, and uses examples to show how different focal lengths produce a completely different photo of the same view. A great book to read over coffee on a Sunday morning.
What's in your bag, the standard kit
One photographer travels light, another hauls half a studio along. Below are the items you see with most landscape photographers, and why.
Camera and lenses
A full frame or crop body, ideally with two or three lenses that together cover the range from wide-angle to tele. A second body is nice but not essential, unless you are travelling far and want the security.
Tripod
In landscape photography a tripod is not a luxury. It makes long shutter speeds possible, forces you to slow down in your composition, and ensures your photos are sharp where it matters. Choose a tripod that is sturdy but not unmanageably heavy. Carbon is light and more expensive, aluminium is cheaper and heavier. Both work.
Filters
The three filters you encounter most often: a polarising filter to remove reflections and saturate colours, an ND filter for long shutter speeds in bright light, and a graduated filter to tone down a bright sky relative to a dark landscape.
For calculating your shutter speed with an ND filter a quick calculator is useful, and I have put one on this website so you can use it on your phone in the field.
Remote shutter release or self-timer
To prevent camera shake during long exposures. Many cameras also have an app that lets you do this from your phone.
Spare batteries and memory cards
Especially in the cold, a battery drains faster than you expect. A few spares, kept warm in an inside pocket, prevents an early end to a fine morning.
Lens cloths and a blower
Mist, spray, dust. Your lens gets dirty on location faster than at home. Clean it before you shoot, not just when you are editing.
Good clothing
The most important item. A soaked or frozen photographer does not take patient photos. Layers, waterproof, solid footwear. Pack your bag as if you might stand in one spot for half a day.
What the landscape photographer pays attention to
Location and view are just the beginning. The difference between a flat photo and one that works comes down to a few things you need to train your eye on. Light is the most important. The golden hour, just after sunrise and just before sunset, gives warm shadows and soft colours. The blue hour before or after that gives a cool, even light with sometimes an unexpectedly strong atmosphere. Midday light is usually harsh and rarely kind to the landscape, except under cloud cover or in sheltered spots like forests and gorges.
Composition follows. A good landscape photo has a clear foreground, middle ground and background. A line that draws you into the frame, a rock, a path, a river. A subject that holds the attention, even if it is small in the frame. The rule of thirds helps, but it is broken just as often as it is used by photographers who know their work. Weather is both ally and adversary. A flat grey sky is usually dull. But clouds, mist, rain showers just clearing, drifting snow, those are the moments when landscapes come alive. Plan your shoot around the weather forecast, not around a fixed schedule.
Patience is perhaps the greatest skill of all. Arriving at a location, setting up your tripod, and then waiting an hour for the light to develop. Most people at the same spot have long since left by the time you take your best photo. And finally, get to know your location before you go.
What exact angle does the sun rise from at this viewpoint? Where does the light fall at which time of day? A tool like the golden hour planner helps you prepare, so you do not have to guess.
Three dream destinations
Everyone has their own list. These three are on mine, not because they are the most photographed places in the world, but because each one offers something fundamentally different.
The Lofoten Islands, Norway
An archipelago above the Arctic Circle where mountains rise straight out of the sea. In winter there is snow, northern lights and long blue hours. In summer the midnight sun delivers hours of soft light. Fishing villages with red houses against dark rock. A place that keeps drawing photographers back year after year.
Patagonia, Argentina and Chile
The southern tip of South America. Torres del Paine, Fitz Roy, glaciers, steppes, enormous skies. Unpredictable weather that can turn three times in an hour. Not easy to reach, but those who have been there talk about it differently than any other trip.
Iceland
A category of its own. Waterfalls, basalt coastlines, ice beaches, volcanic landscapes, moss fields, glacier lagoons. Also very accessible from the Netherlands. It has become a popular destination, but the island is large enough that within a day you can find plenty of empty horizon.
In closing
Landscape photography teaches you something that comes through more strongly here than in almost any other form of photography: that the best photo does not happen because of something you do, but because you are standing in the right place at the right moment with your camera ready. It is a craft of preparation, patience and continuous looking. Pack your bag, check the weather, pick an hour when the light is on your side, and go.