Landscape Photography

Most people who own a camera will take landscape pictures at some time or another. Australian landscape photography is different from landscapes in most other countries because the light is different. Wherever you go in Australia there is something worthy of being photographed, be it a rusty old shed in a bare paddock, sheer cliffs, mountain peaks, waterfalls or even farmland. It may even be photographs of a storm. In fact, lightning photography is extremely interesting and may even be featured on that night's news.

If you have a photographer's heart, you will want to capture those amazing scenes wherever you are, rather than just driving through them. So here are some tips to help make your landscape photography more successful.

• Landscapes taken from a high vantage point can often give a real sense of the wide land of Australia. If you have a camera that gives you manual control use a small aperture setting for clarity of both near and far elements.


• Try photographing landscapes at dawn or dusk for effective variations of texture and great shadow appeal.


• Don't limit yourself to the roadside, but go off-road for more interesting shots. Take a GPS so that you don't get lost.


• Use a wide-angle zoom lens to frame your picture and give you a better chance of cropping into a letterbox-type print afterwards.


• An interesting feature in the foreground will give a sense of depth, but don't forget that small aperture so everything will remain in focus.


• Use a light tripod to anchor your camera for even better pictures.


• If you only choose one filter, make it a polarizing filter to darken the sky and get richer colours into the landscape. It will help prevent blue skies from looking bleached out.


• Graduated filters are great for bright cloud conditions.

Finally, try to make your landscape photography a little different. Do this by altering the height or angle from which you take the shot.