Before you gear up to become a landscape photographer, there are some crucial things that you should understand if you want to be well-prepared. Landscape photography gets better as you experience different shooting scenarios, but here are some tips to help you get started. Landscape photography is one of the most enticing genres of photography for any new photographer who likes to travel and explore nature.
If you’re someone who just started learning photography and is still exploring all the different kinds, landscape photography should definitely be on top of your list if you enjoy finding unique perspectives of both ordinary and extraordinary places. Most of the time, having the right lenses plays a much bigger role than having a more advanced camera body in landscape photography. In favorable lighting conditions, cameras of different sensors can create the same-looking image, but that can only be achieved by having the right lens that will make great compositions possible.
That said, here are some things to consider before you start building your landscape photography arsenal. Kit lenses, or the lenses that come in the same box as your first camera, are probably the most underestimated lenses in the photography world. Because they are always the “beginner” lens that everyone upgrades from, people often forget why they are specifically the lenses partnered with the cameras that you can buy off the shelves.
The reason why kit lenses are (99% of the time) the same or 18-55mm range for APS-C and or 28-70mm range for full frame cameras is that they are practically the same lenses used for different sensors. These lenses are called standard zoom lenses, and the reason why they were deemed the best to bundle with cameras is because of how versatile they can be in terms of the perspective that they can offer. 24mm is considerably wide, while 70mm is tight enough to isolate objects from a bit of distance.
Essentially, these kit lenses offer the same perspectives as higher-end 24-70mm lenses, but the difference is that most of the time, kit lenses have a variable (and relatively smaller) maximum aperture, and the more expensive ones are usually made with better glass. That means that as you zoom in, the largest aperture that you can use gets smaller, thereby being more limited in low light situations and depth of field. But in terms of being able to create images with the same composition and framing as the higher-end lenses, the kit lens is definitely capable and should be able to get you started on your landscape photography journey.
One thing you should know early on about landscape photography is that there are many sub-types of this genre, which are mostly dependent on the location that in turn greatly influences the shooting style and gear requirements. It would, of course, be advisable that you give each kind a try, but it is also very likely that you will have specific kinds that you prefer. Landscape photography can be done anywhere from small ponds, in the middle of the forest, at the bottom of waterfalls of different sizes, on top of a mountain, and even within an urban dwelling.
Each kind has its own workflow, which also means that it will have a different set of ideal lenses to have. For the purpose of having a simpler discussion, we’ll divide them into two sets that will differ based on the kind of lens that you might be better off with. Ultra-wide angle lenses are those that go wider than 24mm.
Commonly, these are zoom lenses that go from for full-frame cameras and for APS-C cameras. However, there are also various prime lenses available across all the brands such as 20mm, 15mm, 12mm, and 10mm. Ultra-wide angle lenses are useful in situations where maximizing the angle of view will benefit the composition.
Such situations are when there is very little space between the photographer and the majority of the objects that make up the landscape photograph. This is mostly applicable for photographing any large structure up close or a view with significant elements in the foreground. Common examples are in photographing entire waterfalls, bodies of water with mountains, trees, or even buildings in the background (and potentially reflecting on the surface), and photographing seascapes that include the motion of crashing waves or flowing water.
Shot with a 16-35mm for full-frame cameras A common misconception about landscape photography is that you should use a wide-angle lens whenever you’re photographing a wide-open view. However, what this does most of the time is capture such a huge space because of the wide angle of view, which consequently minimizes the potentially beautiful details present in the scene from a bit of distance. For such instances, longer zoom lenses can be more beneficial as they can allow you to reach in and isolate distant objects and compress the scene into a more refined composition.
Telephoto lenses are those that go beyond 70mm. The most common telephoto lenses in the market are zoom lenses as well as options. There are also options with different ranges such as the 35-150mm lens that offers a more versatile range, the that offers an even longer range, super telephoto zooms, and a variety of primes as well.
70-200mm lenses are most common because of how they fit together with standard zoom lenses and offer significant reach. For landscape photography, telephoto lenses shine in isolating distant patterns, highlighting a section of a wide view, and capturing details of larger structures up close. Because they enable the photographer to show something that would otherwise be overlooked by the human eye, telephoto lenses can allow you to take photographs of a place with a different perspective.
Another option to consider would be to upgrade the kit lens into something that has an even more versatile range. Extended standard zoom lenses come in many different forms but can do what a standard zoom does plus reach further. Some of the best-in-class of such lenses are the full frame lenses that are available from most camera manufacturers.
For APS-C cameras and are the most popular ones. There are also even more versatile lenses in terms of focal lengths such as 28-200mm and 28-300mm lenses for full-frame and 18-200mm and even an 18-400mm lens for APS-C. The downside of such versatile walk-around lenses is they commonly come with inferior image quality when compared to the typical 24-105mm versions.
Nonetheless, they are still viable options, especially if the main objective is to be able to cover the ranges that you would need for your preferred kind of photography. Making smart decisions about lenses should always be guided by what we anticipate photographing and the kinds of compositions that our vision and artistic intent dictate. Of course, in a perfect world, having all of the options available would be great, but the reality is that budget and/or physical limitations come into play.
Sometimes, one or two lenses can enable you to create all the photographs you want, particularly when planning and anticipation go well. Nicco Valenzuela is a photographer from Quezon City, Philippines. Nicco shoots skyscrapers and cityscapes professionally as an architectural photographer and Landscape and travel photographs as a hobby.
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