How to Improve your Woodland and Forest Photography
Looking for ways to improve your own woodland photography? Dive in for some of my own tips from a year amongst the trees…
Introduction
There is nothing quite like the silence and peace of mind that an early morning walk through a woodland can bring. With camera in hand, photographs and stories, filling the mind, just the dawn chorus for company and, perhaps, a touch of mist or fog in the air, it really is a beautiful and rather therapeutic experience that might leave you wishing that you could build a treehouse and live among the UK’s great oaks and silver birch forever.
I was introduced to woodland photography at the start of 2021. Forced to look locally for photographs because of another lockdown here in Wales, I had no other choice but to photograph and make friends with the trees and now, after some of the best days that I’ve ever had outside with the camera, I’ve managed to find an incredible amount of gratitude for the opportunities that I’ve had to explore some of Wales’ beautiful and fascinating woodland.
It has always been a part of my vision as a photographer to inspire other people to get outdoors and make the most of their time in nature. Perhaps even help them to discover their own inner artist in the same way that photography has helped me to unearth mine over the past few years. It’s why I love writing these blog posts and articles. They act as a place for me to share my knowledge and do my part to help humanity in moving forwards by forming a more intimate connection with the planet that houses us all. I really hope that you are able to take something away from this blog in the same way that you might have from the last one that covered landscape photography as a whole. I’ll leave a link here for anyone that would like to read ‘Ten Top Tips to Improve your Landscape Photography.’
Understanding Light in the Woodland
Light. Where would we be without it? I wouldn’t be here to write this blog, that’s for sure. Light quite literally gives us all life here on earth and that is one of the reasons that I like to capture it. But how exactly do you capture it in order to create a compelling photograph? There are so many different ways and so many different types and even colours of light; think about the colour of ‘golden hour’ light at sunrise compared to the harsh, white light on a summers day or the soft, pastel colours during ‘blue hour’. It’s our job as photographers to understand how we can use light to create different effects in our photography. Shooting into the light, shooting with the light, shooting across the light, reflected light, front light, back light, soft light, harsh light, diffused light, dappled light, even light. These phrases might be familiar to you but do you understand the differences that each technique can make to your photographs?
Take a look at both examples below, taken just one day apart. Notice how different light can completely transform a woodland scene.
(click to enlarge)
Example 1: created at 10am on an overcast morning. ‘Even light’ means that there is minimal contrast between the highlights and shadows in the scene.
Example 2: created at around 8.15am just a day later when the sun was still close to the horizon. Low light creates strong shadows and the softness of the early morning light interacts with the scene to create some lovely colours throughout.
Can you tell from the areas of shadow which direction the light was entering the woodland?
It’s not that one form of light is necessarily better than another, it’s for you to decide which kind of lighting suits a particular scene, depending on the story that you’re trying to tell. If you’re someone that prefers a particular colour scheme or style to your photography, then it might be more important for you to stick to rigid rules when it comes to the times and conditions that you shoot in. For me, I like to make the most of a variety of conditions as I believe that there are always images to be created. We are in the UK after all and so you have to learn to embrace whatever weather Mother Nature provides. The example below is where I think the even light helps to tell a compelling story and overall feel and mood to the photograph that I recently created in Snowdonia National Park.
Diffused light is often a woodland photographers favourite kind of light. Early morning fog acts as the perfect diffuser, softening it as it enters into a woodland to cast a lovely glow onto the trunks of trees. This kind of light makes for some of the most delicate and atmospheric scenes, it adds mystery and helps to create a lovely transition from light to dark across the image.
2. CREATE SYMMETRY, PATTERNS & BALANCE
The use of the image above leads me very nicely onto this next point. You have spent enough time walking to get to your woodland destination, I’m sure you can expend a little extra energy to move a few steps around your composition in order to balance out those trees and create some symmetry in your photograph. This goes hand in hand with one of my later points. Slow down! The world moves fast enough these days and the woodland provides the perfect place to relax and centralize yourself. Don’t rush and click the button in the first composition that comes to mind. Take some time to look around the frame to see if there is anything in there that you think catches your eye and distracts you from what you would like the viewer to look at. This is why I set my tripod up nine times out of ten in the woodland and it’s usually after I have given myself time to take a good look around the scene before even thinking about the camera and settings. Some of the things that I am looking for:
What, if anything, is my main focus? Is there a particular subject that I would like to isolate and how can I remove any distractions that might surround it?
Where and how is the light falling and how is this going to change within the time that I am there? Is it worth holding on in anticipation of the light moving into a better position?
Does my scene look balanced with the subjects given enough space between each other? In the above photograph, the scene as a whole was my subject and I have tried to space the trees evenly throughout, allowing the central trees in the distance enough room which I hoped would give the woodland some depth.
3. HEAD OUT FOR SUNRISE
There is no two ways about it, sunrise brings the best conditions for woodland photography. Not only do you get to enjoy the song of the birds with a coffee in hand while everyone else is sleeping but you will also get to witness the most incredible, atmospheric light as it pierces through the fog. This kind of light makes for the best photographs and if you ask any woodland photographer when they like to go out and shoot, the chances are that they will tell you to be out while it’s still dark to ensure that you are on location and ready for the first light of the morning. I guarantee you that a walk in the woods will always get your day off to the best of starts. A short and sweet one for point number three. Get out early and watch your photography level up!
4. SLOW DOWN & BE PRESENT
I touched upon this point earlier in the blog post and it was also one of the points that made up my ‘Ten Top Tips to Improve Your Landscape Photography’ blog. I really can’t emphasise enough how much this has transformed my own photography. Nigel Danson, one of my favourite photographers talks regularly about how he takes an apple with him on every photo trip, which gives him a good reason to stand there, slow down, eat the apple and just take it all in. For me, I like to take a flask of coffee, a book and give myself ten or fifteen minutes away from all things photography while I’m out on my missions. The stories that I read, whilst out there living my own story, enable me to form a deeper connection with the places that I visit and I am sure that this has been a major influencer in changing my photography over the past year or so. I will also force myself into the habit of observing a scene before I set my tripod and camera up. This is all well and good, providing that you get to location well before the best light arrives.
5. FIND A WOODLAND AND DON’T STOP PHOTOGRAPHING IT
The six photographs above are part of a collection that I have been working on over the last few months from the same oak woodland here in Mid Wales. Long gone are the days of driving 70 miles up to the Ogwen Valley at every opportunity. The past couple of years have made a lasting impact on me and my photography and I choose to stick to many of the local areas that I hadn’t even visited until 2020. Not only have these local explorations made a huge difference to the quality of my photographs but each photograph holds sentimental value as they were created within 15 miles of my home. Frequent visits to a woodland will give you the opportunity to get to know it intimately. You might form a strong bond with certain scenes that bring you inner peace. You might make friends with some of the ancient trees that provide you with shelter from the rain during a storm. This ties in with one of my earlier points too; more time spent in the woodland will mean more opportunities to study light. None of these photographs would have existed if I hadn’t been in the woodland twenty-something times before, standing in many of the same spots, observing how the light moves through the scene. All of this will lead to a deeper connection with the woodland, which will in turn lead to much better photographs.
Do you want to Create Better Photographs?
Check out My New e-Book on Composition
This is Volume 1 of my comprehensive 125+ page eBook that contains insights into my creative approach to landscape and nature photography. Each section has multiple examples and is applicable to all standards of photography. Whether you are looking to make a step change in your photography, or just looking for ideas to improve your compositions when out in the field, this e-Book contains the tools to help you.
The eBook contains detailed information on:
How to use different focal lengths to help tell meaningful stories in your photography.
Understanding of ‘rules’ in photography and how to break them to find and develop your own creative style.
Creating depth in your photographs using foregrounds, different apertures and light.
And many many more useful tips including bonus sections on understanding light and using emotions and storytelling.
Purchasing volume 1 of this comprehensive e-Book will give you lifetime access to further volumes that will be released as my knowledge increases and I receive feedback for customers. If you purchase this, please feel welcome to review and provide feedback so that I can make improvements to future volumes.
6. Analyse Your Photographs
You probably have your own contrasting opinions concerning the good and bad of social media, as do I, but one positive thing that platforms like Instagram provide us with is the opportunity to regularly look over and quickly analyse our portfolio of photographs. I’m a little guilty of doing this perhaps a little too often but I feel like this obsession coupled with an analytical mind has enabled me to progress quickly as a photographer in my journey so far. I’m also making lots of judgments, sometimes subconsciously, about my photographs as I import them onto my computer and begin the editing process. It is here that you are able to zoom in to see all of the smaller details around the frame; maybe you can spot a tree in the distance that needs to be brought to attention on your next visit or you realise that the distorted look from your wide angle lens makes your finished composition look a little strange or off balance. You can then focus on correcting this by using a different focal length or you might decide to try something completely new when you decide to visit the woodland again. Analysing photographs is just as important as getting out there and creating them, in my opinion. Especially as progression is one of my major philosophies in life and is something that I am always striving for in my own work as I move through this journey.
7. Look for Frames and Pathways THAT LEAD the Eyes
A photograph can be many things. In some cases, it’s the magical lighting that makes it special. For others, it’s colours or a certain mood. For many photographs, the journey into the image and then around a scene is what makes it special. In many of my woodland photographs, I try to include windows and frames between tree trunks and branches that can act as a place for the eyes to travel and sometimes I like to portray the idea that the trees are guiding us towards somewhere or something. You might often hear photographers talk about ‘leading lines’ as being one of the most important elements in a photograph. There are times where I agree that they are but I feel like they can be overused and this statement sometimes makes people feel as though a photograph fails if it doesn’t incorporate them. I believe that this is especially true in woodland photography, where I don’t believe that leading lines play much of a role in creating a compelling image. The story of the trees and the mood that you capture is far more important element than any of these rules. There are many ways to take the viewer on a journey in your photographs and incorporating frames is a great place to start.
8. Timing
Photography is a never ending process of learning and just recently, I was reminded of the importance of waiting for the right moment when opening the shutter on my camera. This woodland is one that I have been visiting regularly since discovering it in the summer of 2021. The first photograph below is how the woodland looked under normal light on that overcast autumn morning. Compare that with second image with its rich, vibrant colours and soft pink, orange light that was cast for a few short moments on the ferns and trunk of the large ancient silver birch tree. This light was cast from the sunrise as it reflected off the low clouds after a brief clearing on the horizon. It serves as another reminder to me to always be attentive of what is happening around me as I am outdoors searching for photographs. We often only have a brief moment in time to capture the best light and quite often, once this light is gone, it is very difficult to find any like it again.
9. Minimise Distractions
It is always worth paying attention to the smaller details when you’re composing your shots. Get things right in your frame while in the field and it will mean less time cleaning a photograph up in your post-processing software.
The main distraction that I find I have to deal with when composing a woodland image are patches of bright white (over-exposed) sky that appear because I’m exposing for what is usually quite a dark scene. These patches of white sky can take the viewers eye away from where it is meant to be. This is why mist or fog is a photographers best friend when in the woodland as it helps to create a soft graduation between lighter and darker parts of the image and helps to accentuate focus on the target subjects within a frame.
Other things to watch out for, in order to keep a viewers attention where you want it, are stray branches, leaves and other foliage that might creep in at the edges of your frame. I always ensure that I take a few moments to weigh up whether something adds to my composition and provides further interest, or whether it takes away from it and acts as a distraction that I need to find a way to remove. This can be done by moving around or by using the zoom function on your lens. There may be times where you are unable to remove an unwanted object within the frame, in which case Photoshop’s ‘spot healing’ tool is great to use in your post-processing workflow.
10. Introduce Characters & Use Them TO Tell a Story
This gigantic oak tree is giving orders out to these young beech and oak trees that surround it. Can you see? I think that I understand where J.R.R Tolkien got his inspiration for the Ents in Lord of the Rings now that I have spent enough time outdoors in nature. Imagination has added a whole new dimension to my photography and I wrote about how a conversation with my Nan at the start of this year forced me to look within my photographs for a storyline more often. You can read about that here. When it comes to trees and woodland, there are always old and characterful trees to be found and these are some of the first things that my eyes are drawn to upon my searches around a new area. The oldest trees often tell the greatest stories as they contain centuries of history. I regularly get up close and personal with some of these trees to see some of the fascinating species that they act as a home for. They are vital for our own continuation as a species and so these veteran trees and our countries ancient woodland must be respected. My documentation of some of these trees that I stumble upon on my journey through life, is my way of appreciating their beauty and showing my respect to them for giving me life here on Earth.
11. Find Interactions and Capture a Relationship Between Trees
Anthropomorphisation, the attributing of human characteristics to non-humans, is extremely effective and, for me, capturing trees’ relationships with each other is one of the most powerful elements when creating woodland photographs. How about the image above which I duly named ‘The Orchestra’? It tells the story of a young conductor at the front composing a final piece with the snowfall appearing as confetti being thrown from the audience during the encore and rapturous applause. Below, is a photograph that I named ‘First Dance’ which tells the story of one tree leading the other across the ballroom. I placed my camera in such a way that meant the trees appeared to be holding hands and waltzing into the light.
12. Get off the Beaten Track
It is very rare that a stunning composition will hit you in the face as you walk along the footpath. Besides, if the composition is that obvious then the chances are that it wont be a very original one. In my opinion, the most rewarding photographs have been found when I explore and head out into some of the more unknown parts of the woodland. This is often where you will find some of the more gnarly and interesting trees hiding and things tend to look that little bit more wild. Every woodland has its own characteristics and unique qualities. It’s your job to go and find them.
13. BUILD A PORTFOLIO OF THE SAME SUBJECTS
Perhaps the biggest change in my photography has come as a result of my focus on creating diverse portfolios of the same subjects. This congregation of silver birch trees in Snowdonia National Park has been my favourite project within a project. I fell in love with the harmonious nature of the lakeside birches during a walk last summer, and I haven’t stopped photographing them since. So far, I have 8 or 9 photographs, all very different in their look and feel. Each time I visit, I am tasked with creating something different to what I have already in the portfolio. This challenges me to approach the subjects in a changing manner; either working with a new angle, focal length, or by photographing at a different time of day. It will be interesting to observe how I am photographing these trees in years to come, as I look to push my own creative boundaries and evolve my ideas even further.
14. Leave the Area as You Found It
Pick up your rubbish. Try not to tread on delicate plants, fungi and the rest. Be quiet enough that you don’t disturb animals. And absolutely don’t break things that might be in the way of your composition. I also try keep to a minimum the moving of objects such as fallen branches. I’ve made the mistake of moving one before only to find that I had disturbed habitats underneath. It is not a nice feeling and I now restrain myself from doing it. There are far more important things in this world than photographs.
Summary
I hope that you found this blog post on how to take better woodland and forest photographs helpful. Woodland photography can be frustrating at times and you’ll often ask questions of yourself and find yourself scratching your head wondering where the next photograph is going to come from. But when the conditions strike, boy does it make the whole process worth it. In those moments, you need to sit back and soak it all in. Bask in that golden light and breath the fresh woodland air into your lungs. Those are the mornings that make me feel most alive, and I hope that they are now able to do the same for you as you take some of these tips onboard and get out there to create.
I would love to see what you are able to come up with when you venture out into the woodland and forests in the coming months. You can find me in the following places where you can feel free to share your photos with me via dm’s or tags:
You might also like: A Year Amongst Trees
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
I run workshops and one to one lessons.
An Epic Landscape Photography Road Trip To Lake District & Scotland: Part 2
Part two of this epic road trip sees me head all the way to Scotland where I wave my long lens around in Glencoe and on the Isle of Skye.
Hello again and welcome back for the second instalment of my epic landscape photography road trip. In part one, I transported you to the summit of Catbells where I bathed in that delicious golden sunrise light, I went on the hunt for a photograph of Windermere to show to my nan, in the hope of bringing back some fond memories of her own adventures with my grandad, and I visited Ashness Bridge where I photographed away during a beautiful sunset that will stay with me forever before capturing the moment that an adrenaline junkie took a giant leap of faith from Falcon Crag.
Part two took me back onto the open road as I headed further north in my Vauxhall Astra-come-makeshift-camper to Scotland; one of the places that I had been dreaming of visiting since I first picked up a camera a few years ago and began scouring the Internet for landscape photography inspiration.
Morning mist hangs low in the Trossachs above Loch Lomond in Scotland.
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY IN SCOTLAND: GLENCOE
No amount of blogs or videos could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. This was one of the greatest welcomes that I have ever received. The arms of the Trossachs wide open and outstretched. I felt like a child being guided towards the fun house at a fairground. I still remember that drive around Loch Lomond like it was yesterday. I was getting tired after a solid three hour drive and that long stretch on the A82 around Loch Lomond felt like an eternity. It was around 6am and I had been driving in the dark for three hours, so I’d barely seen a thing to stimulate my mind. After taking a right turn in Tarbet onto that final stretch of tarmac, things changed. Quickly. Approaching the top end of the loch, past Blairannaich and towards Inveruglas, the dark night began to turn into purple dawn, and the feint silhouettes of mountains were starting to appear. From the mouth of the River Falloch, I could see fog spewing into the loch. That was all I needed. My soul punched me awake and straight into a landscape photographers dream.
Morning mist rolling over Ben More in the southern highlands of Scotland.
I have to admit that I wasn’t acting like a photographer with much experience at this moment in time. I ditched my car at the roadside above Loch Lomond and jumped out with my 70-200mm attached, proceeding to fire off shots in similar fashion to a WWII gunner. There was no time for a tripod. Not even time for me to take a breath for that matter. Everything I’d taught myself about slowing down and taking a moment to gather my thoughts and feelings before opening the shutter went out of the window. I knew exactly how I felt and it was just pure, childish excitement. Nothing could contain me, I was in Scotland and my photography senses were firing on all cylinders.
***Quick disclaimer: this website uses affiliate links which means, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you use any of my links and make a purchase. As an Amazon affiliate, I can earn a little money from qualifying purchases. I won’t under any circumstances, feature any products that I don’t believe in. Any support would mean the world to me and help me to keep these blog posts going. Thank you.
The Lagangarbh Hut at the base of Buachille Etive Mor.
Of course, I had to stop and grab a photograph of the legendary white cottage. When in Glencoe hey?! To catch the top of The Buachille protruding through the low mist like this was just too good an opportunity to miss. In all honesty, after taking this photograph, I did not have a clue where to go. I was in unfamiliar territory and that was without the mist hiding everything from me. Not such a bad thing however because I managed to get the following photograph of Buachille Etive Beag, which was just a stones throw away, a little further up the road towards Glencoe. The perfectly pyramidal peak and mist combine to make a mysterious and intimidating photograph.
Buachille Etive Beag partially hidden behind the morning mist.
I moved around the area for a while on foot, taking one of the paths through the mist and deeper into the mountains. Having hiked for a few miles without managing to find too much in the way of photographs, I made my way back towards the main road in the late morning. The daunting posture of Buachille Etive Beag from this angle fascinated me so I waited around for a little while as the mist cleared and the sunlight pierced through the clouds to create some interesting drama. The lonely path adds a subtle and simple extra story to this photograph.
For anyone following me on Instagram, you will probably remember watching me perform a quick workout while waiting for this light.
Clouds roll over Buachille Etive Beag in the late morning light.
I’m not usually one for photography in the bright sunlight but I couldn’t help myself as I walked along this picturesque little lane that leads to Glen Etive in the late morning and into the early hours of the afternoon.
The winding narrow lane to Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands.
Narrow lane leading to the mountains in Glencoe.
I fired up the portable stove and ate my usual adventure meal; tuna, pasta and sweetcorn, no nonsense on-the-go food, giving me more time to get back out there with my tripod and camera. For my final photograph of the day, I found this beautiful little setting which provided a lovely end to my first day in Scotland. This was a particularly tricky photograph, I found the scene to be rather messy and the light was difficult to manage. I ended up taking three shots and blending them into one to create a HDR photograph. It’s one to look back on in the future to remind me of the time that I sat beneath this mountain getting eaten alive by midges and talking to a fellow photographer about out passion for this art. The photograph isn’t going to win any awards but these are the evenings and conversations that are worth remembering.
After two days hiking and photography in the Lake District, followed by a full day in Scotland, I decided that more nights in the car just wasn’t going to cut it this time around. I booked myself in to a beautiful little cabin in North Ballachulish for a couple of nights in order to recharge. Torn between spending one or two nights in the cabin, I’ll be forever thankful for that I chose the latter as I’d clumsily left my Meindl hiking boots outdoors in the rain throughout the first night. After another full day of hiking around Glencoe, in what can only be described as a mini monsoon, my boots and body were completely soaked. Turns out that skin isn’t waterproof in Scotland! I desperately needed that second night in a warm and dry cabin, a real home away from home. Below, I’ll share some of the photographs from the second day.
White cottage in the Glencoe mountains.
There was only one thing on the cards for photography after a night of heavy rain… Flowing water! There is, of course, plenty of that around Glencoe and so I was spoilt for choice. I’d seen the waterfalls beneath Buachille Etive Mor on many occasions across blogs and YouTube. I’m delighted that I got to see it for myself while standing in the same spot as some of my favourite photographers from over the years. The light wasn’t exactly striking on the day, but running around the mountains like a drowned rat was great fun and something that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Waterfall beneath Buachille Etive Mor.
Panoramic view of Blackrock cottage and Buachille Etive Beag.
One of the many small streams that flows from the mountains and into the Glencoe valley.
I tried my best to make the most of the conditions on day two in Glencoe and in hindsight, I’m actually very happy with what the photographs that I managed to create. Of course, in a perfect world, the light could have been more dramatic, it could have kissed the tips of mountains and fallen on the ground creating some lateral light and dark contrast. it doesn’t always happen like that thought and landscape photography is about making the most of what we are given. Similar to life in that sense, you can only play the cards that you are dealt. This is what gives me the drive to keep getting up and getting out there. Because when those conditions are ‘perfect’, I am all the more grateful for it. I remember the disappointments and respect them all the more, because they make the opposite all the more special. It’s all a balancing act.
Looking down the Glencoe valley towards Loch Achtriochtan.
The Meeting of the Three Waters in full flow after heavy rain.
That was just about enough photography for day two. I went back to the cabin to refuel, dry out and charge the batteries ready for the final two days of my trip. Save the best until last they say. The legendary Isle of Skye was my next destination, with a quick stop en route to catch the Hogwarts Express crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
Glennfinnan viaduct with the Jacobite train passing from Fort William to Mallaig.
The following photograph caught my eye en route to the Isle of Skye. The colours combined with the recurring patterns stood out. Photography doesn’t always have to be super complicated in my opinion.
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY IN SCOTLAND: ISLE OF SKYE
There are just no words to describe how epic this unusual rock formation in the Trotternish region of the Isle of Skye really is. You could see the old man, the leaning piece of land farthest left in this photograph, himself from the south side of the island, around 5-10 miles away at a guess. From here it appears to be just a tiny pinnacle in the distance and it’s not until you make your way along the final mile of the path leading up to the Storr that you really gauge the scale of this magnificent landscape. Luckily for me, there was a tiny human standing dwarfed beneath the old man which adds a much needed human element to my photograph. This place is enough to humble any person.
With the light quickly fading after a long drive up to Skye, I found a home for the night in the car park at Mealt Falls on the north side of the island. There aren’t many better places to wake up then next to a 55m waterfall that drops straight into the sea. From here in the morning, I would proceed to travel around the island, stopping off at the famous Neist Point Lighthouse and legendary Fairy Pools.
Mealt Falls on the Isle of Skye.
While travelling round to my next location, I couldn’t help but stop to check out some of the Isle of Skye’s impressive coastline.
Fishing boat providing the scale to some of Isle of Skye’s magnificent coastline.
Rugged Isle of Skye coastline.
It’s no wonder photographers travel from all over the world to photograph this lighthouse that lies at the most westerly tip of the Isle of Skye. The Neist Point Lighthouse is spectacular with rugged coastline adding drama to photographs here. I would love to have caught a sunset at the lighthouse but the weather conditions weren’t looking too promising and I had plenty of other things to see on the island. I’ll leave that one for the next visit.
Neist Point Lighthouse on the Isle of Skye.
Taking a walk towards Neist Point Lighthouse on the Isle of Skye.
Next up, it was my final planned stop of the trip; the legendary Fairy Pools with its’ turquoise water. The Black Cuillin mountains provide a menacing backdrop to the pools.
Flowing water in the Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye.
Turquoise-blue water in the Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye.
The Fairy Pools were everything that I had imagined when reading about the Isle of Skye. Dark, intimidating, beautiful and calming.
Waterfall in the Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye with the black Cuillin mountains behind.
The long road home escorting me through the deep, dark Cuillin Hills. Sadly for me, this photograph marked the end of my visit to the Isle of Skye with the best landmarks now firmly behind me.
Rain sweeping across the Black Cuillin hills, Isle of Skye.
I stopped off for a quick pit stop to photograph the Sligachan Old Bridge, another of the beautiful locations that I’d watched some of my favourite photographers visit on YouTube. The usual shot of this beautiful location is usually in the opposite direction towards the mountains behind but I wanted to try something a little different.
Sligachan Old Bridge, behind stands Sgurr Mhairi.
Pastel sunset captured with this artistic intentional camera movement photograph.
My final stop of an epic landscape photography road trip to Scotland; Eilean Donan Castle provided perhaps one of my favourite photographs from my time up north. I attached my Gobe ND1000 circular neutral density filter and used a one minute long exposure of the castle illuminated during blue hour.
Eilean Donan Castle illuminated in the blue hour light.
This definitely won’t be the last time that I visit Scotland. There is still so much more to see. Scotland is a country that is just steeped in history, culture and natural beauty and I feel like I only scratched the surface of what this magnificent country has to offer. My photography skills were definitely put to the test up here. With so many famous locations that have been photographed many times, I certainly found it a test to find some unique landscape photographs but in hindsight, I’m more than happy with my results. There is of course, plenty more to be had when I decide to visit again.
I really hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Maybe it has inspired you to pack your bags and head off on your own adventures. It would be great to know if it did, that’s the whole reason I do all of this. I just love inspiring people to live better lives. Please consider following me on social media, tell me all about your adventure and keep up with all of my own photography adventures… There are some even epic-er ones incoming.
I’m looking forward to taking you along for the ride on the next one.
Gear used for this trip:
*please note that these links will navigate you to Amazon. Any purchases made will support me as an artist by earning me a small commission as an Amazon affiliate. Thank you.
If you liked the photography in this blog post, you should consider checking out my Top Tips for Improving you Landscape Photography post next.
10 Top Tips to Improve Your Landscape Photography in 2023
Looking for some top tips to improve your landscape photography?
Look no further.
Here, I run through 10 of mine that I hope will help and inspire you to get out there and take better landscape photos.
Introduction
We’ve all been there. Back home after a long and exhausting day of landscape photography out in the field. We throw our bags on the floor and kick our mud-covered hiking boots off in the doorway. The dog is super excited to see us for the first time in 12 hours, she’s starving and needs feeding. But, of course, we don’t care. We have an SD card that full of images and the world will end if we don’t sit down at the computer to download them immediately and edit until the early hours, forgetting about any other life responsibilities.
With the downloading process in motion, we head into the kitchen, dog in tow. She’s disappointed when she realises that a cup of tea is the only thing on your mind. Plus the memories of the day and them sweet looking landscapes, of course. You sit back down and there you are, greeted with 600+ images, 400 of which are nearly identical, with just a slight change in angle to tell them apart. As you make your way through your days’ work, the feelings of disappointment grow stronger. ‘These aren’t anything like the beautiful photographs that I’ve seen on Instagram’, your inner voice declares.
Well, what I’m hoping for, by writing this blog post, is to prevent you from some of those terrible feelings of disappointment and give you a solid foundation from which you can build and improve your landscape photography. At the bottom of the blog, I’ll provide you with some links to the YouTube pages of some of my favourite photographers that have been an outstanding source of information for me over the last two and a half years.
Below, are 10 of my top tips that I think have helped me significantly through my landscape photography journey so far. The points discussed all go beyond what I would call ‘the technical basics’ of taking photos, meaning, that I’m not going to be touching on cameras, lenses, aperture or shutter speed in any real depth. The tips are based around things that you can do personally to improve your photos and compositions. I will release another blog post in the future that will help with some of the basic camera settings that I use in some of my images. If you don’t want to miss that, make sure that you are following me on my Instagram & Facebook or, you can subscribe to my newsletter that will be rolling out very soon. The newsletter form can be found at the bottom of this page.
Patience
Anybody that has spent a little time outdoors, especially here in Wales, will know just how quickly the lighting can shift sometimes and completely transform a landscape from a sunny, blue sky paradise, into a deep, dark, moody looking Game of Thrones set. There have been a number of occasions throughout my photography journey so far, where I have left, or been about to leave a location when, out of nowhere, the clouds part and it’s as though God is shining a torch down from heaven, with a wry grin on his face as if to say, ‘don’t be so hasty young man!’
Having practiced the art of patience through my bodybuilding over the years, I feel that it transitioned into my landscape photography right from the beginning. Anybody following me on Instagram might have seen me working out while waiting for some light to hit the top of Buachille Etive Beag in Scotland last year. Still, I’m no master of patience. Little lessons and reminders do often still appear. Only a couple of months back, I was making my way home from a short photography trip to Lake Vyrnwy, where I wanted to create a large panoramic image of the boathouse and Victorian water tower. I’d already had my tripod set up for well over an hour and I’d decided to pack up because the light hadn’t changed and the whole scene was looking a little too dull. Five minutes up the road, the clouds broke and allowed some light through. With no hesitation, I span the car around, went back to my spot and ended up coming back with this photograph.
You might be wondering what on Earth I’m doing while I’m stood outdoors in the open, in the same place for an hour or two, with nothing but the birds for company. Well, this takes me nicely onto point number 2.
2. Slow down & take a breath
I think it’s pretty clear to us just how much the digital revolution has changed the world. All you have to do is take a walk along your local high street and you’ll probably see one in two people either looking at, or listening to a mobile phone. We are facing the beginning of what I feel, could be an attention span crisis. Generally speaking, we don’t know how to pay attention to a single task. How often do you find yourself breaking out your phone when it buzzes during a face to face conversation?
I don’t personally think that a short attention span would do me any favours out in the field. Photography is an art form based on our senses. If we can’t tune in to these senses because our minds are always elsewhere or waiting for the next notification, how can we expect to create compelling landscape images that capture the attention of our viewer?
Around a year ago, on a solo trip to photograph the Point of Ayr Lighthouse in Talacre, North Wales, my mind was all over the place. I’d had one of those weeks and whilst driving up to North Wales, all I wanted to do was turn the car around and go home. I persevered and on arrival, I decided that I would spend a while simply walking around the location, taking it all in, practicing some deep breathing and just clearing my head before even taking out my camera and looking for a photo.
Now, I’ll purposely aim to arrive a little early (before the best light) to allow myself time to walk around and breathe. I’ve been an advocate of the Wim Hof Method for about a year now. My phone will often be placed on airplane mode while I’m out there in order to better connect with nature and the landscape and to gain a deeper understanding of how I’m feeling, as I think this all translates into an image.
Using these methods was a huge turning point for me and since adopting it, I feel like I’ve noticed the biggest improvement in my photography, with the below image being the result of my first practice back in January 2020 (yes… the one where I wanted to spin the car around and go home)!
3. Chase Progress, Not Perfection
With platforms like Instagram forcing comparison by constantly showing you an unbelievably high level of photography, every minute of every day, it’s so easy to become disillusioned with where you are in your journey.
This is where it’s important to focus on your own art and try to make each photograph just that little bit better than the last. If you’ve only just picked up a camera, you can’t expect to become the next Ansel Adams over night. Try revisiting the same place over and over again and with each new journey, try something a little bit different. If you took a photo using a fast shutter speed to capture some water on your first visit, perhaps try slowing the shutter down this time to see what kind of photograph that produces. It might not work but at least then you have a reason to analyse what didn’t work in the image, allowing you to make tweaks for the future.
Brick by brick is a little philosophy that I live my life by. I have some big ideas but when I’m trying to build a large mansion, focusing on my next little brick is the only thing that’s important to me. Rome wasn’t built in a day, of course.
Below is another image of the Point of Ayr Lighthouse, this time I tried a long exposure to create a very dramatic looking photograph.
This leads me very nicely onto my next point.
4. Try Unique Ideas
What is the one thing we have in this world that no one can steal, copy or borrow?
Our identities. Who we are. Our own experiences. Why we like to communicate in the ways that we do. You need to try to tap into this and make it your superpower. Learn to translate these experiences into your own photography to create imagery that nobody else can.
Of course, with the average person being shown literally hundreds or thousands of photographs every day, it’s so easy to get caught up in travelling to all of the famous places to get those ‘Instagram shots,’ without realising just how much opportunity there is on our own doorsteps to create something that is entirely unique.
While it’s obviously great to travel to those places, I do love them myself and they are all widely photographed for a reason of course, you just can’t beat the satisfaction you feel after getting up at the crack of dawn to capture a photograph like this one below from a secret place that tells its’ own story and will, most likely, never be photographed again.
5. Plan Ahead
This one isn’t very straightforward and will definitely take a while to understand - It’s actually the main thing that I’m working on improving for my own landscape photography as there is just so many different elements that go into planning.
In my experience, the best photographs have been created after many visits to the same place. I think that you really have to take the time to get know and understand the landscape in order to know what you would like to capture from a certain scene. Once you know, you can then proceed to use apps such as The Photographers Ephemeris, which will show you the direction of sunrise, sunset, moonrise & moonset, anywhere in the world.
Apps like this are a great tool but won’t do all of the work for you. They might give you a solid foundation of knowledge but you will need to grow your understanding of a place by visiting in person. That way you can watch the way the light moves around and scout for interesting elements that you can use in your future compositions. If there is water in the scene, you will need to know how light interacts with it. Will you need a polarizing filter to aid with taking some of the glare and reflection from the surface of the water? Where will you need to stand and what focal length will you need to use to convey the feeling that you want to get across to your viewer? Will you shoot with a wide angle and emphasize the vast landscape and foreground detail, or will you opt for a longer lens, to compress the image and bring some scale into your shot?
These are all things that can only truly be decided once you’ve visited and built up some experience. You can then combine your knowledge of the landscape with your choice of tech tools to visualise pictures in your head.
Another app that I have heard nothing but great things about it Photopills, though I haven’t made it round to using it myself just yet.
Do you want to create better photographs?
Check out my brand new Composition e-Book:
This is Volume 1 of my comprehensive 125+ page eBook that contains insights into my creative approach to landscape and nature photography. Each section has multiple examples and is applicable to all standards of photography. Whether you are looking to make a step change in your photography, or just looking for ideas to improve your compositions when out in the field, this e-Book contains the tools to help you.
The eBook contains detailed information on:
How to use different focal lengths to help tell meaningful stories in your photography.
Understanding of ‘rules’ in photography and how to break them to find and develop your own creative style.
Creating depth in your photographs using foregrounds, different apertures and light.
And many many more useful tips including bonus sections on understanding light and using emotions and storytelling.
Purchasing volume 1 of this comprehensive e-Book will give you lifetime access to further volumes that will be released as my knowledge increases and I receive feedback for customers. If you purchase this, please feel welcome to review and provide feedback so that I can make improvements to future volumes.
6. Simplify Your Compositions
The photographs that I feel most pleased with are generally the ones where there isn’t too much going on within it. I tend to try to keep a clear subject in mind when I have my camera in my hand, ensuring that distractions stay to a minimum in order to avoid taking my viewers eye away from where I want it to be.
I’m a sucker for some negative space and I believe that this can be included to create a very powerful photo that helps to capture a viewers imagination and allows them time to think. I love the idea of creating a sense of wonder and I feel that the below image does just that. Perhaps making the audience imagine standing on the summit of Snowdon and reaching for the moon?
Below is another example of how minimalism can have a powerful impact in your landscape photography as I captured this solo hiker tackling the winter whiteout to summit Y Garn in Snowdonia. Lone figures in a vast landscape have always captured my imagination. They make me ask all sorts of questions about who I am and what I am doing here. There’s something I have always found fascinating about how small we are in comparison to nature and this incredible planet that we are on.
7. Create Balance within your Photographs
This one doesn’t need too much explaining. I feel like a photograph looks much more pleasing to the eye if you can create some sort of balance between your elements within a scene. If you take this image from the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia, you’ll see that my subjects; the tree, the white house, and rays of sunlight are perfectly balanced from the edges of the frame (also see rule of thirds and visualise the provided grid over this photograph).
While it’s much better if you can get this right in camera (practice and experience will help with this), you can make good use of the crop tool within your editing software to fix your photograph afterwards, cropping out any unwanted objects from the edges of the frame. If there are central elements that you don’t like within your photograph or, for example, a piece of stray dirt made it onto your lens and left a mark on your photograph, then you can make great use of some of the ‘spot healing’ tools within camera editing software. My favourite being the one provided in Adobe Photoshop for operations like this.
8. Use the rule of thirds… (But understand why)
Like any rules, they sometimes need to be broken. This one, is by no means set in stone but will be fairly consistent throughout the world of landscape photography and photography in general. Look at the graphic that I created below of a photograph I took while adventuring around Glencoe in Scotland on a trip late in 2020.
You can see clearly that the image has been divided into nine different sections, containing four different intersections toward the centre. When framing an image, it’s always a good idea to try to visualise this graphic and decide whether you want to place your points of interest on, or close to the intersections or break the rules for a different visual effect. You can see in this particular image that I’ve used the rule for the benefit of the composition and combined it with some negative space to the right of the photograph, which allows the viewers eye to follow up the stream and away into the mountains behind without getting distracted by any stray objects. Remember I spoke about simplicity and minimalism in photography a little earlier? This image is a combination of two of my tips.
Personally, I feel like this photograph is actually one of my most pleasing in terms of the composition. It has so many different elements, from the tree that makes up the foreground, the house and base of the mountains that form the background, the stream linking the two and providing interest in the middle of the photo and then the leading lines, rule of thirds and negative space. Perhaps the complete composition, if you like to follow rules, that is!
Just a quick one. You can enable the above grid in your iPhone camera, which may help you to get some practice. Mine has been left on permanently since I enabled it a few years ago. Here is how to do it:
Open ‘Settings’
Tap ‘Photos & Camera’
Find ‘Grid’ and toggle it on
Below is an example of me ‘breaking’ the rules and why.
In this photograph, which I named ‘Stage Fright,’ I purposely placed the young fawn far down in the bottom right of my frame as I feel that it helps to convey the story of this isolated, innocent young animal out in the vast open wilderness, with the trees acting like all of the scary things that life is about to throw at it. Or, as the name suggests, the trees are playing the parts of judges & audience as the young fawn is about to step out on stage.
This is a good chance to think back to point number 2, where I talked a little about paying attention and understanding your surroundings. There is no way that all of those complicated thoughts about how I wanted to frame this image would have occurred if my mind was elsewhere. It’s so important to be present and constantly observe your surroundings when out in the field taking photographs.
9. Hone your Editing Skills
No image, in my opinion, is complete without a photographer putting a stamp on it through some editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. The photographs that your camera captures tend to look a little bit flat as a RAW file and will usually need at least a basic edit to correct the darker or lighter parts (shadows & highlights).
Not only that, some cameras and especially lenses have a difficult time picking up accurate colours from the landscape. You can have a tonne of fun playing around with the colour sliders in your editing software to correct these and give your photographs a signature style. You might even find yourself reading books about the origins of colour like in the summer of 2020.
Quick tip: I would always suggest investing your money into lenses before an expensive camera body. A cheap body with an expensive, high quality lens ALWAYS beats an expensive body paired with a cheap lens. You can read this blog to see what gear I shoot with. Most of my photographs so far have been taken on a £600 Canon 800D, I’ve only recently invested in the 5D IV and made sure that I had the lenses to fully complement it.
My favourite part of photography is obviously the getting outdoors part but I made the editing process a bit of a tradition early on. I’ll be sure to get myself a cup of tea, put some of my favourite music on and really get in the zone for it. In its own way, it is just as fun as being outdoors. You get to build a brand around how your photographs are edited. At least, that’s how my mind works anyway.
It takes a lot of time to find your style but I promise you you’ll notice quick improvements if you hack away at it at every chance that you get. Try revisiting old images for practice, and take things to the extreme in software to find the things you like and the things you don’t like. All of a sudden, the buttons you press, the colours you choose and the sliders you slide will start to become second nature to you and you’ll find your groove.
Another tip within a tip: try not to get stuck in a groove. It’s always good to push yourself and find ways that you can improve. No one is ever the finished article. Instagram is a wonderful platform but it can get addictive trying to build that ‘consistent feed’, meaning that you never really test your limits or learn anything new. I’ve learnt recently, that each photograph has its’ own story all together and may need a completely different style of edit in order to bring out the best in it. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you only knew of one way? If you normally edit with warmer, orange tones in your work, try using some cooler tones and enhance your blue and aqua colours for a change that might help to emphasise a feeling of cold.
Ansel Adams famously stated that editing is 50% of the entire photography process and this is something that I’ve really learnt to resonate with. I’ll be releasing some blog posts & videos on my editing process very soon. Feel free to sign up to my newsletter at the bottom of this page for all of the latest updates.
Fairy Glen Gorge, Snowdonia before editing.
Fairy Glen Gorge, Snowdonia after editing.
10. Just Get out THERE and shoot
Seriously. Stop reading this. Now. Well.. I mean, I suppose you could at least finish this point first.
Not really. I’m done. Go. Pick your camera up and get out of here
Pssst I’m joking. You still here? Ok. Well I might as well expand now.
You can read all of the blog posts, watch all of the YouTube videos and buy all of the books that you want. There is not a single thing in that list or any one of my points that will transform your photography as much as going out and clicking that shutter button. Aim it at everything. Just promise me that you won’t do anything illegal and then tell the police that I told you to do it?!
Most of my learning about ISO, aperture and shutter speed was done in the garden and around my local town. I didn’t have a car to drive to locations when I first started photography so I was forced to think creatively. Luckily my Mum loves her garden so I made great use of her flowers and plants to learn everything that I could about my camera and the lenses that I owned back then. There is also a beautiful little field next to my house so I would venture over there to practice my skills and learn a little about composition and the rule of thirds. It wasn’t glamorous. But we can’t be in Snowdonia or Alps all of the time now can we?
You’ll make mistakes. I still make mistakes regularly. There are just longer intervals between my mistakes. And they aren’t as stupid as not knowing how to focus a lens. Yep, I literally took out-of-focus photos for weeks before I saw a friend twisting the end of his lens and asked ‘what does that do?’ Embarrassing then. Very funny now. But there you go. It won’t be perfect, just like anything. But like I said in point number 3; chase progress, not perfection.
On saying that, here is your queue to leave now. Go. Take photos. Like my nan says, ‘you know you’re always welcome to come and visit whenever’. If you want to share some photos with me, or if you need any help the I am only an Instagram message away.
One more thing, as promised. Here are some links to channels down below. Three legends of photography. Sorry that they are links to other people, you’re obviously here because you want to learn from me. Who knows, one day I might have my own videos to link to.
Nigel Danson - cinematic and beautiful videos & story telling.
Thomas Heaton - very open, honest & real. And a damn good photographer!
Mads Peter Iversen - dramatic, epic & moody. His Isle of Skye videos are what first inspired me to go there myself.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my future blogs, workshop events and 1 to 1 coaching.
Thank you for reading. Happy photographing.
