The 6 most common mistakes beginners make in Landscape photography

​http://www.photographytalk.com/phot...-beginners-make-in-landscape-photography?pt=6

Regularly at work we have meetings to reflect on the good/bad of a project, in order to learn from the lessons of previous work.


Bringing that to the world of landscape photography, have any experienced folks out there got some 'DO NOT's' when it comes to landscapes.


What are the mistakes you see most often in beginners landscape photos?

1. Ground and sky are split 50/50.
2. Nothing in the forefront of a shot to anchor it all.
3. Subject is back lit.
4. I need a better camera because this one can't take very good pictures.

MM, isnt no4 a common problem

Roy1961 said:

MM, isnt no4 a common problem

Click to expand...

It's why I keep buying better cameras... trying to buy my way to Dave_W quality. Sure, I could just buy a D4 and have outstanding pictures, but I want people to believe I got better along the way so I'm just incrementally stepping up one camera at a time allowing the camera to carry my sad butt along.

But I don't want to hijack this thread in a different direction than it was intended so I better make another suggestion...

5. Tripod - Even though you might be using a faster shutter any picture can benefit from a rock solid platform.
6. Horizon - Get it leveled. (A certain cat picture of mine in another thread comes to mind that I'm still kicking myself for not straightening the image! BUT, I have learned from this stupid stupid mistake and it won't happen again... see, all better now and it didn't cost me $10,000 dollars in therapy.)

thats why the cat is so unhappy in that picture MM, "darnit i bet he hasnt got the Horizon level"

Roy1961 said:

thats why the cat is so unhappy in that picture MM, "darnit i bet he hasnt got the Horizon level"

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Awe crud, even the cat knows how bad a photographer I am!?

Following my above rule to keep my post on track relative to the thread... #7

7. Filters - over the lens, particularly cheap ones, is a piece of glass that can cause reflection or flares in your picture.

Moab Man said:

It's why I keep buying better cameras... trying to buy my way to Dave_W quality.

Click to expand...

Might be cheaper just to rent Dave.
Course you will have to get a really big gadget bag!
​It's just a thought.

I think the biggest mistake that is made from beginners is to look through the camera and focus their attention at the subject instead of looking at the ground glass and looking at the composition and lighting. I was lucky to be able to have worked with large format because with a large ground glass, you do have to look at the image and not just focus on what attracts you to take the picture.

​

​Looking at my own shots I would say that they lack interest...

This is because I consistently fail to realise that what excites me as a scenery does not necessarily translate into a great image...