MATTY’S TOP 10 TIPS

1 Avoid shooting at head height

I try not to shoot at head height, especially at locations that have been shot a million times already, to give my shots a a different angle and help them stand out. Getting down to one knee or ground level dramatically changes your perspective.

2 F/8 is great

I always say, “f/8 is great,” as it’s the aperture I tend to use most when casually shooting landscapes. It’s often the sweet spot of your lens for sharpness and delivers a good amount of depth of field for landscapes.

3 Check the weather

Always check the weather. Cloud or rain isn’t bad and can make your shots look even better, but it’ll help you plan better and dress appropriately.

4 Invest in good filters

Filters are great for landscapes, but a cheap one sitting in front of the lens can be detrimental to image quality, so it’s worth splashing out. I use top quality polarizers, NDS and ND grads from Nisi.

5 Travel light

Shooting landscapes often means a lot of walking to get to the best, most photographic, locations, so be sure to pack as light as you can – your back will thank you for it later!

6 Use a lens hood

The lens hood is a basic but essential piece of kit that’ll help reduce lens flare. It also goes some way to protecting the front element, should your lens get pranged or dropped.

7 Try Photoshop’s Dehaze feature

On the day of our shoot it was very hazy, meaning that details looked a bit washed out in places. Thankfully, this was easy to bring back with the Dehaze feature in Photoshop CC’S ACR, so I wholeheartedly recommend it!

8 Switch off stabilization

When shooting on a tripod be sure to switch off image stabilization, as this can actually introduce blur when the camera is totally stationary.

9 Switch memory cards

I’ve been stung before where I’ve got home from a shoot only to realize one of my cards has corrupted and I’ve lost all of my work. I tend to switch cards halfway through each shoot, so that at least if one card goes I still come back with some usable shots.

10 Go explore!

Take the opportunity to roam and go on adventures in your spare time, as you may just find a brandnew brilliant spot to photograph.