Overcome location challenges
You can’t control conditions, so learn to work with them
Each location and viewpoint presents its own challenges when it comes to achieving sharp images. Pro landscape photographers also frequently find themselves battling the weather and lighting conditions, which can have a negative impact on sharpness. Anywhere that requires a long walk can be a challenge, especially if you have to carry lots of heavy equipment with you. The temptation might be to save weight by leaving your tripod behind. This would be a mistake, however, as hand-holding, even in good lighting, just doesn’t work for most landscape images – you will almost certainly find yourself compromising by shooting at a higher ISO or wider aperture than is desirable. Uneven ground on hills, soft ground on beaches and muddy paths, slippery surfaces and vibrations (for example, people walking on the pier) will also affect image sharpness. Different weather conditions also throw up a number of problems. High winds can cause both your camera to move and add movement to key parts of the scene, such as foliage or flowers.
On the coast, sea spray is probably the biggest enemy of sharpness as it coats the lens or filter, diffusing light and smearing details; it also increases the risk of lens flare in certain lighting conditions. As these conditions can often result in the most dramatic images, we need to develop techniques that will help you overcome the problems, rather than to avoid shooting.