Work With Aperture

Experiment by varying f-stops to control depth of field, and how different light sources are rendered in your landscape images

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One of the first techniques we learn is the control of depth of field via the aperture setting. We quickly accept that, for landscape photography, this means stopping down to at least f/11 to produce a deep depth of field that will render the scene sharp from the near-foreground to the far background. This rapidly becomes our main goal when shooting any landscape image – capturing perfect sharpness in all areas of the frame. However, this in itself is not a guarantee of an engaging shot, as in many scenes interesting detail is not evenly distributed throughout the composition.

A potent method to control where the viewer looks, and simultaneously introduce artistic character, is to invert our settings and use minimal focus to guide audience attention. By opening up the lens to f/5.6 or wider, focus will either fall off as the eye moves further into the scene from the camera position, or the close foreground will be blurred, as the focus point is placed towards the horizon. This produces a filmic look similar to when shooting with a large-format analogue camera.