Try to use a wide-angle lens and get close to the foreground subject. Ideally, select a small aperture to achieve maximum depth of field, ensuring both the foreground and distant elements are sharply rendered. The foreground elements will be even more effective if they intersect with or rise into the more distant planes (including the sky). This makes the composition feel tighter.
Use reflections to enhance impact
Reflections can add impact and visual pleasure to a scene: by extending or repeating parts of the landscape pattern, they can expand the expressive power and range of a landscape image. Reflections themselves can also add a sense of tranquility to the scenery. The best time to capture reflections is during sunrise (just before, during, and shortly after sunrise), when the atmosphere is calm. Sunset is another great time. The most dramatic reflections often appear on mirror-like water surfaces. Small puddles, such as ponds, pools, stagnant water left after a river recedes, and small lakes, can provide ideal spots for capturing beautiful reflections. Scout these locations beforehand. I usually do this reconnaissance during midday, trying to find two tripod-friendly spots in smaller areas where I can capture two different reflections during the same shoot. There’s no need to look for spots that reflect the entire landscape. Even a stretch of calm, continuous water can reflect enough of the scene to add a very interesting element to the photo. Sometimes I wear high rubber boots so I can explore the water for the best shooting angles.
Choose subjects at right angles to the sun
Early morning or late evening are the best times to shoot: I rarely capture dramatic landscape photos outside of sunrise or sunset. During these times, the light effectively outlines the contours of the earth, creating a sense of depth while offering exciting sky colors and interesting cloud formations. Shooting directly toward the setting sun can be tricky, but it’s often difficult to accurately reproduce the colors and textures of the sky or land. Choosing subjects at a right angle to the rising or setting sun provides the best modeling for the landscape’s form and maximizes polarized light from the sky. You can use a large reflector or a fill flash with a diffuser to boost color saturation and reduce contrast in important foreground elements. The most dramatic scenes often occur when the sky is partly overcast with high clouds in the distance. Shoot when the sun is below the horizon. That’s when the afterglow illuminates the sky above, casting the clouds in pink and red hues, and this warm, soft light reflects off the landscape below.
Try using a telephoto lens
Add an abstract element to your image: using a telephoto or long lens allows you to compress hills or mountains together, creating landscape photos with an abstract style. For a 35mm single-lens reflex camera, you’ll need a 100mm or longer lens. For medium format cameras, a 300–400mm lens is needed. Landscape photos taken with a compressing telephoto lens can produce surprisingly effective results, revealing relationships between different elements of the scenery: although telephoto lenses can flatten the scene, the gradually blurred layers of distant mountains and hills add depth. Telephoto lenses create both a compressed and expanded impression. To achieve the most dramatic effect, align three or more diagonal slopes to intersect and frame part of the scenery—most of the contour lines will converge. A telephoto zoom lens can precisely frame this. Fog can further accentuate the separation between these planes, so shoot during early morning or evening when fog lingers in low-lying areas, or when a light mist is present.