9 compositional tips to help you shoot landscapes like a pro

It’s that time of year when landscape photography is starting to become popular again. The snow’s all but disappeared for most of us. Even the continual rain seems to have died down a bit. The sun’s coming out, and the gorgeous rich green environment and vivid colours are coming back to nature.

But shooting landscapes isn’t always as easy or intuitive as one might hope. Many landscapes look so impressive in person that it’s difficult to really capture what caught your eye in a photograph. This video from photographer Toma Bonciu explains how to recognise those compositional elements to help get the shot you really want.

I find landscape photography quite challenging. I know what I like and I can see what I want to capture with my eyes, but I rarely manage to catch it on-camera. It’s something I plan to work more on this year, now that I’ve moved to Scotland and have access to lots of beautiful locations. So, these tips will come in handy for me.

1. Fill the Frame

2. Centre

3. Colour Spot (natural ones)

4. Negative Space

5. Leading Lines

6. Left to Right

7. Depth

8. Viewpoint

9. Zig Zag

I know that, for the most part, my landscape compositions can be much better than they are. The general “rules” of composition are pretty standard between genres, though. And while I have no problem when it comes to photographing people or animals, it just feels instinctual, I still struggle when it comes to landscapes. Perhaps it’s more a matter of control. When I photograph people and animals I have control over most elements of my scene. With landscapes, I don’t. I can’t just move the sun over to the other side of the sky because I prefer the light that way.

I have managed to get a few landscape shots I’ve been quite pleased with. But, these tips will help to serve as a reminder of things to look out for so I can hopefully start getting a lot more that I don’t hate.

Hopefully, these tips will help you, too.