Five Mistakes to Avoid in Landscape Photography

When doing landscape photography, there are many things to keep your eye on and be aware of. Here are five mistakes to avoid.

In my new video, I share five mistakes worth avoiding if you want to improve your landscape photography. The five mistakes vary in theme from composition to editing mistakes. One mistake to avoid is to not check how your photos look on different monitors. Just like a music producer tests his or her music on low-quality speakers, it is important to check how your photos come out on different screens. Even calibrated computer screens can look very different. It is nearly impossible to point to a standard, as telephone screens, computer monitors, TVs, and tablets can vary tremendously. However, many people do own an iPhone, MacBook, or iPad; therefore, I would argue it is important to check your photos on such a device, as their screens are very similar. How you perceive the photo also varies relative to the amount and type of light in the room, so again, it's hard to judge. Personally, I test my photos on a calibrated Dell monitor, my own smartphone (a OnePlus 5), and an iPad Mini from 2019. In that way, I can get a good average of how the photos will appear. If I do not like how they look, I make a few adjustments and try again.

Another mistake to avoid is to not learn from your mistakes. It is important to continually evaluate yourself and your photos. Analyze what worked and what did not, find out a solution to a given problem, and then apply that solution next time you encounter a similar situation. I fully admit it can be hard to remember everything, but if you keep making the same mistake, chances are, you will remember it eventually. This constant self-evaluation does not have to be harsh, but just take note of what worked and what did not.

Check out the video above, and let me hear some more mistakes to avoid in landscape photography.

Mads Peter Iversen's picture

Danish Fine Art Landscape Photographer and YouTuber. He is taking photos all over the world but the main focus is the cold, rough, northern part of Europe. His style is somewhere in between dramatic and colorful fantasy and Scandinavian minimalism. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel for epic landscape photography videos from around the world.

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8 Comments

For me, I wouldn't mind shooting in gloomy wet weather. I just wonder how my gear would stand up to it.

Trade up? :D

Over two feet of snow fell last night, would love to get out and shoot, problem is road conditions and lack of four wheel drive really make it impossible.

Are your legs broken ? Walk somewhere. You live in CO and don’t own snowshoes?! Com’on man

Ouch! You motivated me to take a walk today after 20 inches of snow fell.

If you don’t go before someone else does, then you’ve got to edit out tracks from all the people who don’t shoot as well as you do... that’s how you gotta look at it.
I’m stuck in the desert right now as Tahoe gets 30” dumped on them so I’m jealous!

I just hate the cold. But, there are projects one can come up with using the outdoors from indoors. I'm going to make snowfall timelapse with the fireplace a few feet away. ;D

Wonderful article again Mads. :)