Understanding how different elements of the frame "rank" relative to each other is fundamental to creating balanced photos that draw the viewer's attention in the right direction in a pleasing and intuitive manner. If you would like to improve your landscape photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses the idea of visual hierarchy in the genre and the different elements it includes.
Coming to Mike Smith, this awesome video tutorial discusses the elements and management of visual hierarchy in landscape photography. One particularly salient point for me was the tendency for humans and human-made structures to supersede any other elements in the frame, regardless of their relative size. This is perhaps unsurprising; after all, our brains are wired to seek out other elements of humanity, but it is important to keep in mind. Even something like a small shed can draw all the attention in an image and entirely shift the balance, and when you are working with a vast scene, it can be easy to overlook something of that nature, so be sure to do a careful scan of the area. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Smith.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out "Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi."
