Often, photographers get caught up in capturing reality, aiming to recreate what they see as accurately as possible. However, a more impactful approach might be to embrace creative expression, using your camera as a tool to convey mood and atmosphere rather than just the physical details. This shift in perspective opens up a wealth of artistic possibilities, helping you produce work that resonates on an emotional level.
Coming to you from Alister Benn, this insightful video breaks down three key tips for transforming your approach to landscape photography. First, Benn emphasizes that no matter how advanced your equipment may be, a camera can’t capture reality in the way our eyes and minds perceive it. Instead of focusing solely on technical accuracy, he suggests using your camera’s limitations—such as shallow depth of field or the unique properties of different lenses—to create abstract, emotionally driven compositions. For instance, Benn shares examples of seemingly mundane scenes, like reflections in puddles, that are elevated into something extraordinary simply by embracing these technical quirks. This approach challenges you to think beyond “documenting” and instead see your work as an interpretation, capturing a feeling rather than just a moment.
The second tip Benn offers is to let go of self-imposed expectations. When photographing, it's easy to place pressure on yourself to achieve perfect results. But this pressure often holds you back. Benn explains how important it is to slow down, breathe, and truly engage with your surroundings, particularly in nature. By taking a mindful approach, you’ll start noticing subtleties that might otherwise go unseen, allowing you to capture elements of a scene that are often overlooked. This mindfulness not only enhances your creative process but also leads to a deeper connection with the natural world—something that can ultimately reflect in your work.
Benn invites you to shift your perspective on landscape photography, emphasizing creativity over convention. By embracing your unique vision, allowing yourself to relax, and experimenting freely, you can transform your landscapes into more expressive, meaningful images. That's just the start, so check out the video above for the full rundown from Benn.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”
Completely agree with Alistair on one aspect, photographers expectations. Many photographers imagine that all the emotion and wonder they felt at the time when standing in nature taking a landscape image will somehow be transferred to the image on pressing the shutter button. Invariably it doesn’t. They imagine just pointing the camera at some glorious scene is enough. It’s the chasm between what all our senses are taking in and the thin slice of reality the sensor is able to record. That I suppose is the challenge, to capture a version or some aspect of reality that conveys something of the place and the experience. This inability to capture broad spectrum ‘reality’ as it manifests itself is what drove the impressionists and artists such as Turner to adopt a new way of looking and working. A look at Turner’s Rain Speed and Steam for me exemplifies that. If you want to know what it may feel like to watch a raging steam engine coming toward you, Turners image does a wonderful job of conveying much more than just the visual experience. The challenge for photographers is how to move beyond mechanically recording what is before them and putting some of the emotion of the scene into the image. Unlike Alistair I have no tips other than to spend sone time looking at the work of the great artists as they faced similar conundrums. Creative photography is not easy so don’t expect it to be.