Twelve Ways to Improve Your
Digital Landscapes
By: Steve Paxton
 Shoot
in Camera RAW Format
Number One: If you have read any of my
previous photography guides then you probably know
that I strongly recommend shooting in RAW format.
Why is this so important? The answer simply boils
down to control. When you set your digital camera to
automatically convert your images to JPEGs, you give
up a great deal of processing control. Most digital
cameras automatically apply sharpening, saturation,
and tonal adjustments during the conversion process.
The image is also compressed into an 8-bit file
removing a great deal of the exposure latitude that
you had with the original photograph (up to 16-bits
for many cameras). Essentially the camera
automatically applies a standard set of processing
routines to the image and then throws out roughly
one third or more of the data during the compression
process. The JPEG file format is destructible in
that it compresses and recompresses the image (and
thereby removing file information) each time it is
saved. If you do shoot in JPEG format, be sure to
save your processed files as PSDs or TIFFs to avoid
additional compression and to retain all of your
Photoshop layers.
Always be on the Lookout for New Locations
Number Two: It goes without saying that
traveling to exotic locations around the world is an
exciting part of landscape photography; however you
can find just as many wonderful places to photograph
in your own area. Success as a landscape
photographer has a lot to do with preplanning and
scouting out potentially new locations. Scenes that
you photographed during the summer have a whole
different look and feel during the fall. Whether you
are out photographing a specific location or just
driving through a new area on unrelated business,
always be on the look out for hidden gems. This
might be a little known area where eagles are
feeding or an abandoned farm concealed by years of
overgrown weeds and brambles. Even while I am out
and about hanging out with my family and friends, I
always have my eyes open for new places to work.
Shoot During Hours of Dawn and Dusk
Number Three: Many of my favorite images were
taken during the golden hours of dawn and dusk. A
successful landscape photographer is usually willing
to get out of bed well before dawn or to stay out
late into the evening to capture the beautiful light
of the setting sun.
 I
have a good friend who is an exceptional landscape
photographer. He recently paid a good deal of money
to travel to exotic areas of South America with a
small group of photographers. He told me that when
they arrived at each location he was surprised to
find many of the photographers in his group
unwilling to get up early with him to work during
the early hours of dawn. Imagine paying thousands of
dollars to travel to exclusive parts of another
country to photograph landscapes just to sleep in!
Having this kind of discipline must extend beyond
fancy trips to other countries. A good landscape
photographer knows that dawn and dusk are two of the
best periods of time during the day to capture
exceptional landscapes. Take advantage of this as
much as your schedule allows and try to establish a
routine of going out early and/or staying out late.
Whether you come back with beautiful images or not,
you will always be rewarded with the wonderful
solace that comes with watching the sunrise and
sunset.
Arrive Early and be Ready
Number Four: Consider getting to your
pre-selected location well in advance of the time
you actually expect to shoot. Photography is a
creative endeavor and should not be rushed. If you
find yourself chasing the sunset or rushing to
capture the sunrise at the last minute, you are
missing the point! High quality landscape
photography usually requires that you take a slow,
methodical approach. I think that a lot of us fall
into the trap of shooting off the hip and hoping
that one of our shots will stand out.
Landscape photography should be creative and not
mechanical. This is a little bit like going to an
important business meeting where you have been
selected as group's main presenter. If you leave for
the meeting late and rush into the conference room
just as things are getting started, you are much
more likely to give a dismal performance. In
contrast, if you make an effort to arrive early, get
your equipment setup, and take a few moments to
collect your thoughts; you are much more likely to
give a more impressionable and meaningful
presentation. The same approach is true of landscape
photography. Arrive early and give yourself plenty
of time to transition into a creative mode.
Bracket Your Exposures
Number Five: When I worked with 35mm cameras,
I was always conscious of how much film I was using.
Between purchasing the high quality film I needed
and then processing it later, it was always
extremely expensive! Today with high-resolution
digital single lens reflex cameras we have less to
worry about when it comes to the cost per image (of
course today's DSLRs are generally more expensive
that traditional SLRs were). Now there are fewer
reasons to avoid bracketing your exposures.
 In
photography there is nothing more disappointing than
to capture what you think was the perfect shot just
to later find that it was improperly exposed or even
out of focus. When you can, take the time to bracket
your images. Bracketing also gives you a bit more
creative latitude in processing by allowing you to
use Photoshop CS2's HDR feature to combine shots to
increase an image's total dynamic range. Even better
than HDR is manually combining images that have been
exposed for different areas of a scene and using
layer masks to create a single photograph with
additional dynamic range. For example, the image
above is a composite of two shots: one exposed for
the sky and the other exposed for the foreground.
This could have only been accomplished by taking
multiple photographs at different exposures; the
total dynamic range was just too great in any single
exposure.
Use a Tripod
Number Six: The reason for using a tripod
might seem obvious on the surface. For me using a
tripod goes beyond reducing camera shake and taking
photographs at slower shutter speeds. I have found
putting my camera on a tripod forces me to slow down
and really examine my composition. It is so easy to
just fire off a bunch of hand held shots without
really thoughtfully looking at the composition.
Intuitively most of us know what we are trying to
achieve in a particular shot; however taking the
extra time to setup your camera on a tripod can help
you slow down and pay extra attention to
composition. Remember that having a creative mindset
is central to capturing high quality landscape
images.
Keep in Mind the Rule of Thirds
Number Seven: Sure, rules are meant to be
broken. This is especially true of rules that
involve such a creative process as photography;
however the Rule of Thirds is a pretty good standard
to keep in mind. Push yourself to try out different
ideas and compositions that may be outside your
comfort zone or usual style. I estimate that 20% or
fewer of my landscape images rise to a level of
quality where I feel comfortable presenting them to
others! With digital cameras and massive amounts of
storage, you can have fun with your work and try out
new ideas. You never know, you may like what you
see!
Do Not Forget to Look Around
Number Eight: I have to constantly remind
myself to look around my environment and to refrain
from getting locked into a single perspective. What
do I mean by this? How many times have you been
photographing a spectacular scene just to look over
and see an even better possibility? If you get too
focused on one particular composition, you may miss
opportunities for other equally or better
photographs that are within walking distance of
where you are shooting.
 The
classic example of when this seems to happen to me
the most is when I am shooting directly into the
rising sun (which can be wonderful for silhouette
and high dynamic range landscapes). Occasionally I
get so wrapped up in what I am seeing that I forget
to look behind where I am standing (opposite the
sunrise). Even after I setup my camera on a tripod
and finalize a composition for the scene I am
photographing; I still try to remember to move
around and look for additional perspectives. I
typically make a point to walk approximately 20-feet
in all directions staying alert for additional
ideas. My main point here is to suggest the
importance of remaining open minded about the other
possibilities that might exist and to avoid getting
overly committed to just one perspective.
Shoot Often
Number Nine: This should be a no-brainer, but
remember that you increase your odds of capturing
outstanding landscape photographs if you go out in
the field often and on a regular basis. If you are
like me and have a real job during the day, you may
only be able to get out a couple times a week. It is
so easy to put off going out (especially early in
the morning!) when you get busy with other aspects
of life. Again, much of this boils down to
discipline and creating good habits for shooting
regularly. Even if you are facing poor weather
conditions (e.g. gray sky, clouds, rain, etc.), push
yourself to go out and shoot anyway. You never know,
you might just come back with wonderful black and
white images or beautiful photographs of a dramatic
lightning storm.
Keep a Photo Diary
Number Ten: Keeping notes about your work in
a small notebook or diary can be a useful way of
remembering important details about a location or a
series of photographs. This can include the
direction you were looking while taking a particular
shot, weather conditions, temperature, how you
accessed a specific area, and any other unique
information that you want to recall later on. It
does not take very long before I forget unique
little details about a series of images. Fortunately
with EXIF data we do not have to worry about keeping
track of exposure information, resolution, color
space, and the time and date an image was taken;
however taking note of some of the other details
mentioned above can oftentimes be useful later on.
These details can be added later to the EXIF file so
that the information always stays with the image.
Consider placing a small notebook and pen in your
camera bag so that you are ready.
Recognize that You May Come Back Empty Handed
Number Eleven: This really does not qualify
as tip as much as it is a state of mind. I used to
get so frustrated going out to shoot landscapes just
to come back with nothing (or only a couple of
decent shots). I remember driving five hours to a
hiking trail that I was sure would have a great deal
of wildlife and landscape opportunities to
photograph (from previous experience). When I
arrived I spent two hours climbing to the top of a
large peak that had a commanding view of the entire
valley. After all the work and effort to get to the
top, it started sprinkling and then eventually the
conditions worsened to lighting and heavy rain (I
was in shorts too!).
The deteriorating weather conditions forced me to
hike back down and eventually drive home. I was so
frustrated because in the end I was only able to
capture a couple of decent shots. All of the
wildlife had literally disappeared and the extremely
poor weather conditions made for mediocre landscape
photography at best. As I drove home I was struck by
how I was trying so hard to force things to work
that I had not truly enjoyed the experience. After
considering it for a while (on my five hour ride
back home) I came away with the realization that it
was ok for me to come back empty handed once in a
while.
Most of the time my hard work and discipline are
rewarded and I capture wonderful landscape images,
but sometimes I end up returning with nothing but
another experience. I think as a landscape
photographer you have to be ok with that and
remember that sometimes you will strike out despite
all your best efforts. Planning your outings, having
some experience in photography, and taking the
proper equipment are important factors, but the
weather and conditions are-what-they-are when you
arrive. You cannot control everything. Remember this
and try to have fun!
Learn How to Use Photoshop (CS2 or Elements)
Number Twelve: As a film photographer, I
worked very hard to make sure all of my shots were
spot on. I was careful to use the appropriate film
for the lighting conditions, to adjust my exposure
and shutter speeds appropriately, and to take my
negatives to well known and respected businesses for
processing (if I was not doing it myself). After
switching to a digital camera, it took me a while to
grasp the significance Photoshop plays in this new
era of photography. Going digital means that you
(the photographer) are now in complete control of
the processing. We have so much more power and
latitude in Photoshop with digital images that we do
not have while working with film in a traditional
way. On average, I estimate that I spend 30-40% of
my time composing and taking photographs in the
field and 60-70% of my time later processing them in
Photoshop. This means that a great deal more of my
time is now spent in front of my computer than in
the field. Having a basic understanding of how to
use Photoshop can be the difference between simply a
good image and a jaw-dropping, incredible one.
Please do not hear me suggest that you can stop
worrying about exposure, shutter speed, and
composition just because you can "Photoshop" away
problems later on in processing. All of the basic
principles of photography still apply. It is still
important to work hard to get your shots "right" out
of the camera, but we are now able to do so much
more with the digital photographs in processing
(especially if you shoot RAW images) than would have
ever been possible just a few years ago. Even if you
do not consider yourself technologically proficient
or the complexity of Photoshop scares you, take the
time to learn how to use a few of Photoshop's basic
processing tools and develop a consistent digital
workflow. This means gaining familiarity with using
adjustment layers for levels, curves, saturation,
channel mixer, and others. Layer masks also provide
an incredible amount of control in processing
selective areas of a photograph.
 There
are so many free resources available on the Internet
to learn from that there are really no excuses for
not becoming familiar with Photoshop. If you are a
visual learner, look for free video tutorials; if
you like to take a slower approach, look for written
guides like this one. You might also consider
purchasing a book or two on using some of the basic
photo processing tools offered in Photoshop from a
local bookstore (can you say Half Price Books!).
Below is a list of websites that offer (mostly free)
tutorials on using Photoshop effectively. Check them
out!
Web Resources for Using Photoshop
www.photoshoptv.com/
www.radiantvista.com/
www.tricks.onigo.net/
www.photoshopquicktips.com/
www.picturecorrect.com/
www.photoshopkillertips.com/
www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro.html
www.lightroomkillertips.com/
www.paxtonprints.com/index.php?x=tutorials
About the Author
Steve Paxton currently lives with his wife and two
children in the Seattle area. Steve has been a
photographer for over ten years and has spent most
of that time shooting with a variety of Canon 35mm
cameras. His experience ranges from wedding and
portrait work to crime scene photography; although
he particularly enjoys the solitude of shooting
landscapes. Check out the PDF version of this
article.
Steve always welcomes comments and feedback on his
work. You can leave a comment on his website at
www.paxtonprints.com.
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