What do you get when you put four landscape photography heavy weights in one room? You get some great tips from their collective knowledge and experience. In this video from YouTube sensation Nigel Danson, he joins world renowned photographer friends Mads Peter Iversen, Rick Bebbington, and the prolific hater of tripods, James Popsys. I'm with you, James. Tripods are the worst.
With well over a million followers combined across their social media channels, these guys are worth listening to. We've summarised their top tips for you to improve your photography game.
Best Tips for Landscape Photography Beginners
- Learn post processing. This tip from Mads makes the difference between good images and great images. There are a number of software choices available with differing grades of difficulty to learn. We recommend Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, they are industry leading products and provide fantastic tutorials. We can also help you get Adobe Lightroom for free.
- Focus on Process. This tip from James highlights the need to improve your overall photography process to improve the outcome of getting great photos. If you focus on getting bangers straight away you're going to miss out on the process that helps you consistently create great images.
- Chase Light. Going into the field at sunrise and sunset will immediately improve your understanding of light, and let nature do the work by creating fantastic environments for your photography. Like Nigel, I used to go out in the middle of the day which really impacted both my learning curve and the quality of the images I was bringing home.
- It's a journey. Focus on improving your own process and crafting your own style over time. I remember the disappointment of going to locations I've found on instagram and my images didn't line up with what I was seeing on my feed. I slowly learned to improve different skills like post processing and composition over time.
How to use Apps to determine the best weather conditions
Getting the right conditions for photography is about learning weather patterns and the conditions that you want. You can then use these apps to increase your chances of making your vision a reality, but nothing is guaranteed.
For example, fog is massive component of woodland photography. To predict fog you need low temperatures + high moisture + low wind. These expert photographers recommend Ventusky and clear outside to predict conditions. I also recommend Photopills, which allows you to predict the light at specific times of day.
What they are doing to improve their photography
Photography is deceptively technical, it's easy to fall into a trap of analytic thinking and lose the creative expression.
- Nigel Danson is working with a painter to expand his perspective on composition.
- James Popsys is practicing specific techniques like focus staking to improve his overall images.
- Rick Bebbington is drawing inspiration from composition in film and tv shows.
- Mads Peter Iversen is experimenting with new compositions in seemingly banal locations.
Favourite Photography destinations
Mads favourite current location is his home country, Denmark. The land there is extremely flat, which isn't traditionally associated with great landscape photography. Mads is enjoying the challenge that this brings, researching all of the variables needed to craft amazing photos in this restricted environment.
Rick's favourite location is aspirational as he hasn't been there since he is 2 years old. He's called to the pacific northwest, and the world-class fog, forests, beaches, mountains, and rock formations on offer there.
Like Mads, James is most enjoying his homeland in Wales. Unlike Mads, James has landscapes like Snowdonia so it's easy to understand why. If he was to leave his backyard he'd go to the Artic and Antarctic to search for minimalist images.
Nigel's favourite location is simply woodland. His passion for woodland photography is obvious, and he is excited by the near infinite composition possibilities.
Check out our guides to the best photography destinations in Europe:
How to make money from photography
Unfortunately photography is a craft, and money comes when that craft is mastered and refined over time. There's no quick route to financial success offered by these masters of the craft.
When you have the skills to offer to others, it's best to diversify the products you offer over time. As James says, the most successful photographers are the best marketers.
Once you're marketing yourself your income streams can come from:
- Workshops
- Prints
- Educational Ebooks
- YouTube (this one is hard)
- Print books
- Lightroom Presets
The main message here is that making money takes time. The success of these photographers has been built over years and that's the likely reality for you too. If you're interested in increasing your customer base, why not share your knowledge and work on our blog for all to see?
