Landscape Photos Shot By a Beginner-Tips For Early Success

This is my personal story of how I came to start shooting landscape photos. This post contains the images from my first real experience photographing the natural world. As you'll see soon, I looked for interesting subjects and interesting lighting. No surprise, my compositions were off the mark sometimes.

You'll do fine if you use the "Double L" strategy of Good Locations and Lighting. Interesting subjects are everywhere with your subjects your beginning Landscape photos will be successful

The photos in this post came from assignments given in my favorite class, "Nature Photography," that I took during my three year photography education at Rochester Institute of Technology.  Little did I know at the time, that the seed was planted. It laid mostly dormant for over 40 years, but surfaced when I retired.. 

the Eureka Moment

I used to shoot portraits and events while doing everything I could to please my clients. Now retired, there's no pressure for me to shoot subjects for financial compensation. I simply shoot photos to please myself.

First Nature Image Gallery:

The first few images in my beginners gallery were typical medium distance landscapes. Some of the most interesting photographs come when the weather is cold and when it's not a sunny day.

Stark Beauty In Early Winter

The photo above had muted tones and I like the soft effect I got from this foggy morning. For a beginner I did a goo job with balancing the elements in the composition.

Other times, a sunny day is exactly what you want to encounter. I have no memory at all of where this snowy scene was. Remember, it was over 40 years ago and I didn't have a system in place to organize my photos as a college student.

This scene was beautiful, but my composition sucked!

The subject in front of me was spectacular , but my composition was weak. Perhaps I could have zoomed in closer to minimized the rocks and emphasized the snow-laden trees.

Best Image From Chimney Bluffs State Park

As part of my normal interest in photographing nature, I've always had a fascination with the world of up close  subjects. With the photo below I was drawn to the contrast between the round shapes and the straight texture of the wood. I liked the composition, but I wasn't thrilled with the color.

"Seeds And Wood Grain"
Abstract Detail Landscape in Black and White

Bruce + 35mm Slide

That Nature Photography class that I had at college was all done with color slide film, Ektachrome and Kodachrome.

Thanks to digital photography I was able to photograph all of these original slides with my 100mm macro lens. Then I removed most of the dust spots and adjusted color.

I then converted the "Seeds And Wood Grain" image above to a black and white using Photoshop.

Images like the two below didn't need a special macro lens. They're not that close. In fact, every image included in this post were all shot with a "normal" 50mm lens on a Minolta XD-11 film camera.

"Red Maple Leaf on Pine Needles"

"Water Droplets"

I've noticed that many of the close-ups I shot follow a formula that I formally learned at a macro photography workshop in Pittsburgh; some of the best images have just one main subject and a background

"Red Leaf and Insect Holes"
Keeping the composition simple. One main subject and a background.

Finding solitude in nature is one of the key benefits that it's easy to miss if you get to wrapped up in trying to capture an epic photograph. Don't forget to possess an intention to simply enjoy the scenes in front of you.

My Nature Texture Photos

One of the specific photography genres I find myself shooting is textures. Fortunately, you can find an abundant number of subjects with interesting textures any time of year.

"Whispering Woods"
(The cloudy skies actually worked in my favor with this photo)

Like the other images in this post, both of the photos above and below were originally shot on 35mm slide film back in my beginning years as a photographer. They've held up well for more that 40 years, most of which was in darkness in the basement of my home.

It's been a real joy to visit these images and fascinating to see that I'm still attracted to shooting these kinds of photographs.

Textures in Nature

I hope that my beginners gallery of landscape photos has inspired you to get out and shoot your own. I still like some of the images I took early on in my evolution as a photographer. I also cringe when looking at some of the compositional decisions I made back then.

I would love your feedback on my gallery. You WON"T be automatically entered onto an email list. Please let me know your favorite image or your overall impression of the photos I took when I first started shooting nature and landscapes.

Stay curious. Keep shooting. You can also share on social media using one of the links below.

ABOUT BRUCE LOVELACE

Bruce is the publisher of this website. He is the author of the book "Improve Your Photography Instantly."  Read more on Bruce on his Bio Page. He's been known as The Traveling Photographer ever since 1994. Read more about this website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram.   Visit the Facebook Page. Watch him on YouTube.  Bruce runs photo workshops for kids and adults, and provides one-on-one photography coaching.

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