The Three Keys to Landscape Photography

SCOTT KELBY

Successful landscape photography is made up of three things: (1) having the right equipment and knowing how to use it, (2) doing your homework and scouting your locations in advance, so when the light is great, you’re in the right place at the right time, and (3) sheer unadulterated luck. Sadly, #3 plays a bigger role than you’d think, and here’s why: You get up crazy early and get out to your location. You get your gear set up, and it’s all ready to go. You know your equipment inside and out, and you’re comfortable with your exposure, composition, and the whole nine yards. Then it starts pouring rain. Or a thick fog rolls in. Or it’s perfectly clear, and it’s just a blah sunrise with no clouds in the sky—it wasn’t a majestic morning, it was dark one minute and then, a few minutes later, it got bright. Blah. It happens all the time. You’re at the mercy of Mother Nature and dumb luck. It’s a total roll of the dice whether you’re going to get a spectacular sunrise or a murky mess, but you can tilt the odds in your favor big time by following one simple rule: return to that same location more than once. That’s right, if you know it’s a great location, and you were there on a blah morning, go back the next morning, and the next. If you’re persistent, you’re going to be there one morning when the light is just magical, the cloud pattern is just right, and you see colors you didn’t know existed. You’ll be there when the water in the lake is like glass, and the dawn light couldn’t be more stunning. I’ve been on location on a few dawn shoots just like that. But just a few. More often than not, it’s blah. So what do I do? I go back. The more I go back, the greater my chances are that I’ll be there on a morning I’ll talk about for years.