5 Essential Items You need for Landscape Photography
I was hiking up a mountain the other day and whilst my thoughts were wandering … to try and forget about how steep and tiring it was, I was thinking about what kit you would need for landscape photography.
To be a landscape photographer you need a camera, a tripod, some ND filters, a bag to carry it all in and an alarm clock to get you up early in the morning!
… and the last one is ESSENTIAL if you really are serious about landscape photography!
For Your First Landscape Photography Session, you Only Need Your Camera
When you go out on your first landscape session, all you really need is a camera … and it can even be a camera phone.
Infact, a camera phone can be great for getting some amazing photographs of a hike you might be planning, and the great thing about it is that it is super light. So you won’t be carrying a lot of heavy kit with you.
Also a camera phone is pretty much like a decent camera but in auto mode. So if you want to concentrate on composition, which is basically what goes in your photograph and how it is put together, a camera phone is ideal for this.
If you already own a DLSR or mirrorless camera, just take it out with you, with the kit lens on … no need for anything else for now.
The aim of your first session is to see if you like this genre of photography. If you go out and you don’t like it, there’s no need to spend a lot of money on all of the accessories …
I often just go out with my camera, especially in the middle of the day, when I am trying to find new locations to take some great landscape photographs.
A Tripod is a Great Accessory to buy to get More of Your Photos Sharp
If you have been on a landscape photography session and enjoyed it, this is the time to think about buying a tripod. This will hold your camera steady when your hands might not be able to.
The other thing a tripod will do is let you take landscape photographs with longer shutter speeds and still get really sharp photos.
When I go out for a sunrise or sunset, because that light is changing a lot and also because there will be a time where you will take some photos in a low light scenario, I always have my tripod with me.
I have a decent carbon fiber tripod which I know will last, but if you are just starting out, you can get a much cheaper one that will still be very sturdy … and this is the main thing with a tripod, you don’t want a cheap and nasty one that won’t keep your camera steady. Spend a bit of money on one and you will get much better photographs.
A Bag will Protect your Camera and any Accessories you Might Have
Having a bag to put your camera gear might not seem that important when you go out with just your camera and one lens … but if you get caught out with the weather, this is when you will really want a bag to protect your camera from the elements.
I have been caught out a few times in the rain without my camera bag and it isn’t much fun!
You end up tucking your camera up and in your jacket and it is easy to drop it, or it might still get wet … so get yourself a bag and you will not regret it.
If you have a small camera and only one or two lenses, a sling bag is great. If you have more kit something like the Lowepro Pro Tactic is great. They also come in different sizes.
I have the Pro Tactic 450AWii and it holds pretty much everything I need, but if this seems a little big, the Tahoe BP 150 is a smaller, more comapct camera bag worth getting.
I am not sponsored by Lowepro, I just love their bags and have been using them for years.
As an Amazon Associate Mike earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
ND Filters are like Sunglasses for Your Camera
ND filters reduce the amount of light getting into your camera … now this might sound like it is the opposite thing to what you want … but in reducing the amount of light getting into your camera, you can blur motion of any water in your photo, you can remove people when they are moving and you can smooth out clouds in the sky.
When used properly, ND filters can add so much to your landscape photographs and can give them that dream like quality that would be harder to get without them.
ND filters are an essential piece of kit for landscape photography as they just give you different options to how you can capture the landscape in-front of you.
You don’t need to get the really expensive square filters you might see me or other people using from time to time. The Magnetic, circular filters are really great and they do the job really well, without adding too much weight to your bag, and not taking up too much space either.
The Most Important Bit of Kit for Landscape Photography is an Alarm Clock!
If you have done some research on landscape photography, you’ll know that the best times to go out are sunrise and sunset … sunsets can be busy and it can be hard to get good landscapes without people in them, unless you like spending hours in-front of photoshop.
Because of this, the best time for landscape photography is early in the morning during the sunrise golden hour. If you don’t get up in time, you will miss the sunrise and that beautiful golden light.
So having a great alarm clock is a must. I don’t really want to wake up my wife when getting up between 2 and 4 o’clock, so I stick with the alarm on my phone, but if you find yourself constantly hitting the snooze button, it’s best to buy a manual alarm clock.
One of the old school ones that has a proper alarm clock look to it!
Extra Accessories that Help when you Really get into Landscape Photography
There are a few other things that I use all the time but they are not essential, they just make the job of capturing landscape photographs a bit easier.
Gloves with removable fingertips (Great for winter photography!)
No matter how you start, landscape photography can be frustrating, it can be strenuous and it can be one of those hobbies where you don’t get any results for a while, but when you do get a great photograph, this is what makes it all worthwhile.
I remember getting my first landscape photograph that I was proud of and it is such a feeling … and very addictive! … and if you are struggling with this, I have written an article on getting a good exposure in your landscape photographs, so click here to read more about that.
If you are interested in seeing what I get up to on a weekly basis, head over to my youtube page where I do on-location landscape photography videos every week … and hopefully teach you what to do … or if it all goes wrong, show you how not to do it!
Thanks
Mike