Landscape photography tip: Three detail shots are better than one overall image

Friday 25 December 2020, 14:07 by Nando Harmsen | 4,887 views | 7 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

A landscape can be overwhelmingly beautiful. You are then very tempted to capture it all in a photo. There is a reason why wide-angle lenses are used so often for landscape photography. They allow you to capture as much of all that beauty as possible in the photo.

Panorama of three shots, taken with a Canon EOS M50 at 18mm and f/8, of a breathtaking morning in the French Auvergne

Do you find that a photo like this can quickly disappoint? Usually, this happens when you look back at the photo at home. It no longer has the appearance and atmosphere you experienced when you took the photo. Everything appears small in the image, details are no longer noticeable and, who knows, you may even miss something that catches the eye.

The disadvantage of putting everything in a single photo with an extreme wide-angle lens is that there is too much in the photo. The interesting details are small and no longer stand out at all. Those are precisely the details that made the landscape so beautiful at the time.

So try to capture that fantastic landscape in several images instead of a single photo. This not only allows the beautiful details to stand out fully, you also get a lovely series of photos that together convey the feeling you experienced there in that place.

Take a look at the following three photos and try to find them in the panorama of the entire landscape shown at the beginning of this article. Can you find them?

Canon EOS 5D mark IV with 200mm and f/11

Canon EOS 5D mark IV with 115mm and f/9

Canon EOS 5D mark IV with 200mm and f/11

The Landschapsbijbel, with 101 tips for beautiful landscape photos

This tip is part of the book De Landschapsbijbel, in which I share 101 tips for beautiful landscape photos. The book, packed with stunning photos, gives you all the information you need to start taking your own fantastic landscape photos.

Don't have De Landschapsbijbel yet? Order it via the order page and buy the book on its own, or together with a Photofacts Academy membership at an attractive discount.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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7 comments

Ron den Breems wrote on Friday 25 December 2020 at 18:54 | reply
What is the point of mentioning the camera brand? Completely uninteresting. Or does it bring in money?
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Saturday 26 December 2020 at 09:25 | reply
@Ron; many people do indeed find that interesting. The equipment used and EXIF information are regularly asked about. But you're right that it could just as well have been taken with any other camera.

Unfortunately for us, it doesn't bring any money into the till when we mention camera brands.
Translated from Dutch.

Ton van de Blaak wrote on Tuesday 29 December 2020 at 12:22 | reply
It's simply whatever the photographer wants to show, either an overview shot or a detail shot. It doesn't always have to be a detail shot for me
Translated from Dutch.

M.R. van Rijthoven wrote on Tuesday 29 December 2020 at 12:25 | reply
Nice article, I just have a bit of trouble calling a book about photography a 'bible'. The Bible really is something completely different. Aside from the content about photography: great!
And what beautiful photos in this article!
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 29 December 2020 at 22:27 | reply
Nando, I think you're right with your point. A detail from the landscape sometimes says more than a wide-angle shot that takes in a lot. I regularly take landscape photos and always have 2 cameras with me. One has a 10-18 wide-angle zoom and the other has a 55-250 telephoto zoom. I first take a wide-angle shot and then with the other camera I choose a few details from that same landscape. For me, that is a pleasant method. This way I have several (detail) photos and a wide-angle shot of the same landscape. That works excellently.
Translated from Dutch.

Marleen wrote on Wednesday 30 December 2020 at 10:54 | reply
The detail photos stand out much more, but an overview photo does say something too.
Very beautiful photos. I'll pay more attention to that in the future as well.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 5 January 2021 at 10:13 | reply
@Ton van de Blaak;
It is true that it is about what the photographer wants to show, but many photographers want to show too much in a single photo, and that does not always benefit the end result. Hence this advice.
Translated from Dutch.

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