Landscape photography tip: add a human element

Thursday 29 April 2021, 15:51 by Nando Harmsen | 3,529 views | 2 comments

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

A beautiful landscape is fantastic to look at. Yet it can quickly become a photo without any sense of dimension. There is no scale, no feeling of size. This is easy to prevent by adding a human element.

The influence of humans has reached almost every corner of the Earth. Wherever you look, it is almost impossible to avoid. We often try to photograph a landscape without any human element. But that very absence can mean there is no sense of perspective, scale or dimension.

A human element in the photo can bring it 'down to Earth'. It creates a connection, a feeling of accessibility and, above all, perspective. We get a sense of the size, the vastness, and perhaps the landscape becomes even more impressive as a result.

Take a person with you in a landscape photo, a cyclist or walker. A farm or house. If necessary, a wind turbine or electricity pylon on the horizon. As long as it forms part of the landscape and is not visible as a separate element.

The funny thing is that we often do this when we go on a photography trip. A red fisherman's cottage in Norway, a little church in Iceland, a boat in a fjord, or a lighthouse at the edge of a headland.

But in the Netherlands or Belgium, we usually don't think of it. We avoid it as if it absolutely shouldn't be there. Yet this human element can give a landscape photo just that little bit of extra value. Give it a try.

The Landscape Bible, with 101 tips for magnificent landscape photos

This tip is part of the book The Landscape Bible, in which I give 101 tips for magnificent landscape photos. The book, full of beautiful photos, gives you all the information you need to start creating your own fantastic landscape photos.


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

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