Landscape Photography 101 & 102: Tips to Instantly Elevate Your Landscape Photos

What's in this episode

In today's episode, Court records in-location while prepping to photograph the Rocky Mountains from Boulder, Colorado—then pours a couple decades of landscape photography lessons into a practical, no-fluff playbook. From where to focus (so everything’s sharp) to when to shoot (with specifics for best times of day), to nearly a dozen other tips, this is a field guide you can use immediately—whether you’re shooting mirrorless, DSLR, or point-and-shoot. He concludes with bonus content on editing and forecasting for the best weather and sun position. Summary Landscape photography gets dramatically easier when you simplify it into a repeatable workflow: Build the scene in layers (foreground, mid-ground, background). Lock in focus and stability (hyperfocus “one-third in,” tripod, and a no-shake shutter method). Let time-of-day do the magic (golden hour + blue hour are your unfair advantage). Nail exposure the smart way (manual settings, protect highlights, and hedge with slight underexposure). Edit with intention, not chaos (masking first, then a few powerful sliders). Scout light and weather (and use tools like Sun Surveyor to predict where the sun will be in relation to your subject).