5 Common Mistakes in Landscape Photography (and how to avoid them)

In this video I look at some of the most common errors I see in landscape photography which I often have to remind myself about almost every time I shoot.
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:56 1/ Compositional Distractions (Ignoring elements the unbalance the image)
2:23 2/ Using the Wrong Lens
4:42 3/ Images Lacking Depth
6:42 4/ Not Exploring the Scene (Shooting from the first place you stand)
9:19 5/ Shooting for the LCD (Expose to the right)
11:18 Conclusion
If you’d like to join me for a landscape photography workshop, my 2024 and trips are open. Check my website for more information www.andymumford.com/workshops/
If you're interested in purchasing any of the gear I use in this video, and you enjoy my videos, please support my work by clicking on the affiliate links below.
Thanks so much.
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Drone & Filming
DJI Mavic 3 Classic amzn.to/43y0Ysn
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Backpack & Tripod:
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Website: www.andymumford.com
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[@TesterTesting-vn4tq]

What really sets your videos apart and makes them useful is your willingness to show us examples, whether good or bad. Too many talking heads in the KZbin photography space wax poetic but don’t have the portfolio to back up what they’re saying.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad you enjoy my work. At the end of the day it's all about how happy we are with the images we make

[@Peter_Reed_Photography]

There's one channel from here in the UK, I used to watch who doesn't even have a portfolio on their website, yet the photographer offers critiques for a charge and one-to-one mentoring.

[@Reza-S1340]

Great tips, thank you. I have always thought that it’s better to take any photo a bit underexposed, as unlike underexposed areas, overexposed areas of a picture can’t be recovered in post. But I hadn't thought about creating noise when correcting a dark photo.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you found the video useful

[@Peter_Reed_Photography]

Very useful and interesting. Must admit I've stopped watching videos "X no. of tips" on most channels I've subscribed to, as they're just filler content and tend to be run-of-the-mill information that every magazine and beginners book has. Yours however, I've found have a real depth and I also learn at least two things. Also it's great to hear someone advocate for exposing to the right, not something I hear that much from photographers on youtube.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment Peter. With my videos, I don't have a schedule of one video a week and so try to just make videos which have useful or interesting content. My main income comes from leading photography workshops, so I'm out in the field teaching photography for 3 or 4 months a year, and so videos that I make tend to revolve around those experiences, or passing on learning elements that have come up regularly on workshops

[@nickbianchi]

Another awesome and instructive video, dear Andy. Thanks. Also, I - a beginner with system camera - finally understood why it’s important to put a lot of effort and time (although quite tough when hiking or travelling with kids) to expose correctly. I always relied on the software when having an image that’s too dark. It seems I went too far when applying the principle: "details can easier be recovered from underexposed images than overexposed ones". This led me to end up with unsatisfying images without understanding exactly why.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful

[@varundixit5578]

You are the best landscape photographer I have come across so far,

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much

[@whalence]

Love your photography and appreciate these educational videos. Thx for sharing your hard-earned knowledge.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@NeilArthurs]

Invaluable tips being shared in this video and the photography examples are simply magic!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, hope the video was useful

[@jakobschneeberger3965]

I consider you one of the best landscape photographers and I admire your pictures. Thank you for the interesting video.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, glad you found the video useful

[@jimtipton8888]

Good stuff Andy! Thank you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@johnfarr2916]

Another great video with fantastic images as examples to make the point. Even the “bad” ones are far better than many KZbinrs’ photo examples that you know they had spent minimal time making.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@Z1hFBh]

Great tips Andy. Thanks!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@smalltalk.productions9977]

thank you for the effort and the sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. your images are wonderful and your teaching examples are spot on. i am prepping for a six week trip to new zealand and australia and rewatching many of your YT vids as a refresher course. again, thank you. thumbs up.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks again for the comment, and all the best with your trip

[@kulteginmakishev7448]

You are great! Thank you very much for your reviews and advice!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoy the videos

[@moniquerushinglynch]

Spectacular video ~ learned a great deal

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@lucadcphoto]

Nice video Andy as always, see you on IG my friend 🙌

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@Ryder_Studios]

Totally agree with setting up the tripod too soon. I'm guilty of doing that all the time. It's like lead weight as soon as it's set up lol

[@AndyMumford]

Yep, it's something I'm still guilty of myself. Thanks for the comment

[@giannisac1978]

Nothing to say, you are on another level. Top class, indeed!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it

[@Twobarpsi]

Agreed! His mistakes are my portfolio shots!

[@kirklins8411]

I just went out this weekend and had come to my own conclusion to try and expose more to the right. Although I keep wanting to dial it back so it looks good to me in the screen. It's still hard to fight that and expose more to the right. Thanks for the confirmation that I should be exposing more to the right and that will clean up the images more on the computer.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@Twobarpsi]

Excellent excellent advice!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@andrekart]

Very useful. Thank you.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@tonyjones99]

A superb video Andy. Many thanks.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@javiercorrales6598]

Thanks again Andy for another amazing video

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@bartoszpajak2285]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@vinashvinisingh]

Thank you Andy for yet again another incredible video filled with very valuable information!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@HikerFromVA]

An absolute master class. Thank you.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad it was useful

[@bastienhuet656]

Will start implementing those great tips! Thanks a lot

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad it was useful

[@garretmurphy4544]

It was really useful, thank you

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@wojtekw6040]

Phenomenal photos and great tips. Thank You

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, glad it was useful

[@markewing7898]

Thank you, great video !

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers 🙏

[@anastasiakoulis6075]

Great tips as always, Andy

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment 🙏

[@SandroLendler]

Good tips and presentation. Cheers, Andy👌

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@davebloodstone3922]

Really enjoyed this, thanks

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it

[@tTLM823]

Excellent video, Andy! As always, I learned a ton. Definitely going to practice these five major tips when I go out! Thank you.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Tom, glad the video was useful

[@raleighmeade9104]

What a great video that puts a lot of errors in perspective. Thanks!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@singingexpertspg]

One of the most useful videos I've seen on this subject - thank you

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, really glad the video was useful

[@joebailey8328]

Thanks Andy, your tips are always so meaningful and relevant, as well as thought provoking. The examples and labelling are superb too. Thanks again.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@alexono88]

thanks for sharing these learned lessons! and good luck in reaching 100k subscribers! you're very close

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, hope you enjoyed it

[@richardmarsh6357]

Another helpful video. The need to take time evaluating a scene and moving around for different perspectives is well made.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@Gundolf300]

Looking at these pictures, which are REALLY great, and still be able to find ways to improve on your work. I really respect a mindset like that!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, glad you found the video useful

[@mustafahussayn4744]

Great video. Discussed very important points with clear examples. On the other side, sometimes looking at nature make us lost in the moment and we forget technical approach that's why exploring is important (as mentioned in video).

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. I think it's important to spend time just looking at nature and enjoying the moment. We can't only think about scenes from the point of view of "how can I take a photo here" or we miss out on so much of the experience of being in nature.

[@laurelb8372]

Very good tips on landscapes, thanks for backing up with examples, made it clear. Am now going to try these on next outing to the coast. 👏

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it

[@nomadictimbo9185]

Super helpful information as usual Andy. Exposing to the right without clipping the highlights is probably one of the best and most useful tips I've heard so far. I definitely made mistakes by under exposing or not using the histogram before, so thanks for that 👍. I find that tip really useful with sports/action/ wildlife along with landscape photography. I'm also glad you mentioned at the end to not expect to nail it and get awesome images with every shoot. It's an important reminder that we shouldn't put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves when we get out in the field.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video

[@tomfoord8860]

Thanks, Andy. I usually bring home many regretful shots - for all the reasons you mention - but your advice will help me improve the keeper rate. As far as finding a good perspective before setting up the tripod, I find that it's a challenge when with a group of photographers intent on the same goal. But a little patience can come in handy.

[@AndyMumford]

Hi Tom, thanks for the comment. Hope the video was useful

[@mrskarshsphotos]

As always, such a helpful video. Thanks. I look forward to hearing and seeing your images from your latest trip to Namibia

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, I should have two videos from Namibia coming soon

[@mrskarshsphotos]

@@AndyMumford I look forward to them. The last were truly inspiring. thank you

[@kk280sl]

Really great video and I agree the examples makes the video so much more valuable. Chances joining you on a trip in 2024 are very high, just need to find the exit door from working life.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, hope to see you on a workshop soon.

[@steveborghardt]

Thanks again for another educational video - I often wonder how many mistakes I make when composing shots. As I dont specialize in any one genre I guess I probably make more mistakes than a seasoned pro. In any event I really enjoy your videos.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad it was useful

[@steedjr12]

its quite funny when we already know the mistake but keep repeating the same 🤣🤣🤣 and yes when we go home failed photos are the most.. thank you for the tips and info, subscribed right away.. looking forward for more videos from you.. keep it up!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad the video was useful

[@G0FUW]

Lots I recognise from my own 'learning from my mistakes', especially the 'take time to look around' before setting up the tripod. One thing I have tried to get better at is knowing my own gear. Going out to shoot a variety of images with the same lens and taking note of sweet spots, depth of field etc at different zoom lengths and apertures. If you have any tips on doing that in a more systematic way, I would find it useful and I am sure others will too. Thanks for sharing Andy.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. It's hard to give advice on that kind of workflow because everyone has a different approach to shooting.

[@bobmcdonald4834]

Thank you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad it was useful

[@bobmcdonald4834]

@@AndyMumford Yes Andy. Some really good tips which you illustrated so simply and so well. I'm now a subscriber!

[@bande2504]

Thanks so much, Andy. Such a good video. I would greatly appreciate more tips on telephoto landscape photography. it’s so hard to not get flat, depthless images. Thanks for the tips on using contrast and color to add depth. Any other tips would be amazing. Thanks again!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you found the video useful. I'll have a video coming up from Namibia soon which will have a lot of telephoto stuff, and I've covered telephoto landscapes in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIrZY5mhodeXbNU and also here kzbin.info/www/bejne/ombQfaqPmdZqfrM

[@bande2504]

@@AndyMumford thank you!!!

[@stigfloberghagenphotography]

Thanks. Really great. Would be nice with videos that elebarate more on those composition errors 👍

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. I've gone over some of the composition errors before on the videos I did on composition and harmony and balance, but it's certainly something I'll come back to again

[@kaliqanii]

Can you do one wideo about XT30 everything about settings best for landscape photography btw i love your picture and your content !

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. Here' a video about settings for landscape photography kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z57YiKOogJ2MpJY There's nothing specific about the XT30, settings are pretty much the same whichever camera you use

[@humanelements2]

Great video, Andy. Something I find helpful for ETTR photography is adjusting the JPEG settings if your camera has them. That way, the histogram is closer to the RAW range. For Fujifilm, I use Eterna, Highlights -2, Live View Highlight Alert: On. You'll still have some recovery range in the RAW just after the highlight warnings show up! And DR 200/400 if shooting above base ISO (tells the camera to use base ISO for the highlights for maximum range - and DOES affect the RAW file).

[@AndyMumford]

Eterna is good, as is Pro Standard Negative

[@alanclark9691]

Interesting and helpful video Andy. I was particularly interested in your suggestion to 'expose to the right' on the histogram. Someone advised me to generally shoot 0.5-0.75 stops to the left. His argument was that correcting such images would enhance the colours/saturation. In practice I have found that if you happen to go 1+ stops to the left you inevitably introduce noise, particularly colour noise that can be impossible to effectively remove. My response has been to generally aim for the target exposure (ie. no offset).

[@AndyMumford]

I've never heard that about exposing to the left to correct colour or saturation. Generally if you're shooting RAW, the cleaner the data, then the more colour information you'll have and the easier it is to bring it out in post without introducing noise

[@opalyankaBG]

Nice video. I love wide angles but it's difficult to use them to create compelling compositions. My widest lens is 12mm (APS-C format) and it's sometimes a challenge.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. Wide angle lenses are really hard to create clean compositions with. You need a really strong subject and a really strong foreground that work together, and then as few other distractions as possible in the frame

[@Mtbunker]

Great

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@bono8106]

Hi Andy, really enjoyed your video. Total beginner about to go on my first landscape photography adventure. What does “expose to the right” mean when you talked about making the image as bright as possible?

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video. Expose to the right means expose so the tonal data you record is on the right (bright) side of the histogram. But obviously making sure you don’t clip the highlights

[@MM-mo9hn]

for Sony shooters, you can turn DRO auto off and it will better reflect the raw on the LCD

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment

[@reckle556]

Thank you so much for this video. As a novice photographer the wide angle lens always seemed like the best choice for landscape photography but you made me understand how a telephoto lens can produce better results in certain scenarios. The photo at 6:10 is a perfect example of that. As a Fuji user which telephoto lens do you recommend I buy for my next trip? I already have a 16 and a 35 on aps-c body. Thank you in advance!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you found the video useful

[@Dom.Martel]

Great video and really interesting. When you said to expose to the right, you meant instead to look at the image in the LCD, rather look at the histogram and make sure the information is on the rightmost, without clipping it, correct?

[@AndyMumford]

That's it exactly. Thanks for the comment

[@jdnwritingmachine]

I love your videos and your photography. I have learned a whole lot from following your technical inputs. I would only add this: I don’t believe everything in good landscape photography is about “perfect” compositions. Emotions and other feelings all play a very large part in overriding average or even mediocre compositions more times than not in my opinion. Conversely, some photographs have great technicalities (good foregrounds, focal points, depth and all that) but lack emotion, not just colorful moods but actual feelings about them. I believe lack of emotion in landscape photography should also count as a “mistake”.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. I think the goal in any landscape image shouldn't be to capture the place, but rather the way the place makes you feel. Having said that though, emotion is very subjective, so an image that lacks emotion for one person may not for another, so really it's only how we feel about our own images that matters

[@jcblum1507]

👏👏👏👏🙂

[@AndyMumford]

🙏

[@ManuelDersch]

Really nice video, I can find myself doing some of those mistakes. The whole ETTR thing kinds bugs me tho. With an iso invariant sensor knowing your base iso values isnt exposing to the right an already outdated technique? Example: Underexposing an image by 1 stop on a dark day (dark day = using the 2nd base iso value like 640 on my s5). I can pull up the image by 1 stop digital in lightroom without loosing quality right? Maybe i am wrong here, if so im glad to learn something 👍

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment. The thing with exposing to the right is that if you shoot to your LCD and get dark shadows it's rare that you're only going to be pulling them up by one stop (I know this was the example I showed in the video, but I tend to delete all my bracketed images if I don't use them and when I came to make the video the only ones I could find where from a recent drone shot). So for sure a stop of two probably isn't going to be noticeable, but typically your camera is going to have around 14 or 15 stops of dynamic range, so you can be pulling shadow detail up by around 4 or 5 stops. You can get away with this in the middle of the histogram, but if your shadows are already dark then for sure you'll lose detail when you brighten them. That's been my experience anyway with pretty much every camera I've used.

[@ManuelDersch]

@@AndyMumford You make a valid point. When shooting with a lower exposure, particularly in situations with deep shadows, the amount of digital adjustment required to bring up the shadow detail can be significant. Pulling up the shadows by several stops may introduce noise and reduce the overall quality of the image. But I guess I never really tested it that far. In such cases, I guess it's generally better to strive for a more balanced exposure in-camera (histogram, not lcd), especially if you anticipate needing to recover shadow detail later. Thanks for your answer anyway, I guess you cannot go wrong with ETTR

[@claudiu60077]

Just discovered your channel and your photography tips, and gear reviews etc, and the videos content is a goldmine! You mentioned you started photography about 12yrs ago. Is there a video where you talk about the beginnings of of your journey into photography? There probably is one. I will watch more of your videos and search for one. Thank you for the content.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the videos. I've not really done a video about how I got started in photography...it's probably something I should talk about at some point

[@WiesawWiesaw-gg3zc]

Hello, I have a question with what program to process photos because I noticed the lack of worms on the photos of the gallery ;D

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much. I use Lightroom for all my processing

[@WiesawWiesaw-gg3zc]

@@AndyMumford How come there are no worms?

[@luisv8431]

You will be in November in Madeira?

[@AndyMumford]

Yes I will

[@luisv8431]

@@AndyMumford Will meet you there

[@janfoyer3478]

Bill Brandt: “Photography is still a very new medium, and everything must be tried and dared. It has no rules. It’s the result that counts, no matter how it’s achieved. "

[@iraj4317]

In your first picture, the only point I can agree with is the dark side, and it could be improved a lot in the post. Regarding the river leading out of the frame, I think it works perfectly. Rules in my opinion are nothing more than a set of tools, just like the camera or tripod we use, never be enslaved by the rollers, I always tell myself. But breaking or bending the rules unknowingly can be just as harmful as following them blindly. In your second image from Lofoten, the large white snow-covered areas in the foreground actually help enormously to balance the picture, it would have been too crowded picture without the calm foreground which also leads the eye nicely into the landscape. harmoniously beautiful picture, in my opinion. I completely agree with you on the choice of lenses, it of course depends entirely on the narrative and what story you want to tell. In your example for the use of wide angle, when I see myself in that landscape, the feeling of how insignificant I am compared to that immense beauty I find myself in is overwhelming. The massiveness and the size of the mountain does not disappear even though the wide angle has seen it far away and made it small, but it would of course be completely wrong to use a wide angle if the goal was to emphasize the mountain's greatness. So, in my humble opinion, what determines the right or wrong choice of lens is the story one has in mind. I love your works! Thank you for that! cheers

[@AndyMumford]

Of course, what works is always subjective, but those are two images I've always felt failed to work on various levels. One problem I have though when making a video like this is that of course I shoot A LOT of images that don't work, but I don't tend to keep them...it's just impractical in terms of storage, so when I come to make a video and want failed images I find I've deleted most of them

[@knio1]

ETTR for Fujifilm cameras is not the best joice. They cameras are not know to best highlight recovery, but shadows are

[@AndyMumford]

I said in the video that you expose to the right but make sure you capture the highlights, so they don't need to be recovered.

[@JABloch]

😢 when you realize his losers are 10x better than your keepers

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much