When it comes to photography few other genres can offer the rewards and also disappointments that it can bring, however, we should avoid the easy route of annoyance and get excited about our landscape photography and here’s why!

Landscape photography is different

To begin with, landscape photography is the natural entry for most into the world of photography, most will either start off by getting a camera as a gift or buy one for themselves mainly because of their love for the outdoors right?

I mean it’s only going to be a few people that get their first camera because they want to take portraits, weddings or wildlife photos. We nearly all start by taking images of the outdoors! These days we can start and also many choose to continue to use a smartphone, their capabilities are huge and are nearly always with us!

However, it’s when we start to go out on a dedicated photography outing that it can all potentially go wrong! Perhaps we thought there would be a composition to be had and there wasn’t, or at least we couldn’t find one. Or perhaps we also had high expectations regarding weather and light and neither arrived.

Go back to basics

Do you remember your first landscape photography trip, was it a dedicated trip on your own or with others, or perhaps you happened to have your camera with you and the scene presented itself? Regardless of the circumstances, can you recall the feelings you had before, during or after? I know I can and they were excitement, nervousness and wonder of what lay ahead, these feelings formed the foundation for me and I bet for many others that prompted the next trip and the one after that and after that again!

Mindset Management

It all comes down to a mindset and thankfully this is something we can control!

Would you rather feel let down or disappointed by an outing or would you rather feel like at least you gave it a shot? Far too often I speak with other photographers ( amateur and professional) who end up being annoyed by an outing as it didn’t go to plan, yet the fact is that if they weren’t out then they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to actually land that potential banger shot!

The light can change very quickly which can help to dramatically lift a scene, however even if the light fails to arrive surely the scene itself is still stunning? Additionally, even if we get rained on, it’s still possible to enjoy the feeling of being outdoors and in the elements and despite all of this you may still get a great shot, full of mood, drama, atmosphere and feelings! Granted those feelings may only be felt by you but when you look back at any shot you’ve taken, I bet you can remember where it was, approximately when it was, whether was it cold or warm, calm or windy and mostly what were you feeling at the time.

This is when it becomes highly beneficial to feel excited by your landscape photography! You are outdoors, getting fresh air, exercise, potentially blisters, tired and wet but you were out with a fighting chance of success! The flip side to this of course could be you weren’t out, but were instead sat at home looking out a window wondering about how you may have gotten on if you did go out!

Landscape Photography is a feeling

If you constantly feel annoyed by landscape photography then eventually that will become the default and when you get nice light or conditions it may be hard to feel excited by them, instead, you will want the perfect conditions for your shot and anything less might be a disappointment! Is this really what you envisioned landscape photography to be all about?

Conversely, if you head out full of excitement of what’s to come and you get that light albeit mediocre, the chances are that you will get excited and the thrill of the chase will drive you on further until you are brimming with excitement until that last click of the shutter! There of course is a risk with this as expectations can lead to disappointment and there is a train of thought out there to keep your expeditions low and everything else will be a bonus as a result!

Regardless of the conditions, which feeling would you like to relive when looking back at those images? I know which ones I would like to be feeling that’s for sure, and whatever they are they are all controlled by me at the end of the day!

Happy or sad, you decide

When I look at other landscape photographers I see some common traits, some are self professed pessimists or realists as they sometimes like to call it! Unless they get the perfect conditions they more often than not will feel disappointment. Others are optimists where every shoot is either EPIC or the best they have ever encountered. They get excited so much that it can feel almost false to other onlooking photographers!

Both outlooks feel right for each type and perhaps you relate to both depending on the circumstances however, the risk with the first option is that when you do get those epic conditions you may not remember how to get excited and what attracted you to landscape photography in the first place.

What about groups?

I’ve also seen many workshop leaders get excited regardless of the conditions they encounter, do they do this for themselves or are they doing this for their participants, my guess is both! If they feel annoyed then their participants will also feel annoyed and who wants to lead or be on a workshop with a group of people who are annoyed? Very few is my bet!

So to wrap up this topic, I encourage you to enjoy your landscape photography, and get excited by the very nature of heading out somewhere, if it all works out then fantastic and if it doesn’t then that’s ok, there will be other times but at least you have a somewhat positive feeling associated with the shot(s) and are more inclined to continue to brave the elements and continue that chase another day!

Does this article resonate with you? Have you more to add from personal experience or perhaps you had these feelings and as a result stopped going out on dedicated shoots?

Let’s continue the conversion below

Why we should get excited about landscape photography