5 Landscape Photography Mistakes I See All Beginners Make!

*✅Get My Free RAW Photo Editing Guide✅*

In this week’s episode, we discuss five landscape photography mistakes that I see all beginners make! My most viewed video of all-time was a video on this very topic five years ago. I've learned a great deal in the past five years, but most importantly have spoken with hundreds, if not thousands of photographers since then and feel more equipped than ever to deliver a video on the top five mistakes photographers make with landscape photography. In this video, I'll review the five most common mistakes I see beginners make, including myself, in hopes that if you're doing the same, you can correct these much quicker than I did. I hope you enjoy this week's video and as always thanks so much for watching! - Mark D.

*💡VIDEO CHAPTERS*
🔘 The Rule of Thirds...Always: 01:18
🔘 New Gear Focused: 03:58
🔘 Fundamental Avoidance: 05:38
🔘 Stop Thinking & Start Doing: 08:09
🔘 Not Leaning into Post-Processing: 10:00
🔘 Wrap-Up: 11:48

*🌟UPCOMING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE*

*RECOMMENDED GEAR PAGE*

*📸 MY CAMERAS & LENSES*

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#landscapephotography​​

**LETS CONNECT**

[MarkDenneyPhoto]

✅QUESTION: Did I mention the mistake that got you the most?

[parrotheadstx]

My biggest takeaway as a 62 year old newbie - is to get out and start shooting. I have spent 95% of my time researching how-to's on YT and 5% shooting. That has got to change straight away! Thank you for another stellar video. 🙏

[johnanderson]

“Go outside and take photos!” 100% right. It’s easy to fall into over analyzing and planning. Doing and trying makes all the difference.

[russellboeman]

All great advice.. as a seven year beginner I followed the same curve. However, I did learn mainly by going out and shooting every day, even if it was out the kitchen window!

[RobSpiv]

I saw your original video and it has guided my learning process. My own advice is to go out and shoot near your home and shoot something boring, not potentially interesting or exciting. I found that is how I trained myself to stop avoiding some of the fundamentals. When I shoot boring scenery, my only motivation is to play with the composition and exposure and take my time because I don't have the "risk" of losing a great shot as I already know I probably don't want to keep the photos.

Same for birds, birds in flight. I'm practicing with the song birds near my front yard. They are nondescript looking monochromatic black with no colors. Instead of getting excited by a potential great shot, I work on tracking birds and nailing the focus and other fundamentals so when I do take the time to venture out, I'm more prepared to get worthwhile results.

[clauskirchner]

Looking at the world as a photographer (even without a camera), i see 100% more than before.
What a great gift this hobby could be!

[williamduling]

As a 70-year old newbie I found this to be extremely helpful.
Concerning ‘leaning into post-processing’ … that seems very daunting to me. I can’t yet justify a subscription to Lightroom or other photo editing tools. I do have ‘Photos’ on my iMac that I have experimented with. I think it must be pretty limited comparatively speaking.

Thanks for the great advice!

[roryfunkedub]

I'm just over a year into my photography journey and I enjoy editing as much as finding and taking the shots. Critical part of the creative journey for me.

[mikebartow]

One of the good things I found was finding photographers that produce wonderful videos to further understanding. You were the first photographer I found 6 years ago and I am still following you with great excitement.

[Kayahdog]

Great video. Two observations looking out another 5 years...first, your beard will have more grey (but you can fix that in post processing) and second, the term ‘avoid’ which you used repeatedly might change to ‘minimize’. By always avoiding something, you have now created another ‘rule’ which is another trap in being flexible and creative. Something to consider...

[rfern]

Your comment about gear is spot on. A photographer who knows their gear and applies good creative fundamentals can take great pictures with a $200 entry level camera, but the most expensive camera won’t help someone with a poor skill set.

[brucedelorme]

Thank you Mr. Spock of photography. Because your message and logic towards photography is spot on. I am guilty of the big one. Not getting out there enough. Your message is the truth. Great VLOG Mark.

[gititcam]

Just wanted to say Mark, that I appreciate all the info that you share on the channel, in tutorials and the vibe that you share it with. It is no secret that there is almost and endless choice on YT for this sort of stuff but in the 10 years I have been shooting you sir for some reason make me pay attention and more than that retain the info when out in the field. I have been a motorsports photog for most of that 10 or so years but have been dabbling in more and more nature / landscape styles of shooting and you have been very helpful in that regard. Anyway again, thank you for what you do, many of us out here truly appreciate it!

[silvershadow]

Mark, another thought provoking video. For me the 2 points most applicable are get out and shoot and lean into post processing. I have learned more about Lightroom and post processing from your videos than all the others I have watched combined. Your teaching style is relaxed, comfortable, and easy to understand.

Thank you.

[garywebb]

Your videos make a lot of sense. Photography is a journey and one we should enjoy. It is a learning process. One thing I consistently find though is that photographers who do YouTube videos all eventually touch on the subject of too much attention to gear, but inevitably, if you look at their equipment, they are all shooting with top of the line cameras, expensive tripods, and expensive lenses. I have some nice equipment, but the journey to that equipment was slow. I bought, used, and as I learned more, considered what an upgrade would mean for my photography and whether it would be worth it. I have a regret or two along the way, but I chalk it up to live and learn. Thanks for the videos Mark. I enjoy and learn from them.

[nicewinerytrainingsessions]

Thanks Mark! As always, your messages are easy to understand and are focused to help us improve our enjoyment of photography. I started my photo journey as a film and slide photographer. I can look back on those years as basically point & shoot. Now that I am retired and in my 70's, I can have better equipment and spend the time to learn techniques to achieve photos that others enjoy too. Thanks for providing guidance to shorten the learning curve.

[ssdronography]

Eyeballing the picture was priceless!!! LOLOLOL

[rivarau]

A couple of things I have learned to do as I get more experienced: 1) be more intentional about capturing images. I used to take 1500 - 2000 images in a 5-day workshop, including auto bracketing a lot of scenes. Now I might take 500 and take multiple exposures for high dynamic range only when really needed. I still get the same number of keepers, though the ultimate goal is to get an even higher percentage :) 2) figure what it is about a scene that really excites me or brings me joy. I used to take a lot of "snapshots" assuming that because I felt a sense of wonder viewing the scene, that this would easily translate to my images. I now know that I need to be more intentional (there's that word again!) about the subject, distractions along the edges, simplifying the overall scene, etc.
I love that your videos always present a bit sized, actionable piece of advice or education. Especially in post processing I'm trying to up my skills and it often feels that I am drinking from the fire house (I should mention that I "collect" photography education similar to how I collect books). I'm really trying to narrow down the amount of input I take in until I feel very comfortable with what I just learned, and only then move on to the next piece of education. This is why I really appreciate what you post on your channel and look forward to what you have to offer every week.

[robertowen-jones]

It’s a great list and I heartily agree with it… even leaning into post-editing (which I still don’t like after so many years as it is such a time sink).

[clementpchiit]

I’ve been making photography for almost 10 years and I still hate editing my photography, I like to shoot and not edit. Just like I like to make music but don’t like mixing.
That’s one of the reasons I went into the analog rabbit hole.
I ended up shooting large format and medium format black and white and totally fell in love with that.
But I ended up burning my self with technical stuff and stop shooting for 2 years.
Now il shooting with my good old fuji XE3 in BnW Jpegs and just adjust some contrast and a little curve and I’ve never been happier !