Easy Tricks on Adding Drama to Your Landscape Photos

Landscape Photography is one of the most popular styles in Photography. Amateurs, even professionals enjoy taking landscape photos especially when traveling and going on vacations. Most of the time we take photos of landscapes to remember how the picturesque view made us feel, often times we keep it as a memory to share with our friends and families. There are lots of ways on how to make amazing landscape shots like choosing a small aperture setting to maximize the depth of field and make sure that everything in the photo is in focus. Another way is to look for leading lines that will take the view of the viewers to a certain part of the image.

When it comes to post processing, there are different ways and styles on making your landscape shots more alive and dramatic. Most people would say one should not rely too much on post-production, and it’s true. Less post processing makes life a bit easier, but it’s also true that there are times when you just have to do minor post-processing to make your photos more alive. This article will give you the tips and easy tricks on post-processing and adding drama to your Landscape shots using Lightroom 3.

The first trick is using the Black Slider tool in Lightroom 3. You can try giving a little contrast to your photos by using the Black Slider tool in the develop section. Adjust the slider to the right until you get the desired contrast. Be careful not to overdo this because you might loose some details on your photo. You can see the amount of clipping by pressing the Alt key while moving the slider.

landscape photos by: Stig Nygaard

Notice the difference between the two images, the second image, which I have edited in Lightroom 3 using the black slider, has more contrast and looks more alive.

Another trick you can use is the Gradient Filter tool in Lightroom 3. This will make the sky and clouds more vivid. The Gradient Filter tool will help you darken the skies gradually. This tool is also great to use for seascapes. This tool is not only effective for the background, adding a bit gradient to your foreground can also give your photo an amazing effect.

landscape photos by: Rick Smit

The next trick on adding drama to your landscape photos is adding a vignette. This tool mildly darkens the sides of the photo leaving the center a little brighter. This is an effective tool to help draw the viewers’ attention to where your subject is. Vignettes are also best to use in Black and White photos; you can also try using this for your portraits. To put a vignette on your photo go to the Develop section of Lightroom and under the Lens Corrections tab you will see the Lens Vignetting tool; adjust the sliders until you get the desired effect.

landscape by: Mister E

You can also use these three tools together in one photo to give more life and add more drama to it.