Most landscape photographers love to use their wide-angle lenses to capture breathtaking sceneries.

These lenses not only allow for broad compositions but also for a significant amount of focus within the image. 

Further, these lenses give the photographer the ability to use distortions to create exciting compositions. These elements, when approached correctly, often result in some of the most epic photos.

Using wide-angle lenses is, however not as straightforward as it may seem. These are a number of techniques to observe and things to watch out for to come up with good shots.    

Here are twelve tips to help you make the most out of your wide-angle lens. 

1. Start With the Right Format

One key thing to decide before you start shooting a landscape is whether to capture it with the camera upright or horizontal.

Many photographers default to a horizontal orientation when wide-angle landscape shots are involved. This, however, is a limiting way to format your photos.

There is no standard right or wrong orientation for composing a landscape photo. The format you choose should depend on what you want your viewers to see.

Is your subject spread out across the frame? Then a horizontal format may be the better way to capture its full extent.

Is your subject tall in comparison with its surroundings? You’ll want to shoot vertically to really capture the most interesting results.

In other words, choosing the format means you are deciding what to show and what not to show your audience.

As you choose the format, you are also deciding how the viewer’s eye will travel around the frame.

A horizontal photo will often keep the viewer’s eye moving from side to side. The vertical format, on the other hand, encourages the audience’s eye to move up and down the image.

Keep this notion in mind when deciding whether or not to photograph the scene with the camera in a horizontal or vertical orientation.

Lastly, remember that you don’t have to stick to one format or the other.

You can shoot in both horizontal and vertical formats and see what supports your intended purpose better. Then settle for it after experimenting enough.

2. Observe Through the Viewfinder

Look for compositions with your eyes grafted to the viewfinder.

Doing so will enable you to see how slight changes in distance, angle, and perspective affect your composition. This way, you can see exactly how and where it is best to capture the scene.

Also, looking through your viewfinder prevents you from including unnecessary and distracting objects in your composition.

This is easy to do when you’re shooting with wide-angle lenses.

To ensure you do not include such distracting elements, observe your scene through the viewfinder, and pay attention to the entire frame.

By doing so,  you’ll be able to crop the scene and take note of any elements that do not contribute to the composition.

Check carefully to ensure that you’re including only what should appear in the photo.

Hold the camera close to your eyes as you move slowly and observe every noticeable change created before you start photographing.

Change your position, pay attention to the corners, and ensure that the scene is rendered exactly the way you want it before you proceed to shoot.

3. Pay Attention to Small Details

The distortion that comes with wide-angle lenses is a great tool to magnify small elements in the foreground.

Use this to your advantage. Create irresistible points of interest by identifying small and unique details in your foreground.

For instance, shoot with your camera at a low vantage point to emphasize textures and small lines on the ground.

The lens will make these details appear much larger and more powerful. As a result, you can bring out unique and exciting features of the landscape.

4. Emphasize the Sky by Capturing It Wide

Wide-angle lenses distort subjects differently depending on how and where you position the camera.

While some see this distortion as an imperfection that should be minimized, it also presents a lot of creative opportunities that you can leverage.

One way to make use of wide-angle lens distortion is by giving prominence to the sky.

Since wide-angle lenses tend to stretch out objects at the edges and create a sense of depth, they can accentuate the sky and make it look majestic.

This is especially useful if the sky present in the landscape has interesting shapes or vivid colors.

For instance, having clouds with unique shapes in your scene could be a good reason to use a wide-angle lens.

With a wide-angle lens, you can let the sky take a big part of your composition or make it a central point of interest in that photo.

Keep in mind, if you have a different focal point besides the sky, be careful not to let the sky overshadow it.

To keep things well balanced out, you could have the horizon somewhere at the center, with the beautiful sky above and the foreground objects beneath it. Such a shot can be exquisite and quite compelling.

Finally, remember that how you angle your camera will have a significant influence on the overall look of your final image.

Tilting the camera slightly upwards will serve to emphasize the sky. Angling the camera downwards, on the other hand, will shift the emphasis to the objects in the foreground.  

So, choose your angles based on what you want to pass across to the audience.

5. Experiment With Different Perspectives

Where you position your camera when taking a wide-angle shot matters.

Just like with distance, try shooting the same scene with your wide-angle lens at different heights. Observe the change registered with each increase or decrease in the height of the camera position.

You’ll find that the images taken closer to the ground tend to exaggerate foreground elements.

The foreground objects in these shots will appear much larger and more prominent than they really are.

You’ll also notice that objects in the background will appear smaller and farther away when photographed with the camera closer to the ground.

So, experiment with shots of the same scene from different heights and observe the outcome. You should be able to spot a pleasing result from among the many shots.

Besides moving your camera up and down, closer and farther away from the subject, consider positioning it at different angles. Try shooting the subject from different angles and observe each shot.

You should notice that each change in perspective significantly affects how the subject is rendered in the image.

Don’t shy from spending time studying the objects in the scene when deciding the angles to shoot. You may be surprised just how much this time spent exploring the different perspectives available to the scene pay off.

6. Shoot With Small Apertures

Wide-angle lenses are famous for their deep depth of field.

Using a deep depth-of-field means most of your image will be rendered in sharp focus.

Something to keep in mind, when using small apertures, you don’t want to stop down too low. This is because while smaller apertures help produce sharper images, it also creates more diffraction.

This means that at a certain point, as you decrease your aperture you also decrease the sharpness of your image.

Lenses are said to have an aperture “sweet spot.” At this aperture setting, your lens will produce its sharpest images with its widest depth-of-field.

Note that the sweet spot is not universal; it depends on the camera and lens used.

But any f-stop number around 14-16 should bring everything into sharp focus and give you the desired results.

7. Zoom with Your Feet

There are two main reasons why you should physically move in closer when using wide-angle lenses: to remove unwanted objects in the frame and to emphasize your point of interest.

To Remove Unwanted Objects in the Frame

The one major downside of a wide-angle lens is that it might capture more than you actually need within your composition.

What this means is that if something does not contribute to your composition, then the only way to keep it from being part of the image is to exclude it from the frame in the first place.

Observe the scene through your viewfinder, and if there is anything to leave out, try moving in closer to your subject.

Experiment with a shorter and longer distance from your subject and observe the effect you are creating with each step you take.

Do this until you have only the elements that make up your composition fitted within the frame, then hit the shutter button.

Note that the perceived distance between the foreground and the background changes significantly as you move closer to your subject.

That is because when you zoom in with your feet, you change the perspective of your image.

If you want to emphasize your background, you should zoom in with your lens. On the other hand, if you want to highlight your foreground, you should move closer to it.

From these, you should be able to find the best shots that will serve your purpose.

To Emphasize Your Point of Interest

I have mentioned that objects that are closer to the camera in a wide-angle shot will get magnified by the lens.

The distortion can give you a way to make your subject stand out from the rest of the scene.

To create interest in your subject move in and shoot the subject from a close range.

By moving in closer, the subject will be accentuated and appear larger than it may be in real life.

Because it is magnified, the viewer’s eye will naturally move to the subject as soon as they look at the image.

Caveat: With a wide-angle lens, subtle movements may result in significant differences. Keep an eye out for distortion that makes your subject appear unnatural.

Moving in too close to an object will render the corner closest to you much larger and the corner facing away from you much smaller. This will be especially so if you place the camera at a lower angle near the object.

When this happens, it will help to take a step back or shoot the subject at a longer focal length.

8. Make Use of Leading Lines and S-Curves

With wide-angle shots, the audience eyes are likely to wander loosely around the frame unless there is a way to direct them to a specific point of interest.

To guide your viewer towards your focal point,  consider using leading lines and S-curves.

Leading lines can be both physical and implied. That is, they can be physical objects such as roads and bridges, or they can be implied, such as light.

Our eyes naturally follow these lines to where they converge, making them useful navigational tools within photos.

S-curves, like leading lines, are used to help guide viewers towards your focal point. The shape of the s-curve makes an image more dynamic and are especially useful in inducing a sense of movement in images. 

Using an S-curve with downward slope can give a sense of a fast action taking place. In contrast, an upward slope increases tension, making images more dramatic.

S-curves also encourages the viewer to navigate through an image more intently.

The S-curves’ inherent sense of movement encourages the viewers’ eyes to sweep back and forth. As a consequence objects placed along the curve get added attention as well.

Using leading lines and s-curves along with a wide-angle lens is a great way to create dramatic images.

Since wide-angle lenses distort and exaggerate lines, they can make the leading lines and s-curves in your image more arresting and powerful.

So, when using a wide-angle lens, try to identify any leading lines and s-curves within the scene you intend to photograph. Then see how best to align these lines with your subject and composition.

9. Use Focus Stacking

There are instances where it’s impossible to achieve a sharp focus for both points A and B in one shot. That does not mean you cannot create the sharp images you want of your subject. This is where focus stacking comes in.

Focus stacking is a technique that involves shooting different photos with different focus points and merging them into one image in post-processing. In cases where you cannot bring everything in the scene into sharp focus then consider using focus stacking to create the image you want.

10. Utilize Surface Division

The surface division is another effective tool for guiding the eyes of viewers to the subject in an image.

Using an object to separate various elements within a photo serve to direct the audience’s attention to specific areas of an image.

The object can be anything, including a building, pole, or even light and shadow.

The surface division is also a great tool to highlight contrasting features of the separated objects.

Wherever there is surface division, viewers are compelled to compare the separated elements and notice the differences they have.

When appropriately used, the technique will create a sharp point of interest within your photo. This will make the audience naturally rivet to that point of interest as soon as they look at the image.

11. Find Secondary Frames 

Similar to surface division and leading lines, creating a second frame within is useful to guide the audience’s attention toward your focal points.

You can enclose your subject between trees, a doorway, or a window, to isolate it within your wider frame. You can also use implied frames such as parallel light or shadows.

The introduction of another frame within the image creates an immediate point of interest that draws the viewer’s attention.

When using wide-angle lenses, pay attention to any shapes or objects that might enclose your subject within a smaller frame.

Done correctly, this should help highlight your subject from the rest of the image.

12. Check Vignetting When Using Filters

Camera filters can be a handy tool to have in your camera bag. Filters can perform many functions such as ND, warming, cooling, and polarizing.

When using filters with wide-angle lenses, they can sometimes cause vignetting where it is not required.

Most high-quality filters will do fine. But these also come with a bigger price tag, so it’s not uncommon for photographers to settle for budget filters. The problem is that these low-cost filters are prone to causing unwanted issues such as vignettes.

Therefore it is crucial to determine if the lens you are using is applying a vignette to your photos. Carefully looking around the frame will increase your chances of spotting the vignette.

One way to fix vignette is by using post-processing software. However, it is important to ensure it does not obscure any essential elements of the image.

Of course, there are times when you’ll want to use vignettes as a compositional technique, but its usually introduced during post-processing. You can apply vignettes during post-processing to centralize attention on the subject.