Outdoor Photography How To

There are lots of things that go into making a great landscape photo: composition, color, and sharpness are just a few that come to mind. But many photographers, including Mark Denney, would agree that there's one trait that's more critical than all others: the right light.

"Light is one of those elements that can either make or break your landscape image regardless of how amazing all the other components of your photo are," Denny says. "When I first started out in landscape photography I operated under the assumption that the only reason to photograph during the sunrise and sunset was to capture brilliant color in the sky. Sure, that's part of it, but there's a lot more that goes into why some of the best light occurs during the beginning and end of the day besides just colorful skies."

In the below video, Denney discusses the four most common types of light you'll encounter in landscape and outdoor photography.

"Understanding the different types of light and knowing how best to photograph during certain lighting conditions is a key piece of information to know," he says. "Also, understanding how to identify specific lighting situations will allow you to better adjust your approach the next time you're on-location and are faced with a certain type of natural light. We obviously cannot control the light but understanding how it works and how best to use it, can certainly help us when we're faced with certain lighting conditions. "

Watch the tutorial and then go visit Denney's YouTube channel for more great landscape photography videos.