Landscape Photography Tips by Emil van Maltitz

Insights from a landscape photographer & tour leader

While he’s an all-round accomplished photographer, it’s landscape photography that gets most of Emil von Maltitz’s focus. It’s also where he got started as a photographer; stunning landscapes in his native South Africa are what made Emil first pick up a camera and learn his craft. Emil now guides a number of photo tours – all mostly focused on landscape photography – in places like Namibia, Iceland, and Madagascar. We thought it was about time to ask Emil some questions about his passion for landscape photography, and to ask him to share some insider tips.

All images by Emil von Maltitz

What draws you to landscape photography?

I have always been drawn to exploring nature, particularly mountains. Landscape photography just came naturally as a part of that exploration. I started creating landscape images early into my foray into photography; trying to create images that approximated what I felt when seeing these places. In particular, I was climbing and hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains as a boy scout in my teens. Wanting to show people who weren’t there the extraordinary beauty of the mountains and some of the awe I felt looking up the passes to the escarpment above, or down those same passes from the top when you felt like you were standing on the very top of the world. (A worn cliché but genuinely how one feels.)

If you could give three tips on composition, what would they be?

1. Rather than squeezing as much as possible into a scene, look for individual components of the landscape that interest you. This could be a pattern in the sand, the colours of a tree, or the way the water flows around rocks in a stream. Concentrating on these smaller details and finding visual balance between them or in relation to a broader landscape, makes for far more interesting composition. When photographers first start shooting landscapes they invariably try to put too much landscape into too wide a view, leaving the resultant image looking flat and boring.

2. Single out what interests you in the scene (above) and try to excise the parts of the scene that don’t contribute to the image. Good landscape photography is as much about paring down the scene as it is depicting what interests you. Be selective of what is included in the frame of the viewfinder.

3. Don’t automatically put down your tripod and shoot from that position and height. Explore your options before you set up the tripod. Too often photographers approach a scene and shoot from the first place they stop and set up a tripod. Compositions invariably need to be found, which means actively trying out different angles, heights and framings of the scene. Look carefully with your eyes before you start looking through the lens and make conscious decisions about what to include and exclude.

Find out more about our upcoming landscape photography workshop in Namibia

Is there such a thing as ‘golden rules’ around landscape photography?

There isn’t really a golden rule apart from, just get out there. The best way to become a better landscape photographer and to create better images is to get out and shoot, preferably to travel somewhere to shoot. It doesn’t even have to be extensive travel. It can quite literally be to the woods near your home. Moreover, you need to get out when the light is right. This means early mornings and late evenings in order to get the light at its best over locations that are probably some distance from your home, or wherever you happen to be staying. Award winning photographs don’t happen by strolling into the garden on a perfect weather day and quickly grabbing a snap. Invariably the best photographs come from trudging up hillsides in miserable weather to capture a scene that looks enchanting to the viewer. After all, the best light and weather conditions tend to be straight after a storm, meaning that you had to be walking through the storm to get there for those perfect conditions.

Something else about travelling is that it tends to inspire us [as photographers]. It’s very easy to become complacent about the world around our immediate environment. I’m guilty of this myself. I think we all are. When we travel though we see new locations, and are inspired by them to create meaningful images. It broadens our visual experience of the world.

Are there also situations where these rules need to be broken?

Not so much in terms of travel, but certainly the ‘rule’ that one shoots during the golden hour can be broken all the time. It’s absolutely the case that the quality of light on a landscape is better during that period just after sunrise and before the sun sets again. However, light is light regardless, and you can create amazing images at certain locations throughout the day. One of my favourite photographs from Namibia was taken about midday. It probably isn’t even that good as a photograph, but the harsh light on the scene speaks to the harshness of the environment itself.

Find out more about our Madagascar Photo Tour with Emil

Has your own approach to landscape photography evolved over time?

I have probably slowed down in my approach to landscape photography. I am more discerning now than I used to be, I think. I certainly seem to shoot less, but have more images that I think are worthwhile after a shoot. I still shoot a lot, it’s just that I’ll spend more time on getting the composition right before I am happy to move on.

Do you have a favorite destination for landscape photography?

I love everywhere I lead workshops. It’s why I lead workshops there. The Drakensberg in South Africa and the desert of Namibia hold a special place in my heart though. I still try desperately to get the Drakensberg as often as possible, although it’s one of the locations that I rarely lead workshops to nowadays (foreign visitors to the country don’t seem to realise how amazing the mountains are and once there are surprised at how strenuous it is to get to the best locations). So in some ways it’s still an untapped goldmine of photographic opportunity.

Namibia is just one of those countries that fires up the photographic imagination. It’s like something out of a fantasy story. Vast yellow deserts, touring red dunes, plains of boulders tossed around like giant’s playthings, and mountains that rear up above a martian-like landscape. It’s no surprise that it’s a country that landscape photographers come to more than once. (Many of the photographers who have joined me there have come back for a second and even third trip to the country.)

Who do you think your landscape photography tours are suitable for? 

Anybody who enjoys landscape photography and travel. There is a certain level of fitness required for some of the workshops, but that’s the case for all landscape photography (remember the trudging up a hill part I mentioned above). The groups we travel in are small enough that someone who considers themselves a beginner isn’t going to feel bewildered amongst a group of advanced landscape photographers. Conversely, advanced photographers will still get ample input and advanced feedback because our groups are small. Bigger groups would make this difficult.

Check out all our landscape photography tours