Expanding your horizons: 8 innovative ways to photograph landscapes

Epic views offer endless opportunities for creative landscape photography and yet the genre can slip towards cliché thanks to overused locations, stale compositions and an over-reliance on ultra-long exposures. Breaking away from the traditional picture-postcard landscape mould requires creativity and fresh thinking, and a willingness to experiment with new angles, new subjects and new techniques.

Dutch nature and landscape photographer Theo Bosboom has twice won Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards for his innovative imagery. He uses fisheye lenses to introduce new perspectives and pick out details in his abstract, artistic landscape photographs. French photographer and former aeronautical engineer Pierre-Louis Ferrer has become synonymous with the infrared technique he uses to cast iconic landscapes in a whole new light. Meanwhile, action photographer and Canon Ambassador Martin Bissig approaches landscapes from a narrative perspective, using them to tell stories of endurance. Here, they share their top techniques for taking a more creative approach to landscape photography.

2. Try a fresh angle

Shooting from different angles can help you to see a landscape in new ways. When Theo embarked on a project in the valley of the Hoëgne, Belgium, exploring novel ways to photograph autumn, he shot some of his landscapes looking upwards, through water. He used a Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens to create the striking, award-winning images for his series, The Journey of Autumn Leaves.

"The fisheye was great for this project," he says. "In water, you have to get very close to your subject, otherwise you can see dirt and particles. So, there was a technical reason for using a lens which, in the end, helped me to be more creative."

3. Tell a story

Martin describes his work as "landscape photography with athletes in it", and has travelled the world photographing mountain bikers, from the Himalayas to Greenland. He combines action and sweeping landscapes, and the environment becomes a vital part of the story he's telling.

"If I took only close-up action shots, my work could easily be replicated, so I like to shoot with a wide-angle lens in order to say something about the athlete's environment," he says. Adding subjects and action into a landscape shot creates a dynamism which challenges the traditional picture-postcard style, as does shooting photo stories, rather than focusing on a single standout image.

4. Shoot wide

"Wide-angle lenses allow me to control the viewer's eye by playing with the guidelines in the frame," says Pierre-Louis. He particularly likes using the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens, especially when shooting infrared images. "The lens is perfect as it doesn't create a hotspot in the middle of the image – something that's common with lenses when shooting infrared."

Wide-angle lenses are also a vital part of Martin's kitbag. He often pairs his Canon EOS R with a Canon RF 15-35MM F2.8L IS USM lens. "Wide-angle is dynamic, but as soon as you include cyclists in your shot, you have to be careful not to place them too close to the edge of the frame because they can become distorted. I use lens correction in post-production because, however creative you are, your images have to look realistic."

5. Focus stack for maximum sharpness

Despite the popularity of blur in creative photography, there are still occasions when only corner-to-corner sharpness will do. Theo often uses focus stacking to create pin-sharp images. "I take four or five shots, focusing on the closest point, then adjusting the focus as I move through to the furthest," he says. He uses Live View mode to zoom in on areas of the frame to ensure they are perfectly sharp, and merges the images in the edit for complete front-to-back sharpness.

7. Pick out details

"I like to leave things out," says Theo, who often uses a zoom lens, such as a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (now succeeded by the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM), to isolate the detail in his landscape photographs. At the other end of the spectrum, he uses his "hidden gem", a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens, to reveal "small, intimate landscapes".

He shoots on either a Canon EOS 5DS R or a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. "They make a good pair," he says. "The Canon EOS 5DS R is crazily sharp and the colours are wonderful, while the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV is better for high ISO shots."

When on location in the far corners of the world, Martin needs a wide focal range to ensure he can capture all the surrounding landscape can offer. "The Canon EOS R is the perfect size and weight for carrying on a trek," he says. "On a recent trip to Pakistan, I took a lot of shots with a Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM lens, which was perfect for my purposes – small, light and with a huge zoom range."

8. Choose a different shutter speed

With the ultra-long exposure now ubiquitous in landscape photography, Theo suggests using shutter speeds of between a half and a couple of seconds to create photographs that stand out from the crowd.

"At these shutter speeds you will still see the detail, elegance and flow of the water," he says. "I tend to use only a polariser or, at most, a three-stop neutral-density (ND) filter. I take 20 or so images at varying lengths before choosing which works best."