By Jenn Gidman
Images by David Akoubian
Using a long lens can allow you to isolate certain elements or subjects in a landscape and eliminate distractions. This is especially important if want to take a picture for stock photography purposes—you only want what's important to show up in the scene. If you're using a smaller lens, you'll end up having to crop later on in the computer. I used the Tamron 16-300mm lens to capture this mountainside at sunset. I was able to zoom in on the silhouetted ridgeline with the beautifully lit mountain in the background.
Take advantage of the compression that a long lens like the 150-600mm offers. This compression allows you to bring elements closer together and tell a story. For an image I took of the full moon, I positioned it peeking out from behind a pine tree. It looks fairly small compressed up against the tree. I used this feature to similar effect in an image I captured of a pine tree in the foreground with the mountains in the background. Even though that first mountain in the foreground is probably 3 miles or so away from the pine tree, they feel like they're right there together thanks to the compression available using this lens.
To avoid "landscape fatigue" (a portfolio filled with just photos of grand, sweeping vistas), try to create images with compelling foreground elements to add visual interest. Using a long lens like the 150-600 allowed me to showcase the majesty of the sky and mountains in the background in this photo, but that scene is complemented by the greenery and vibrant yellow sunflowers in the foreground and midground.
With a long lens, you can create more of a palette of shapes and colors, especially in mountain ridgelines. For this image, I used the 150-600 at 600mm to get the ridgeline closest to me in silhouette. You can see great detail in the mountain in the middle where the sunlight highlights the green up the center, while the mountains in the background fall off into more muted colors. You can use these shapes, patterns, colors, and shadows of the landscape to create that sense of depth I mentioned earlier.