The Secrets to Stunning Wide Angle Landscape Photos

Wide angle lenses can make the biggest landscapes look small and dull. You’ve seen it yourself: mountains that felt huge when you were standing there shrink to a disappointing background when viewed on your screen. That gap between how it looks in person and how it looks in the photo is the problem this video tackles.

Coming to you from Martin Castein, this detailed video breaks down how to make wide angle landscapes actually work. Castein points out that lighting is the first make-or-break factor. Flat light makes everything collapse, but dramatic light can give a scene depth and power. A storm rolling in gave him exactly that kind of lighting, and switching gears from waiting for deer to shooting the changing atmosphere produced results he never expected. He stresses that it isn’t about the lens alone, but how light interacts with the scene in front of you.

Castein also talks about subject separation, something many think about only in portraits. Using a wide angle lens on deer against a mountain backdrop, he had to frame carefully to keep the subject clean against the background. Unlike a tighter lens that can blur distractions, a wide angle shows everything, so every element of the frame has to cooperate. That means the mountain, the sky, the clouds, and the subject all need to work together, and you need to recognize when it isn’t happening.

He also demonstrates how perspective and camera height completely change a shot. At another location, he moved beyond the classic postcard view and looked for a different perspective, finding a path and set of steps that created a visual story. Lowering the camera shifted the weight of the image, pulling the viewer’s eyes along the path into the house and beyond. He emphasizes that experimenting with height isn’t optional with a wide angle. Simply raising or lowering the camera can decide whether the image has depth or falls flat.

Later in the video, Castein explores how patience and conditions matter just as much as technical choices. His shot of the lone tree in Snowdonia took days of waiting for the right weather and still water to reflect the tree. Without those conditions, the composition didn’t work. He also explains how wide angle lenses exaggerate weaknesses in a scene. If the light is flat, the image is flat. You can’t rely on cropping or focal length to save it. Instead, you have to be there when the lighting and atmosphere are working in your favor. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Castein.

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”