Aside from portrait and travel photography, landscape photography may be one of the most common forms of imagery captured, shared and marketed by photographers at every level. No doubt, you've seen someone try to capture the beautiful spacious skies, the purple mountain majesties, and the amber waves of grain all in a single shot.

Truthfully, landscape photography might be one of the most difficult areas for freelance photographers to differentiate themselves. At least with portrait photography, you probably know the subject and they will restrict their photo-taking sessions to you. (Thanks Kids!)

Why is it so difficult to shoot differentiating landscape photography? It's been covered by every major photography magazine, at least once a year for the last five years. Famed photographer Ansel Adams even stated that "landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment." Perhaps the disappointment for the average photographer lies with the approach typically taken with landscape photography... "Wider is better." As an unofficial experiment in drafting this article, some photo supply stores were called to ask for recommendations for landscape photography. All the stores provided the same advice – get as wide an angle lens as possible. Sure, wide angle lenses have great merit, but to really set your landscape pictures apart, perhaps you might want to zoom in, instead of panning out.

Landscape photography is obviously subject to the interpretation of the photographer and the individual image viewer. But what's pretty clear is that a landscape image should give a person a "feel" for the location captured in the image, which implies a certain connotation of "texture." Frequently, landscape images are captured and changed to show a certain mood, such as serenity or isolation, and one of the primary ways of doing this is to change the image color or tone. Yet, those alterations don't necessarily enhance the viewer's ability to feel what the landscape is like. Much like anything else, to get a sense of something's texture, you have to get close to it. So get close – zoom in! Those amber waves of grain might make for a compelling image if you captured them portrait-style, as opposed to a wide landscape. Be willing to close in to show some details of the wheat stalks in the for- or mid-ground area with the rolling hills in the background. Remember, you don't need 20 miles of panoramic scenery for people to get the hint that you weren't in Manhattan when you took the photo.

Essentially, it's about finding a different perspective for the image. That's the value a zoom lens can provide. This also provides a great challenge as working with a zoom lens means you have more options with focal points. You will have to thoroughly examine what's most important to capture and convey with your image. In other words, what part of the experience and environment do you want people to "feel" up close and what do you want them to reflect on from afar. Additionally, and some will cringe at this, but lighting may not be the main thing that concerns you. There are some beautiful landscape images where it's obvious that the photographer not only waited for the magic hour, but the actual magic minute before depressing the shutter button. This leaves the viewer to be more awed by the light then by the content. That's fine if lighting is your motif. But chances are it's not just the light that drew you to a location.

So the next time you head out to do some landscape photography, whether it's in an urban or rural setting, consider taking that 70 – 210mm lens along and using a tripod to experiment with a portrait style image. A zoom lens can bring a distinct change in perspective to your landscape photography, and ultimately enhance the tone and texture of the environment you've spent hours – or days - trying to capture.

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