When shooting landscapes, I always look for great color and contrast. This is one of the reasons that so many landscape shots are taken in the early morning or during sunset. The light is much more vibrant and colorful at these times of day and adds a sense of drama to an image.
You can help boost this effect, especially in the less-than-golden hours of the day, by using the Landscape picture control (Figure 7.7). Just as in the Landscape mode found in the automatic scene modes, you can set up your landscape shooting so that you capture images with increased sharpness and a slight boost in blues and greens. This style will add some pop to your landscapes without the need for additional processing in any software.
Setting up the Landscape picture control
- Press the Info button twice, then use the Multi-selector to highlight the Set Picture Control feature (this is normally set to SD) and then press OK (A).
- Now use the Multi-controller to scroll down to the LS option and press OK to lock in your change (B).
The camera will now apply the Landscape picture control to all of your photos. This style will be locked in to the camera even after turning it off and back on again, so make sure to change it back to SD when you are done with your landscape shoot.