Landscape photographer of the year 2009

I've often felt that landscape photographers have a lot to teach us all about how to frame a view and how to treat lighting and colour within an overall composition. I've been so convinced of this I even started buying books by people like Charlie Waite.

See if you can work out what are the key characteristics of the winning photographs in Take a View - the competition for Landscape Photographer of the year. You can take a look at them in:

• either The Guardian's slideshow
• or the slideshow of the Daily Telegraph

You can also see the winning photographs in an exhibition in the Lyttleton Exhibition of the National Theatre between 5 December and 24 January 2010.

Sunrise over the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye
by Emmanuel Coupe: Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009 – Overall winner
copyright Emmanual Coupe

You can also see more stunning photographs by overall winner Emmanual Coupe on his smugmug website. Note he also does workshops which focus on the fundamentals of aesthetics and composition. You canslo read an interview with him here.

The website for the competition provides some useful hints and tips - many of which are just as applicable to artists composing landscape paintings. There were also some more Tips and hints for getting a good landscape in the Times Online

What was also interesting was the categories they chose for the landscape photographs:

• the classic view - an image that captures the beauty and variety of the UK landscape.
• Living the view - a category for images of people interacting with the outdoors – working or playing in the UK landscape.
• Your view - Pretty much anything goes, as long as it is in the UK and in the outdoors.
• Phone view - which seems to be shorthand for spontaneity and capturing the unexpected

Over to you:

• How do you categorise your landscapes?
  
• What are your tips for achieving an effective composition and an overall aesthetic effect?