Landscape Photography

Had a class tonight, led by Will in our club...and I'd like to share this with an anyone who is interested in Landscape photography.
A tripod is a must for and decent landscapes, as it allows you to slow your shutter speed down, which you may not be able to do hand held. I usually use a wide lens, as it will enable me to capture a wider area of the scene. I can always crop later, in post processing (hereafter referred to as simply "post"). I use the Manual setting on my camera, but many use Aperture Priority, so adapt this to whatever you use (if you're using "Auto", that's a whole different ball of wax also.
So now you've got your camera on a tripod, with your widest lens on it, and you may ask, "what's next"?
Set your aperture to somewhere between f/8-f/16 (higher f-stops may result in fringing, even though you'll achieve a longer Depth of Field (hereafter referred to as "DOF"). I recommend setting your ISO as low as it will go, UNLESS for some reason you really like that noisy effect in your images...which many do not. These things will help you to determine the other third of the exposure triangle, which will be shutter speed. I recommend Evaluative metering, UNLESS you have a dark portion of the scene you'd like to expose for and perhaps lose the detail in your highlights, then you may want to use center weighted or spot exposure metering. Remember, I'm talking about exposure here...that's how bright or dark your image is. Now about what to focus on. A well composed landscape image will have a foreground as well as a background. I recommend focusing on the foreground, and although you could focus with your center focusing dot and recompose, I change the focusing point to be typically in the lower third of the image, which is typically also the foreground. Keep those horizons level, and don't center the horizon or the sun (also don't look through the lens directly at the sun), as this will create a "Bullseye" in your image, and typically remove some of the interest from it. There are lots of useful tools to use, such as Circular Polarizing filters, and Neutral Density Filters, which come at different prices and strengths. I suggest you research them, as they can do some great things!
Once you've composed your shot, got the exposure correct, you may want to utilize "mirror lock-up" on your camera. As you capture an image, the mirror flips up and out of the way to reveal your sensor to the light coming through the lens. This is to enable you to look through the viewfinder and see what your lens is actually seeing, as opposed to NON SLR cameras, which have a viewfinder that is seperate from what the lens is seeing. Single Lens Reflex (herafter referred to as "SLR") have an advantage in that the photographer can tell what the lens is actually seeing, but they are more costly. The other cameras we usually refer to as "Point and Shoots". Anyway, the mirror moving can introduce a tiny amount of vibration inside the camera, which believe it or not, may actually cause some "softness" in your images. That is to say, the focus isn't tack sharp, or slightly blurred. Another useful tool in this endeavor is a remote trigger. I recommend a corded type at first, as it's job is to actuate the shutter, and for a long exposure, you don't want to have to worry about the battery giving out! This also will reduce vibration in your camera, and prevent that "softness' we were talking about earlier. Starting to get the picture? If it's windy, hang something from the center pole of your tripod, that 10 pound equipment bag will finally have a use! Try different things and experiment. Remember the rule of thirds, then break the rules! Try to bracket your exposures, I usually try 1 stop increments, and either use HDR, or exposure blending to help acheive better results. Remember, the camera can't capture the dynamic range your eyes can! Happy Shooting!