“Icelandic landscape 13″ by shchukin, on Flickr

Many of our recent challenges have focused on practicing our close-up skills, so it’s nice to take a step back every now and then to look at the big picture.

This month, get out and celebrate the natural world with a great landscape photo. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be in an exotic land to get  great landscape shots. With a little creativity, you can often find interesting spots fairly close to home: a playground at dusk, a local running trail in the morning light, even a long, straight stretch of road can make for a compelling shot.

As with any type of subject, you want to pay attention to your light when shooting landscapes. Many landscapes look their prettiest at the edges of the day when the sun is lower in the sky. And of course, don’t be afraid to spend some time in Elements bringing out the best in your landscape.

Here’s a little inspiration from around the Web:

• The folks over at the Digital Photography School website have put together a good list of 11 Surefire Landscape Photography Tips.
• Stitching a group of photos together to make a panorama is a great way to really celebrate a stunning view. Ben Long gives you the ins and outs of shooting and building panoramas in his article “Fun with Panoramas” [May/June 2010].
• The sky doesn’t always cooperate with our photographic desires. Matt Kloskowski shows how to turn a gray sky blue in his “Faking a Blue Sky” tutorial [July/August 2010].
• For something completely different, why not build your own landscape? The “Build New Worlds” tutorial will show you how to turn a landscape shot into a sphere for a tiny-planet effect. There’s a video version and a printed version of the tutorial.

To participate in the August Photo Challenge, simply upload your image to either the PET Subscriber Gallery or the Elements Village Gallery between August 1st and September 1st. Remember that photos should be taken within the challenge month.

Please be sure to place the phrase “Photo-Challenge” exactly as shown (without the quotes) in the Keywords field if uploading to the Elements Village Gallery, or in the Caption field if uploading to the PET Gallery. If you’re having trouble figuring out the process, check out our Contests page, which offers more detailed instructions, as well as screenshots.

Happy Shooting!