Can Landscape Photography Include Buildings?

Here’s a question which some people have.  Can landscape photography include buildings?  The answer is absolutely a resounding yes.  Landscape photography can include buildings.  Want to learn a little bit more about this topic?  Then please keep reading.

In a previous article, we discussed what is considered landscape photography (read that article here). While it was briefly discussed there, landscape photography can and often does include buildings.  It’s a common element in many popular landscape photos.

Buildings Can Be a Major Element

Check out these landscape photos of mine where I’ve set a building as a major element in the wider view landscape photo.

Audrey Cramer Photography's professional quality landscape photograph of the Teton mountains and a cabin at sunset during winter
Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art photograph of the Idaho Falls LDS Temple at twilight in winter with Snake River reflection
Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of the Moulton Barn against the mountains of Grand Teton National Park Wyoming

Each building occupies a large share of the visible area in frame. Each is a prominent part of the photo which contains it. Still, you can plainly see other landscape elements make up the rest of the photos.

Buildings Can Be a Minor Element

Buildings can also be a minor element in landscape photography. Check out these landscape photos of mine where I included a building of some kind but it is not a major focal point of the overall image.

Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photo of the American Falls reservoir spillway and Snake River full of silky-smooth water
Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art photograph of a hot air balloon taking flight in Panguitch Utah over a farm field and mountains
Audrey Cramer Photography's professional quality fine art nature photograph of a solitary tree covered in snow in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho
Audrey Cramer Photography's professional quality landscape photograph of mountains and a cabin reflecting in Henry's Lake at dawn
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With these examples, the buildings are still very much present. However, they do not occupy as much of the frame as the previous examples. You may notice the buildings present in this group or you may not.

Buildings Can Be Background Flavor

Then you can have landscape photos where there are buildings present, but they are a part of the background. These buildings are neither a major nor a minor element in the landscape photograph. They are merely there while the focus in on some other subject matter. Each of the photos below has buildings in them but you might or might not notice them because of how non-important they are in each respective photo.

Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of the sun rising over a green and flowering potato field in Aberdeen, Idaho
Audrey Cramer Photography's professional nature landscape photograph of a blue toned solitary tree standing against the snow in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho
Audrey Cramer Photography's quality landscape photograph of the American Falls Reservoir boat dock at sunrise in Idaho
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Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of a moody storm over Reno, Nevada and a mountain road

Now, there’s a good chance you didn’t notice the buildings in these landscape photos. Perhaps you did. Still, the overall photos don’t rely on you noticing the buildings.

Buildings Can Be the Complete Focus

There is a sub-genre of landscape photography called urban landscape photography which focuses entirely on wide scenes of cities and other human-occupied areas. There’s very little in the way of natural features to display in an urban landscape. It’s entirely buildings, mostly of the skyscraper variety. Urban landscape photography is built around having buildings in landscape photography.

Audrey Cramer Photography's professional quality fine art photograph of aerial view of Eastern Idaho State Fair carnival in Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho at sunset

The Same Building in Different Approaches

Now let’s take a quick look at the same building using different approaches. We’ll look at the famous Gifford Barn of Fruita, Utah in Capitol Reef National Park.

Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of horses eating at a barn in Capitol Reef National Park Utah
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Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of Gifford Homestead barn at sunset at Capitol Reef National Park Utah
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Audrey Cramer Photography's fine art landscape photograph of a horse grazing the field at the Gifford Barn in Capitol Reef National Park Utah at sunset
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From what you can see here, not only can you make a building an element in landscape photography, but you can also take multiple approaches with the same building. So, as you can see here, you have options regarding how you approach adding a building into your landscape photography.

Conclusion

So, can landscape photography include buildings? Absolutely yes it can. Buildings can be major or minor elements or merely incidental in the background of a “traditional” landscape photo. Buildings entirely make up the scene of a sub-genre called urban landscape photography. You may even find different takes on the same building.

Have you any great examples of integrating buildings in landscape photography? I’d love to see. Please share them in the comments section below so we can all learn how better to use this element of landscape photography.