Use a tripod or a monopod for shooting landscapes; the reason being is that using filters, small apertures and low ISO ratings can slow your shutter speed considerably, leaving your photos vulnerable to camera shake. Otherwise, as long as you stay within your shutter speed comfort zone of around 1/90th or 1/125th sec. handholding will be fine.
When shooting landscapes, as with everything else we photograph, it is important to frame the subject in a manner that creates interest and appeal.
With practise, you will see by simply moving the point of focus in the image to the left or right of the frame can greatly improve the aesthetic nature of the final product.
Once you have composed the shot in your SLR the next thing you have to work out is the exposure. You can use the in-camera meter. On overcast days you do not have to worry about shadows, as the clouds act like one giant soft box, which diffuses the light, where as on sunny days you have to deal with other issues such as shadows and highlighted areas. You can use a circular polarizer or a neutral density filter, or in some cases you may need to use both together. Polarizer’s reduce glare and unsightly highlights, but they can greatly reduce the shutter speed and aperture on average by two stops.
The smaller the aperture you use, the more likely you are to get a nice blue sky and fluffy textured clouds. With smaller apertures you really need to consider the shutter speed.
Another aspect of landscape photography to consider is the time of day. Some subjects look better at night than during the day. A mountain scene quite often looks more appealing at sunrise or sunset. If possible, on the day you are going out on a shoot, be selective on what you photograph at certain times.
You should spend more time composing and shooting the scene, rather than “fixing” your images in Photoshop. It wastes a lot of time and slows the whole process completely. Becoming reliant on Photoshop to fix your mistakes is time consuming. Striving to become a better photographer means that you must learn to discipline yourself with time and effort when you are actually using your camera. If you want to keep your image natural, ninety percent of your work will have to be in camera, with only a few normal tweaks such as colour correcting in curves, sharpening, and possibly cropping. Having to do too much post processing can destroy an image