For landscape photographers, summer months often mean gruelling early mornings and/or tiring late evenings to catch the best light, which is why some decide to park their cameras on a shelf until shorter days return. I believe the problem with this is it can take quite a while to 'get your eye in' after such a long cessation - which can itself be frustrating and off-putting. When we photograph on a more regular basis, however, our ability to find good compositions, more often, increases - because our observational skills remain heightened.

So, what can we do to keep those observational skills from subsiding during the summer months? Probably the most obvious answer is to shoot in black and white as this genre doesn't rely on colour at all to be successful (obviously). Black and white also lends itself to the high contrast, bright, sunny days which come around more often at this this time of year, too. But there are other things you can do...

• Macro flower photography is a great way to remain focussed because you need to apply similar compositional skills as you do when composing a big vista image. This needn't cost the earth, either! If you don't already own a macro lens there are numerous second-hand lenses available on the market to fit most cameras. In-fact, if you own a mirrorless camera, you can fit much older (and therefore usually cheaper) lenses by fitting them to a suitable lens adaptor. Macro photography is such a fascinating subject and sometimes feels like another world! 
• Phone photography is another great way to remain focussed throughout the summer months and it's a camera we always (usually) have with us. The quality of phone cameras gets better with every new model and these days you can even shoot in raw if you wish! Even if you don't treat phone photography as 'true photography' (whatever that is!), taking your time and carefully composing an image will definitely keep your compositional skills honed.
•  Reconnaissance shouldn't be underestimated and is something I do a lot of as a landscape photographer. Not only is going for lovely long walks in the summer great for your health and mental wellbeing but it's also great for finding new viewpoints which you can make notes of so you can return when the most suitable season and weather conditions allow (don't forget to take a notebook)! Doing this means your observational skills remain focussed throughout your walk even if you're not actually taking pictures.
• Choose a different genre! If you do find landscape photography rather challenging in the summer, why not consider learning a new genre of photography? Not straying too far (from the genre of landscape photography), consider street photography or architectural photography. Both these genres require careful compositional skills yet you don't need to get up at silly o'clock in the morning to achieve them.
• Attend a workshop! Of course, you knew I would say that but it's true! Even if you're an accomplished photographer, attending a workshop has so many benefits including picking up new skillsets and also seeing what pictures others have taken on the same workshop - it's surpring how many times I've heard participants comment on another persons images and said "I didn't see that" or "I wish I'd taken that picture".

Whatever you decide to get up to this summer, I encourage you not to hang up your camera but to get out into the fresh air and enjoy the freedom that photography has to offer. Not only that, you'll also benefit from remaining focussed and ready to photograph arguably the best season of the year for landscape photography when autumn finally makes an appearance.