Tips for shooting landscape photography?

I enjoy taking landscape photography but whenever I shoot, my photos don't come out very sharp. The landscape isn't blurry as much as it is soft. Is there something I can do with my camera settings to fix this? I tried using a smaller aperture and it still yielded the same results. Is there any tips anyone has to help fix this problem? I have a Nikon D3100 with a polarizing filter and a UV filter. I usually use my 18-55mm VR lens for landscape.

I will just say the first thing that popped into my head… Focus… Or rather, lack of focus. How are you focusing your camera? Are you letting the camera focus automatically? It is very likely focusing where it should not be. Turn auto focus off and focus manually. Be sure the diopter in the viewfinder is set to match your eyes. Depending on how far in the distance your scene is, you can probably just set the lens to manual focus and the infinity marking. You are correct to use a smaller aperture. Do not use any fstop number smaller than f16.

Also, be aware of your filters. If you are using cheap filters, they can also lower the quality of your photo. By the way, I suggest you do NOT stack the UV and polarizer filters. You then have TWO questionable pieces of glass in front of your lens that can be causing the problem. Use one or the other, or even try taking photos without any filter as a test of the quality of the filters.

One more thing just occurred to me. If you are mounting the camera on a tripod, turn the VR OFF on the lens. The VR can actually induce blur when the camera is tripod supported, (or at least it can with some lenses… Better safe than sorry and just turn the VR off when you are not handholding the camera).

Um well I have A canon rebel xs & on mine there are lots of settings that could correct this!
If your not into manual stuff try the landscape mode.
If'd you rather do it manually switch the mode to, i believe it should be, "P"? & play with the picture style. From there you can either select standard or landscape & you can actually INCREASE the sharpness & contrast.

You do not mention if you are using a tripod. If you are not, however, make sure you check your shutter speed to ensure its fast enough for handheld. I

f you are not setting the shutter speed manually, that problem can be made worse by using the polarizer. A polarizer will decrease light by 2 stops, which can cause a camera in program mode to select a slower shutter speed.