... blog post:
By no means could you ever call me a landscape photographer, I have neither the dedication nor the focus of the true landscape artist, but I do enjoy doing scenics. There is a big difference between the two.
A landscape photographer aims to make photographs representing an area of countryside or land depicting all of their visible features in terms of their aesthetic appeal. They are attempting to create 'fine art'. It is their raison d'être.
Someone like me is trying to snap scenics; pretty pictures of views of impressive or beautiful (natural) scenery. Not the same thing and not with the same objective outcome. They are one of the many types of things I photograph.
Sometimes, by pure chance, the two may overlap but that is the nature of photography. More great photographs occur by happenstance, than a lot of photographers would like to admit.