Tells a story
I often find myself in a situation where I’m standing or looking out at an incredible landscape. The word incredible not just comes with the territory, but because I’m usually shooting at sunrise or sunset when the sun is lower on the horizon, and the light is much softer, warmer, and with longer shadows…your best friend.
Over the years I will also find myself in a situation where I’m able to shoot a landscape for the sheer reason of showing a beautiful vast area; a true landscape.
So, what do I mean by a pure landscape? According to the dictionary, the definition of a landscape is: “All the visible features of an area, or countryside, or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.”
Further, Wikipedia states that ” Many landscape photographers show little or no human activity in their photos, striving to attain pure, unsullied landscapes that are devoid of human influence, using instead subjects such as strongly defined landforms, weather, and ambient light.”
Just a landscape
I don’t always fall under that variety of photographers. My background is in painting and design, with a BA in the field of Journalism; I’m a storyteller. So, while following the purist ways, which is one genre, I’m also looking for a way to editorialize, which is another genre.
By adding a person, my landscape becomes more of a story. The viewer will ask why is that person there, what’s he doing there, etc., and when the viewer discovers my person or object, I’ve included a touch of Gestalt. Simply said, the more things the viewer discovers in our photography, the more he or she will stick around. Isn’t that just what we want him to do?
In the two photos, I took out the man diving so you’ll see a landscape. In the other photo, I left him in so now it’s more editorial. Still a landscape in my opinion, but now there’s a story to it.
Now, I realize that the ‘purist’, the photographer that shoots landscapes for the sake of landscapes, would have a big problem with adding a story to his/her photo, and that’s perfectly OK with me; a true landscape is just that.
Hopefully, there’s room for both images in the scheme of things.
In my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my personal “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet My fellow photographers are always saying that they just couldn’t do anything about that person that shows up in their photo; they’ll just take him/her out later.
What I usually say is that by adding that person or old beat-up car, or sailboat, you’re not hurting the photo…you just might be saving it. It may be what you’ve always thought, but try looking at things a little differently.
Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot some scale with me.
JoeB
