In The Eye of The Beholder?

What happens if you put lots of photographers at the same time, in the same place and ask them to photographer the same thing? All the pictures will be the same or similar right?.

To be honest I've often found it most odd when people state this kind of nonsense. I find it stranger still and most distasteful when a photographer is unwilling to share a 'secret' location. Is this in case you somehow steal their mojo? Thankfully I've recently had the opportunity to robustly debunk this myth.

I was recently on a photographic weekend with several practiced photographers and a recent convert to photography. One morning sat on a hill looking at the same tree at the same time. I suggested we all took pictures and then we compared the results. The results surprised even me.

I'll start with myself. I wanted a panoramic symmetrical shot of the scene. So I used a wide lens with the intention of cropping the top and bottom of the image afterwards.

Next is the photograph of Wirral, UK based photographer Anthony Smith. To use his own words

I shot this as a variation of what is an often shot scene. I wanted to include some of the surrounding landscape too. I shot in portrait mode for something a bit different as its not the usual landscape orientation.

Next up is Andy Rosochacki. Now Andy made me smile straight away by vanishing over the hill into the opposite direction and photographing into the sun. This is 'against the rules' so it gets my vote. In Andy's own words:

As you remember I did my loner bit and disappeared down the other side of the hill. I'd made a mental note to shoot towards the light source at some stage during the break as most of my previous landscapes have shown lots of detail on the land due to keeping the sun out of shot.

Last but by no means least is the new kid on the block John MacLeod. He's had a camera only 3 months and is already hooked. I feel he's got great potential largely because no one has had chance to try stifle his creativity yet. He's not hobbled with too many rules and technical obsessions. The result is his photograph is completely abstract and original. It shows a very individual way of looking at things. The great message for us all in John's shot is that you learn by experimenting and should never stop doing so.

As you can see with a group of photographers in the same place at the same time the results vary hugely. This is for a very simple reason. The creative intent and the creative eye of each photographer is totaly different. This difference in creative intent shapes how a photographer will compose and what they want to show in their interpretation of a scene. It also tends to influence how and what they look for in the first place.

If there is a moral to the tale (and I am not sure there is!) then I think it is this one thing. There is no right and wrong image here there are just different interpretations of what was there. Don't mimic and don't fight your own creative urges. Be yourself, see for yourself and you will not go wrong.

Double Velvia Vision

One of the major reasons many landscape photographers avoid going digital is Fuji Velvia film. It is without a doubt a fantastic film for landscape. It has a great colour and tone idealy suited to landscapes.

So it was with great interest on my landscape weekend that I tried out the Adobe Photoshop 'Velvia Vision' plugin from Fred Miranda's website.

The picture on the top left is taken with a 3 stop ND Grad filter to hold back the sky. The same shot shown on the bottom left has had the Velvia Vision plugin used on it. The Velvia shot has a warmer tone and has a better dynamic range and contrast. This has benefited the look of the sky greatly.

Now i could have done all this myself given enough time in Adobe Photoshop. This plugin did it in 10 seconds 1 click and no effort whatsoever on my part. This gets my vote every time. Less time in Photoshop is more time taking pictures.

Verdict: $25 well spent

Landscape Photography - Useful Information

Once again I prepare for a long weekend of looking out at rain out a cottage window instead of taking landscape photographs. This got me to thinking about landscape photography for a while. I wondered what sites and information would be useful to photographers starting out with landscape photography. On the web there is a glut of information out there but I find I always return to the same handful of sites. With that in mind I thought I would list them here with a brief description.

The Luminous Landscape - The brainchild of the very talented Michael Reichmann. This frequently updated site contains articles on photographic equipment, printing, workflow and varied creative advice. The articles range from the very technical to clear and concise advice. The site has something at the right level for everyone.

Northscape - The creation of seasoned photographers Keith Henson and Andy Dippie. They run superb landscape courses all year round. I can highly recommend these courses as I have done one myself and learned more in 3 days than I could have taught myself in a year. They have also recently started master classes. More to follow on them soon.

Radiant Vista - In Digital photography and with scanned film photography also, the post processing of your images vital. It is often the diference between a stunning landscape and a mediocre shot. Radiant Vista has some excellent video tutorials to set you on the right track to produce shots that really stand out from the crowd.

ePhotozine.com - Is a great web community for photographers of any ability. Ask a question and it'll be answered quickly and in a useful way. The site is crammed with people in the know on just about any landscape topic you need. There are also some well known professionals melingering on ePhotozine offering the benefit of their experience to beginners and enthusiasts.

Charlie Waite - The grand master of landscape photography. I recommend studying his images to help collect your own thoughts on landscape. He also gets involved protecting the landscape he loves rather than just being a tourist which I find admirable.

Joe Cornish - It was after first seeing the work of Joe Cornish I decided I wanted to be a photographer. Sadly I have the wrong temperament for landscape. However I greatly admire those who do landscape well like Joe. He's a really friendly, approachable and articulate person with very clear views on art and photography that show in his work. He does great courses which really make you slow down and think about what you're doing. Joe teaches you how to recognise what works in landscape and why it works. Once again this is not a random recommendation. I did a course with Joe and Dave Ward Two years back and loved every minute.

David Ward - Has a very unique abstract style all of his own. He also has a highly intelligent outlook on his work. He's the philosopher king of landscape photography and his book The Landscape Within is on the reading list of many skilled photographers I know.

Note: I'd also like to thank landscape photographer James Burns(*) for the beautiful image of Dunstanburgh used to illustrate this article. You can purchase prints from James or hire him for commissions, training etc... at his website.

* As with all landscapers don't feed him after midnight and keep him away from direct sunlight.