All pictures - Pentax 645 Transparency film Nikon LS9000 scanner
I saw an article advertised, on a website I visit frequently, about landscape photography. I had a look at the link, and was greeted by an image of a dull grey seascape with a horizon that wasn't level. I didn't read on.
For me, a landscape photograph should be special. Like the images I've posted here, I want to be able to look at it in 20 years time and get the memories flooding back. If I get it right I can remember how it felt to be there and the excitement I felt at the time.
Beautiful and wild places shaped by nature are often accessible to us all, and give us a welcome break from the mundane paved functionality in which most of us exist. Many of them aren't places to live, but places to visit and experience, for just a short while, the unregulated power of the forces that have created this planet.
When I photograph places like that, I want them to look special and at their best. Its why I can't understand this fascination with long exposure shots of the sea on dull days. I'm not particularly keen to view an image of a process, its whats in the picture thats important to me, not how it was created.
While I work in colour exclusively, I do occasionally try images in B/W, often to see what kind of impact the composition has. I believe a good landscape image should work in both colour and black and white, and while I much prefer the colour version in almost all cases, its a useful exercise to see if the contrast and framing have worked.
I'm as guilty as most, in that when I'm out with my camera, I want to press the shutter as often as possible. However over the years I've learnt to exercise a little more patience. I've sometimes waited years to "get the shot" and I still have a list of places that I'm planning to revisit, as I'm not satisfied with what I have.
Thats why I was somewhat disappointed with the shot I mentioned at the top of the piece. I was also disappointed that someone would see this as a representaion of their work, and even more disappointed that they would then go on to lecture others as to how to create good landscape imagery. If only I was that easily satisfied.
Images taken by and © David and Ann Taylor-Hughes in Spain (Asturias), Scotland (Argyll and Skye) and England (Cornwall)
