Monday 6 February 2012

Location, location, location

Today the forecast was for 'cloud'. I had no expectations at all for anything spectacular. But when we headed out...it was quite out of this world...a truly staggering day.  Well, I've done it again - that landscape photographers trap I keep twining on about, I've just stumbled in to it once more!! Can't help it!! 

Thing is, I'd have been hard pushed to take anything other than a stunning picture today...and that is no self-inflated opinion, quite the contrary...just being here was all that was required. In some ways I am at a major advantage being on a landscape course and living in the Lakes...there could be no greater gift could there? And its dramatic beauty could distract attention away from all manner of technical flaws.  However, its' presence equally has the power to overpower any theme, message or concept I choose to overlay it with and make it look contrived and feeble. It truly is a gigantic personality and one that is hard to tame, challenge or alter.  To get beyond it is tougher than it seems and is it futile to try? 

Strangely for assignment one, this day alone could theoretically have yielded me with twelve adequate images to illustrate 'the season' (bit samey, but you catch my drift) (full set here)....and then I would be making headway...but I didn't have to try that hard in all honesty and what would I have learned... As it is, I've still to make any real progress on assignment one (one failed attempt today).  I feel like a recovering alcoholic pitching out in a brewery...pretty cool brewery mind!!




7 comments:

  1. In my book number 3 is the one, 'obscured by clouds' or 'through a glass darkly'.

    The others are fine and probably very saleable but fit more into the expected genre.

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  2. Conventional landscapes they may be, but beautiful nonetheless. In understand you're trying to do more than that though... however I'd love to have this down the road from my place... ;)

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  3. Too right Selina...I feel very lucky!!

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  4. gorgeous pics - i love the first and the third one especially, nice and dark. great work!

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  5. These are great. For me No. 1 stands out. I see why people like No. 3 but for me it's just a little murky.
    In his classic book 'Mountain Light' Galen Rowell talks about the role of luck in landscape photography. His point of course is that the more you go out there the luckier you get. But he also says that with experience you get a sense of where to place yourself to capture a developing situation. So what seems like luck is the culmination of practice and experience.
    If you are not familiar with this book its very much worth a look. Very traditional landscapes but as a mountaineer he captures what its like to be in the high mountains better than anyone else.
    lIKE THIS : http://montanaspersonales.es/montanasdelsur/?p=3486

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  6. Thanks Helen and Jeremy. There must be some merit in Rowell's comments for sure...in many genres, being in the right place, at the right time deems you the decisive moment. The more competent and practiced you become the keener your 'eye' is...I think being a fell runner in the Lakes I could quite quickly build up a 'beautiful' set of Lakeland images that in many ways would be personal in that I have run to get them. However, I'm really wanting to challenge myself on this course and am purposefully being awkward to make it harder for myself! Thanks for the link too.

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