Landscape

Landscape Photographs began with black and white photography that started over 150 years ago. The film was so slow in the past, that landscape was the perfect subject as they didn't move during long exposures. The 1800's became the time of exploration for landscape photography.

Mood board on Landscape

Adam Burton; He is one of the UK's leading landscape photographers and since 2008, has been working as a professional photographer. He specialises in landscape photography in the UK. Burton loves the rich colours of dawn and dusk when light is at it's most natural. His photography provides landscapes in their natural state rather than using photo manipulation afterwards.

Mood board on Adam Burton

This photograph from Burton's selection, shows a landscape photograph in the lake district. Objectively there is a line of boats present in the foreground of the composition, creating a leading line towards the back of the composition, going in the right hand direction.There is negative space to the left of the boats where the lake comes in. Another boat is placed further in to the composition at eye level. This follows another leading line to the docking place. In the background, you can see the full landscape, with mountains and trees. The sky at the top of the composition has a variety of different colours, including yellows, purples, blues and oranges. These colours that are present indicate that this photograph was taken as the sun is setting, as the sun would create the yellow and orange tones and reflections that are presented in the clouds. The lake below is calm and still. There are no disturbances, therefore the reflection of the sky and boats are very clear and sharp, giving this photograph give off a very mellow and calm atmosphere. The mountains and area in the background have places where the sun hits a side of the landscape. Personally, I love the colours that are captured in this photograph and also many more in Burton's collection. I admire that he waits around for the perfect time to capture the photographs he produces. As he was waiting for the right time, it is clear he thought thoroughly about the composition and the subjects to include that would make it successful. 

Mikko Lagerstedt;
A fine art photographer from finland , who loves to create and capture the feeling of the moment and loves to create simplistic finnish landscapes.

Mood board on Mikko Lagerstedt

Lagerstedt's work presents a different take on landscape compared to the photographer Burton. Lagerstedt's work focuses more on the weird and dark aspect of landscapes. Specifically, this photograph, the simplicity creates a deep mood to the photograph. The composition shows a leading road, from the right side of the composition, at the front, leading out to the back of the composition. I feel that as the road ends up on the other side of the composition, it creates a balance. This photograph is in black and white, much like his other photographs which are very simple with a limited amount of colour. The tone that is created have been enhanced using photoshop to create more contrast which then portrays a dark, eery feel. The lighting has been decreased, whereas the contrast has been increased, therefore creating more of a black tone within the composition. The trees placed at the side of the road, have areas of total darkness with highlights of leaves further up the composition. The road that is the main subject to the photograph seems to have been rained on, therefore the light source creates a reflective surface. As this photograph has been enhanced, it makes the reflective areas stand out against the black tarmac road. The lighting enables you to see certain detail in the road, for example, the gravel on the road, the different bumps, creating a very detailed photograph. Overall, objectively, the mood that is trying to be presented, creates an isolating feeling. The large road looks abandoned which contrasts what it should be. 

Alex Saberi;
Saberi is a National Geographic photographer from London. Photography, originally was a hobby, taking photographs of Richmond park, however this has since become a profession and had a book on the park published. Since then he has discovered different techniques and styles on landscapes using different landscape subjects, for example, trees, people and places he has been to.

Moodboard on Alex Saberi 

I admire Saberi's work and is one of my favourite landscape photographers. Saberi has produced many different series relating to landscapes. My favourite series of his are; Richmond park, Reflections in the rain, Rainy London windows and London Ghosts. This particular photograph is found in the series 'Richmond park', which also focuses on nature as well as landscape. I have always had a love for nature photography, which always compliments landscapes photography. From this photograph, objectively, you can see a lake which is leading from the right to the top left of the composition. This creates a leading line, which make the photograph interesting to the eye. The swan, is presenting the rule of 2/3rds in the composition, in that it is centred to the right of the composition. The lake and the landscape behind show a cloud of mist and lacks vibrant colour. However, the lighting is harshly lit on the swan. The subject of the swan is in focus and the vibrant white of the swan contrasts the dull weather of the landscape around. The lighting has come from the right side as it is hitting the back of the raised swan. The shadow is then presented underneath the swan. The lighting creates a reflection over the lake where it is calm and still. This photograph was taken early in the morning, before sunrise. The lighting, however seems artificial, by using a light or a flash to create the intense shine onto the swan. Subjectively, the photograph portrays a  majestic mood, the swan acting as the ruler of the lake. The lighting enhances the swans figure, which shows Saberi wanted the swan as the main focus. It could also represent the beauty of the swan, portraying the elegance of the animal, almost describing the animal in contrast to it's natural environment. 

Unedited photographs of my experiments with Landscape Photography;

These 3 photographs, I took whilst out on a school trip during lesson. We were given the task of walking around the surrounding area to capture landscape photographs. Out of the selection, I have chosen these 3 as my favourites. As these were taken at the beginning of the week, there were no specific inspiration for taking these photographs other than what I found to be interesting and the use of my prior knowledge. The first photograph, I chose as a portrait size. It shows the colourful boats on the lake. I quite like the positioning of the contents of this composition. It shows the boats at the bottom of the composition, with negative space leading up into the horizon. The second photograph shows foliage at the front of the composition which is the main focus of the composition. The background then contains the lake. Upon editing this, I would remove the factory building in the background as it can be seen as distracting. With this photograph, I am interested by the focus. The background has a shallow depth of field bringing all attention to the flowers. Lastly, the third photograph shows the lake leading off into the larger area. This has created leading lines with the wall on both sides. There are trees either side of the lake to balance out the composition. I particularly like the reflection shown in the lake of the trees. The trees on both sides show darker lighting, whereas the lake shows the brighter light, which is formed from the natural light. This shows a contrast between the two, creating an exciting visual.

These next selection of Photographs, were taken on location as a homework task. The first photograph I chose out of my selection, I took of the trees and the path that I walked down. I personally like the sun beaming through the trees and capturing the shadow along the path. The next two photographs are inspired by Alex Saberi's work. Within his photographs, there is always a subject of either animals, trees or buildings. Luckily, I came across a grazing stag. The two chosen photographs show the different compositions that I captured. Personally, the second of the two is my favourite. This is because I used the rule of thirds within this composition. The lighting is natural and creates a reflection of the ripples in the water to where the stag is walking. There is negative space to the left of the composition which show different elements like the ducks swimming alongside, however the stag is the main subject of the photograph. If I were to edit this, I would crop it slightly and turn up the contrast to create a more dramatic effect to the reflection. The last two photographs, I used the same technique in that I used a subject of an animal. The two compositions are different yet have similar qualities. I have stuck to the rule of thirds and also kept the element of the water, which creates the ripple effect. 

For my Photoshop development work, I selected 3 of my favourite photographs of the stag.  For these, I wanted to enhance the colours as there are contrasting colours that are present. I did not want to 'over edit' these photographs as I just wanted to create an atmosphere to compliment the subject. For this, I used simple steps on photoshop. I first changed the brightness and the contrast, enhancing the contrast generously in the photographs. I then used the saturation tool slightly to create a warm tone to the photographs. Lastly, I used the colour palette tool, which allows me to enhance certain colours within the photographs. For these, the green and brown tones are the most prominent, therefore, I experimented with changing the vibrancy of these colours to make the subjects more forthright in the compositions. 

These 2 photographs that I have edited, incorporate the element of black and white and colour.  I quite like this process and am pleased with the outcome of these, as it is a creative contrast to the photographs. The first photograph, the swan was the subject, which I kept in colour. With this photograph, the contrast isn't that noticeable between the swan and the lake as the swan is naturally white. However, I quite like the subtle difference between the background and the subject. The swan is more vibrant and the tones are slightly different to the black and white tones created by the filter in the background. The second photograph, is a portrait version of one of my earlier photographs. The main subject are the boats on the lake, I feel that this technique of black and white work well, as the boats are strong and show different colours, therefore showing the  contrast between the colour and the black and white. The process of this technique starts with the black and white layer. I changed the black and white tones to how I desired as well as the contrast. I then select the area of colour that I want to keep within the photograph using a selection tool, for these I used the magnetic lassoo tool, and once selected, I used the rubber tool to rub out in the section that I had just selected, peeling back the colour underneath from the background layer.