Learning to Photograph the Landscape - Part I

Text and photography Copyright Guy Tal. All rights reserved.

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment. -Ansel Adams

Ask most people who, in their opinion, is the greatest nature photographer in history and most will name Ansel Adams. Adams did not photograph wildlife, and very few of his images can be considered "macro". He never took a camera underwater or sat in a hide. He did not, in fact, practice most types of photography we associate with nature. Why then has his work made such a profound impression?

Adams‘ greatness comes not from images relying on technique or subject, but rather on vision, on being able to portray a scene, to arrange its elements, and to present it in a way that evokes an emotional response and allows the viewer to experience not only a beautiful place, but also the awe-inspiring grandeur of Nature.

To achieve such an effect, it is not enough to have an interesting subject, or to maintain sharp focus, or to calculate the perfect exposure - one must also be able to see a composition within a scene, to visualize it, as it would appear in the final print. One must be able to convey his or her own inspiration to the viewer. That is the essence of landscape photography - learning to see, training the eye to recognize elements in a scene that can combine to produce an emotional reaction, and then capturing your own vision in a photograph.

In this article I will focus my discussion on seeing and visualizing, rather than technique and gear. I believe these are much more crucial to a successful landscape image.

Elements and Attributes - the Anatomy of a Scene

The more you look around at things, the more you see. The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can‘t be photographed. -Eliot Porter

Elements are all the things that make up a scene. Elements can be objects, lines, people, and wildlife. Learning to see these elements is the first step to creating a good landscape image. Once you make a mental inventory of elements available to you, your next step will be to arrange them - to find a composition in which they come together, enhancing or contrasting each other, complementing each other to create the desired effect.

Attributes are qualities of each element that will affect the element‘s prominence in the image. Let us examine some of these attributes:

• Shape - every element in the scene has a distinct shape, which can be simple or irregular. Unusual shapes have a way of attracting attention away from simpler ones. This needs to be taken into account depending on which objects you want the viewer to be drawn to. Some shapes complement each other, while some are a distraction.
• Size - an element‘s size will determine its prominence in the frame. Depending on whether you wish the viewer to pay more or less attention to the object, you may want to select your lens and point of view to enhance or mitigate the effect of an element‘s size in relation to others.
• Texture - a texture can be interesting to the eye or make it difficult to notice other elements. Different textures may blend into each other or enhance each other.
• Curvature - unlike the shape, which is unique to one element, curvature may be a result of the arrangement of several objects, or part of a background. Curvature can lead the viewer‘s eye towards or away from an element.
• Pattern - a pattern is a recurring element within a scene. It can be a recurring shape or texture that is replicated in multiple elements.
• Color - some colors work better with others, vivid colors attract attention away from lighter ones. Again - depending on what you want the viewer to be drawn to, you must take these effects into account.
• Tone - in color photography, pay attention to different shades of the same colors. In black-and-white photography, different colors may be rendered in a similar way depending on their tone. Tone is also a product of how an element is lit and its reflective qualities.

Putting it All Together

The best pictures differentiate themselves by nuances...a tiny relationship - either a harmony or a disharmony - that creates a picture. -Ernst Haas

Let‘s go through an exercise of analyzing the image on the right.

First let‘s inventory our elements:

1. The island in the distance
2. The water line
3. The clouds
4. The lake
5. The lake shore
6. The foreground rocks
7. The snow
8. The dead plants

Working with elements and attributes:
When I came upon this scene, what grabbed my eye first and inspired me most was the pattern in the water, caused by a strong wind, then the shape of the island in the distance. Note how I arranged my elements - the curvature in the snow is used to lead the viewer towards the water line to a point where the island and patterns on the water come together. The other elements in the scene are secondary and used to enhance the effect - the texture and size of the foreground rocks help define the curvature of the snow. The tones in the sky and clouds help separate the island from the lake and draw attention to its brightness.

Why Black and White?

My last decision for the above image was regarding color - this scene was made of very muted colors. In fact some of them I found distracting - the dead flora was yellowish, the foreground rocks had varying degrees of color that would have drawn attention to them. I decided to eliminate these distractions by using black and white film.

There is no hard and fast rule when to use color vs. black and white. The trick is to be able to visualize a scene in black and white before making the final selection (by final selection I don‘t mean one cannot take the same image in both types of film, but the one that will work better as a print). If you notice in my analysis of the image above, I was drawn to patterns, shapes, curvature, etc. Color is not what attracted me to the scene. But, obviously, I was initially seeing the scene in color. The trick to "seeing" in black and white is to recognize tones, or densities, of colors in a scene. Similar tones will be rendered the same regardless of the actual color. This can be used to eliminate distractions caused by the combination of different colors or by colors that are unattractive to the eye (as was the case with this scene).

Another important fact, albeit of a technical nature, to keep in mind is that black and white film has a much wider latitude than color film, thus allowing a much wider range of tones to be captured. In scenes where such subtleties are important, black and white will often produce more impressive images.

Planning and Preparation

Chance favors the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur

A photograph freezes a moment in time. Beautiful and inspiring phenomena happen every day in many places at many times. Most of these moments pass unrecorded. How can you increase your chances of witnessing such a moment and successfully capturing it on film? The old boy scout credo stands true - be prepared.

Very rarely can we predict a scene with any kind of certainty, but the more we know about an area, the greater the chances we‘ll be able to portray it at a decisive moment.

Several things can improve your odds of success:

• Know where you‘re going and what you plan to photograph -visit the area at least once with no intention of taking images -scout for good locations, visualize a variety of compositions, make an inventory of available elements and examine the most interesting ones from different angles and perspectives. Some photographers take a template with them into the field - a hollow frame representing the same width and height ratio as their camera‘s frame size, then hold it at various distances from their eye to help visualize how a certain focal length will capture a given scene.
• Learn the light - check with the local weather service for the precise times of sunrise and sunset, make a note of the most favorable direction of light for a given scene.
• Learn the weather - know in advance whether you can expect clouds or rain or bright sunlight. Try for the weather condition that best enhances your scene. Know when there‘s a chance of brightly colored clouds, or rainbows, or a dark heavy backdrop of storm clouds or bright blue skies.
• Be there ahead of time - give yourself time to set up, to make last minute adjustments, to respond to changing conditions. Have the camera mounted and focused, your filters in place, and your film loaded ahead of time so you are ready to trip the shutter at exactly the right moment. Bring a book or a notepad or a second camera body to help pass the time, if you need to.

While there‘s no denying that some amazing images are the result of pure chance, the only way to ensure consistently good results is to take the time, prepare, and plan. Visit the same area a number of times, at different times of the day, possibly even at different seasons. The better you know it, the more successful you will be. Don‘t be afraid to leave empty handed if things don‘t look quite right. Try again another time.

Beyond the Scene - You Cannot Capture What You Do Not Have

I see magic in the quiet light of dusk. I feel quiet, yet intense energy in the natural elements of our habitat. A sense of magic prevails, a sense of mystery. It is a time for contemplation, for listening - a time for making photographs. -John Sexton

A salesperson can convince you of something he does not believe in himself. An artist cannot compromise his honesty and integrity and still create inspiration. You must be inspired to inspire others. You must be excited about a scene to induce such excitement in the viewer. I can remember many times, witnessing a beautiful scene, but not capturing it on film because I did not feel up to it - I was distracted by other people, by lack of time, or any number of other reasons. I knew from experience that the image would not turn out well. I also knew that when I view it myself at a later time, I would be reminded of the foul mood I was in.

Landscape photography is an art - think like an artist, not like a photographer. Make your goal the expression of yourself, rather than the capturing of a scene. Bring yourself to the same point a painter or a poet would - be excited, moved, inspired, then proceed to use photography as a means of expression. Put your own interpretation, your own decisions, and your own feelings, into each image. Do not rely on subject or technique alone. Those are important skills, but much like in writing -knowing the language and how to use a keyboard are not sufficient to produce a great novel or a poem. Much like painting - knowing how to mount a canvas and work with paint and brushes is not enough to create a masterpiece.
 While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. -Dorothea Lange

In Learning to Photograph the Landscape - Part I, I introduced a method for analyzing a scene and I discussed the importance of preparation and planning. In this part, I will take things a step further and discuss the transition from an inventory of elements and their attributes to a successful composition. I use the term "success" carefully here as ultimately success is in the eye of the beholder. What I present here are lessons learned by myself and others in the hope that they may help you find your own success and express your own vision.

This article is a bit more technical in nature, but is not necessarily geared towards either experienced or novice photographers. The discussion, for the most part, applies primarily to artistic image making and may have little bearing on other types of photography, mainly ones which are documentary in nature.

What Makes A Successful Composition?

Reality offers us such wealth that we must cut some of it out on the spot, simplify. The question is do we always cut out what we should? While we‘re working, we must be conscious of what we‘re doing. Sometimes we have the feeling that we‘ve taken a great photo, and yet we continue to unfold. We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole. -Henri Cartier-Bresson

Let us begin by studying the concept of a composition. A composition is the artist‘s interpretation of a scene - the things he/she finds interesting and inspiring and wishes to convey to the viewer. A composition is a whole - it is the coming together of elements carefully arranged to elicit a response in the viewer. Therefore, the first criterion for judging a successful composition is whether or not the artist‘s message was indeed conveyed and resulted in an emotional reaction. Further success will be determined by whether that reaction was indeed the intended one.

A photograph, regardless of size, format, equipment, or technique used in its production, takes part of a scene and separates it from a larger context. From that point on, the image becomes a whole, self-contained composition. When this composition gains in impact from being separated from its original context, it is successful. If it loses impact - it is unsuccessful. Thus the next criterion for a successful composition is in its ability to stand on its own as a whole when taken out of its original context. A successful composition needs no explanation of the context from which it was removed.

Next is simplicity. As Ansel Adams noted - a photograph is usually looked at, seldom looked into. Once the most interesting elements have been identified, one should consider their arrangement within the composition. The composition needs to be simple enough for a viewer to immediately recognize what it is the photographer intended them to see and experience. Note that simplicity in composition does not necessarily imply fewer elements, but rather fewer distractions. For example: an image may contain a subject backed by a vast forest consisting of hundreds of trees. As long as the trees‘ pattern remains uniform they will not distract from the main subject. Elements in a composition should enhance each other or, at the very least, not interfere with each other. They must never distract from each other.

An extension of simplicity is the point of gravity. In compositions with a large number of elements of diverse characteristics, the viewer should not have to search through the elements in an image, but rather be drawn, led by elements and their attributes (lines, curves, color, tone, etc.) to a point or points in the composition that have the most impact. The successful photographer will recognize potential gravity points within a scene and use them to enhance his/her composition‘s impact.

Guidelines, Rules and Technique

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. -Ansel Adams

Over the ages there have been many attempts to find a common denominator for aesthetics. From the Golden Ratio to Feng Shui; from prime numbers to Fibonacci sequences, there are no hard and fast rules to achieving a successful image. There are, however, guidelines and techniques that may improve your odds - principles to assist in deciding a good composition based on a wide array of samples and the experience of image makers over many years.

One of the most widely used guidelines is the Rule of Thirds. According to the Rule of Thirds, elements placed at (or very close to) the intersection points of an imaginary 3x3 grid dividing the frame, will be more powerful and work better as gravity points.

Another oft-used technique is the use of Leading Lines - identify lines in the scene pointing towards an interesting subject. These lines are often more powerful when they are diagonal - adding depth to the image. A common practice is to have these lines intersect with the image‘s edge, preferably a corner, making them immediately noticeable.

The image above has proven very successful for me. Note how the placement of the sunburst coincides with the Rule of Thirds, and the diagonal lines strongly leading towards it. Without these lines, the many trees at the top could easily clutter the composition and distract the viewer.

Separating the composition from its context is perhaps the most difficult skill to master. Our eyes see the world at a fixed angle, and what initially draws us to a given scene is the impression conveyed through normal vision. In many cases, wider or tighter compositions may evade us simply because we are not used to visualizing them. In time, experienced photographers learn to recognize scenes as they will appear in the viewfinder or on the ground glass, but even then, some subtle compositions may be overlooked. As I mentioned in my previous article, a common aid is a template - a hollow rectangle preserving the frame ratio of your camera. For 35mm an empty slide mount will do the trick. For larger formats a simple cardboard cut-out can prove a valuable accessory. Studying a scene through this template, holding it at varying distances from your eye, rotating it, etc. can be extremely helpful in determining the most powerful elements and how they co-exist in a composition, independent of their surrounding. This is especially useful when unpacking and setting a camera is a lengthy process.

Examine the image on the left. This image was taken at the Painted Hills area of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. The area consists of several hills of very vivid color and interesting texture. The surrounding area is mostly filled with trails, high-desert vegetation and some farmland. Obviously what attracted my eye were the unique color, texture and lines in the hills. I scouted around for a composition that would isolate these qualities and be interesting in and of itself. The resulting image was taken with a short telephoto lens at close range to properly capture the texture as well as isolate the interesting elements from their larger context, plagued with a variety of distractions.

Equipment Notes

Concentrate on equipment and you‘ll take technically good photographs. Concentrate on seeing the light‘s magic colors and your images will stir the soul. - Jack Dykinga Like most photographers, I have my own preference when it comes to equipment. Through the years, I experimented with many different types of cameras, lenses, film, and virtually every piece of photographic equipment before settling on my current system. I now create better images than I ever did and I owe much of it to my equipment. I have also learned that there is no such thing as a universally perfect setup. The process of finding my perfect gear was a long and educational journey; expensive at some points, disappointing at other, frustrating at many, and rewarding at most.

Far be it for me to sing the praise of a certain type of camera, hype a certain brand, or specify the ideal lens selection. These are all individual choices and while I may point out things I find advantageous in my gear or lacking in other - your own interpretation may be completely different, and every bit as valid.

The one thing I can say with authority about photographic gear for the creation of artistic images is that it needs to comply with the artist‘s mode of work. Ergonomic controls, and work processes should take precedence over any given feature or brand.

Your gear should be an extension of you - the controls should readily avail themselves to you where you expect them to be and the image making process should make logical sense to you.

Do not feel compelled to opt for the longest list of features, highest numbers, or most popular brand. Before considering the minute details, first judge equipment by how it feels - from the placement and feel of controls to the effect its texture, weight, and size have on your fingertips.

Some will tell you to get a better lens rather than a more expensive camera. This is a good rule of thumb, but one with many exceptions. If a camera doesn‘t feel right in your hands, if its user interface is awkward, if in any way it does not work for you - it will become a source of frustration, a distraction. It will prevent you from applying your full attention to the image you are attempting to create.

Experiment, experiment, then experiment some more. Efficient use of some types of equipment requires some learning and practice. Allow yourself the time to be familiar with different types of gear before settling on the one to own.

The Artist

To convey in the print the feeling you experienced when you exposed your film - to walk out of the darkroom and say: "This is it, the equivalent of what I saw and felt! That‘s what it‘s all about. -John Sexton

SextonBy now you may be asking yourself if all there is to an artistic image is following rules and being proficient with your photographic gear. The answer is a resounding "NO." Beyond any guideline or rule, beyond any subject or equipment or light or technique, by far the most important role in the making of a successful image is that of the artist - the photographer.

Understanding your subject matter - the scene, your raw materials - elements and attributes, your tools - the camera, lenses, filters, film, basic rules of optics and exposure, etc. is only a first step. Do not allow yourself be consumed by these - they are merely means, not the goal. The goal is to leverage your skill, knowledge, and inspiration to create a harmonious, synergetic, emotional image.

You may now be asking yourself how best to introduce your own vision into a natural scene, to interject your own interpretation, to develop your own style, to produce new concepts and interpretations given all the guidelines and rules and constraints. Herein lies the black magic of art - this is the one thing that cannot be learned or taught other than by yourself, to yourself.

Inspiration comes from a heightened state of emotion. Help yourself find your inspiration, be it through music or silence, through poetry or images, through interaction or solitude, and once you find it - learn to avoid cynicism without resorting to cliche, to apply guidelines and rules without becoming an automaton. From here on - you are on your own. Go out, seek beauty, create art.