Landscape 2 - Assignment 2

Spent the last couple of days getting together my images for Assignment 1. It has been an enjoyable assignment and I am fortunate in so far as having a couple of possible sites reasonably close to home. Used Lightroom to process the RAW files and this was the first time I had used it seriously as opposed to learning about it. Worked well although a bit slow because of my limited knowledge. Seems to be worth the effort.

I have found that one of the problems I face when working on images is that they lose, for me, their freshness and I find myself becoming more and more critical. What was "that came out well" becomes "Yeah its o.k." particularly where I have not been strict about discarding images that are alright but are not some of better work. The lesson learnt here is that having been on a shoot I need to winnow the resulting images down to just one or two over the number needed and even consider going back where I think I have missed out. It is too easy to shoot away without a coherent strategy and I must plan more what it is I need to achieve and the best way to achieve it.

Project 10 - Soft Colours

The first image shows the effect of mist on the colours. The image was taken from a high vantage point overlooking the German border with the Czech Republic looking across into the Czech Republic. Comparing the strength of the colours in the foreground with those in the mid-ground and background demonstrates the differences created by the mist. Interestingly the camera managed to capture more than I remember seeing at the time of taking the photograph.

The second image is of a pond in a forest clearing. It was a bright sunny day and the sun was mainly shining on the area shown in the top right hand quarter of the image making the exposure difficult. The image has been enhanced in Lightroom  using the adjustment brush to reduce exposure in areas that were over-exposed. The difference in the reflected colours is noticeable although not so pronounced as in the 'mist' picture above. I presume this is because the water was very still and the dark bottom of what was a shallow pond meant that the 'mirror' effect was very strong.

The third image is taken in the autumn and the reeds that dominate the image have turned from their summer colour of variations on green to the muted browns that are seen here. The background of trees consists largely of evergreens but they too have lost the brighter colours of new foliage that could be seen during the summer.

Project 9 - Colour Themes

A range of greens in one image. It is not difficult to find a wide range of greens in most landscape shots and indeed within one plant both as the light varies and which part of the plant particularly the leaves are showing. 

This image was shot as the afternoon drew to a close and we were blessed with a deep blue sky and the yellow/orange rays of the setting sun picking out the autumnal colours of the foliage.

The autumnal colour of this tree contrasts strongly with the deep greens of the foliage that is beyond it. It could be argued that the image would be stronger if the yellow foliage in the top left quarter of the image had been cropped out. 

I remember doing this exercise in the Art of Photography and wondering then whether there was any useful reason for doing it. I remain unconvinced although the 2nd of the images benefits from the contrast of the blue of the sky and the orange/yellows of the foliage but the other two seem to me to be artificial constructions where the photograph is not one I would have normally taken as for me they lack interest.

Project 8 - Using Perspective to help composition

In this image the dominant 'perspective element' is the railing posts on the left hand side of the path. Additionally the continuation of the path into the trees (placed centre left) adds to the perspective giving depth to the picture drawing the eye into the image. The image is taken from the top of the path looking downwards and this combined with the railings and the line of the path exaggerate the length of the path. 

In this image the sense of perspective is provided by the two lines of the track that appear to meet at the furthest point aided by the line of the trees either side. Again the eye is drawn into the picture. One criticism I would have purely looking at the image as an example of the use of the perspective is the light parts of the image that tend to draw the eye.

In this image I have used the road as the main element of perspective (the narrowing effect as we look further along the line of the road) but have also used the brightness of the light as we reach the full 'depth' of the image to enhance the effect. It is also possible to see beyond this area of bright sunlight to trees that appear to meet although the assumption would be that this is a continuation of the road.

A different approach using the curve of the road to draw the eye from the right hand bottom corner of the image into the furthest point set off centre to the right. The close proximity of the road in the bottom right exaggerates the perspective effect on the road suggesting a greater depth than was the case in reality.

The image is taken from a high vantage point looking down onto the curve of the river and the surrounding countryside. Perspective effect is given by the different size of the buildings that can be seen along the right hand side of the river and the apparent different size of the vessels that can be seen on the river. There is also the sense of distance given by the hill and dominant butte in the centre of the image and their relationship to the hills in the background.

Here I have tried to give a sense of depth to the image by the relationship between the various elements of the image. The eye is drawn towards the right centre of the image and we assume that this area is further from our viewpoint because of the relationships between the different areas.

These images were taken whilst I was on holiday in eastern Germany.  The first four were taken deliberately to meet the needs of the project hence the use of 'lines' that help the sense of perspective. The last two I selected from the general shots I had taken where I had not deliberately set out to produce images that I could use in this blog. I could not say in all honesty that I saw what I have described and can only assume that the outcome was the product of being attracted to the scene with a probably unconscious awareness (perhaps enhanced by having had to think about perspective) of the relationships between the various elements.

Just for the record the reason that this and other blogs are appearing so soon one after the other is that I took the Course material on holiday with me with the deliberate intent of meeting the needs of the various projects. A bit sad I know but it was a huge improvement on simply providing snapshots for the family album.