Land(e)scapist

I would like to think that I know enough about photography to make a decent portrait of a person. Well at the very least, I know which end of the camera should point at my subject. The past few years of my pursuit of the secrets of this craft have been directed towards making memorable pictures of people. However, I often have the opportunity to travel, during which I am presented with someplace new to put in front of my lens.

I am not a landscape guy. But, I do appreciate the world-melting-away moment that one experiences while carefully framing and making the shot of a still scene. There is a sense of fulfillment to be had when I see the shot I visualized minutes before appear on the camera's LCD screen. I won't pretend to know half of what a landscape photographer worth his salt knows, but I find that this therapeutic exercise actively engages my composition skills and forces me to think.

I have also come to realize that in many ways shooting landscapes isn't that much different from shooting people. Allow me to elaborate on that with a few examples.

Example no. 1 - Identify your subject's strong features and highlight them.

There was nothing interesting happening in both the sky and the water. However, I had this concrete pier creating a strong line leading into the horizon, so I chose to use it as the focal point of the image above.

Example no. 2 - Use light to flatter your subject.

Used to working with off-camera flash, I would readily take one out of the bag if I were shooting under the lighting conditions of the scene above. Having not quite yet reached the point where I can 'paint' a landscape with flash successfully, I opted to use a tripod instead. A slower shutter speed allowed me to scrounge for available light and bring out the colors and features of the landscape. I would like to think that save for the inside of a whale at the bottom of the ocean on a moonless night that there is always light to be found — one just has to know how to look for it.

I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed shooting landscapes. It definitely helped that I rise early to catch daybreak and wait out sunsets until the sky turns black. However, I will always find my home in shooting pictures of people, but I don't see why I can't mix the two together and see what comes out.