Landscape Introduction

Landscape Introduction 

This is my introduction page to the theme of "Landscape" which is the underlying subject of many photographs within my topic Man & Nature. This page will feature three initial starter images shot by myself, an inspirational mind map and also a snippet of my Pinterest board which I created whilst exploring this theme.

Above is a snapshot of my Pinterest board which is where I will be displaying all of my images collected as inspiration throughout the course. I found that Pinterest was a great way to explore a theme as it displays a visual journey of a topic and allows thought processes to be clearly displayed. I found Pinterest an interesting simple way to compare different styles of photography and this enabled me to also discover new images which I may not have come across searching the internet alone.  

Following on from my Pinterest board, I used a mindmap to categorise my findings which assisted in ensuring all parts of the theme were explored thoroughly. Above is my first Mind map showing some of my opening ideas and a few of the Artists whose work i will be investigating over the next few weeks. There were certain aspects of my mind map that I decided not to consider, as over time, my investigations stemmed to new more concentrated ideas.  I found the mind map a great way to plan my work and gave my research structure.

After initially using the internet to gain some inspiration, and being a novice within the field of landscape photography, I decided to experiment and take some opening images of my own to gain some insight into possible compositions.  Very quickly I realised that the landscape around me made for some incredible images and whilst both home and abroad, I began to see the potential of the natural world and how I could capture it's beauty with my camera.

My Own Photographs

Icelandic waterfall - November 2015, This photograph was taken at Skógafoss Waterfall in the South of Iceland during a short trip in 2015 and at the very beginning of my course.  I tried to portray the sheer magnitude of the falls and how powerful the water was tumbling over the mountainside. I spent time at this location experimenting with how to express the size of the waterfall through my lens.  This was done by initially placing people within my shot to attempt to demonstrate scale and then by lowering myself to ground level to emphasise the height of the falls.
I also experimented with colour in this photograph and used Photoshop to enhance the green tufts of grass.  I liked the effect given as it was a sharp contrast to the grey pebbles and sand on the floor which gave my shot appeal and interest. 

This image has not been edited in Photoshop because i felt that the contrasting colours brought out the landscape well on their own. Again the image was taken on Iceland's South coast, however, this time, I tried to demonstrate the power of the ocean by capturing waves crashing over the jagged Icelandic rocks.  The almost Monochrome colouring of this image was appealing to me as it enhanced the sea spray and gave the sea a more angry mood. I experimented with taking images of particular waves, however, the coastline in the above image seemed to frame the shot more and give the viewer a better perspective of the horizon and I think this added to the drama of the photograph. I will experiment further with colour later in my course to see if any techniques could furthermore improve my landscape images.

The above final image, again taken in Iceland experiments with texture and also placing a subject within the photograph.  There are many elements to this photograph which I particularly liked and wished to experiment further during my course.  Firstly, I decided to test using different colours and textures within my photographs and the contrasts which could be made. The soft, almost fluffy yellow sea grass contrasts really well with the sharp mountains in the background and also the clean lines of the black church which I found very appealing. I secondly tested new angles from which to take my images and I found that slightly creating an angle, enhanced the direction in which the girl was walking, and therefore, focusing the viewers attention towards the church.
Lastly, I began to realise that the sky in an image can be just as interesting as the landscape and in some cases can create real drama within a shot. I liked the cloud formations in the above shot which enhanced the mood of the photograph and the blue hue of the sky again contrasted well with the grass in the foreground.  I will look more closely at the role of skies within my photography as the course progresses.  

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