Emulation - Anthony Roach

Emulation - Anthony Roach

The artist whom I have chosen to study for this task is called Anthony Roach, who is a professional photographer specialising in landscape photography. Roach is an Australian photographer who became interested in landscape photography due to living in close proximity to the sea.  His seascape images are breathtaking and often portray the morning's first light over water, the incredible lines of the landscape when the sea washes over the beach and the the uniqueness of the ecosystems surrounding the sea shore. His photographs are highly appealing, often very detailed and highly colourful with specific attention paid to the movement of the water and the details in the surrounding landscape.

Artist's Photographs

The above photograph is also the image which I have chosen to research in more detail. This was my favourite photograph out of all three images studied, due to the inclusion of a highly dramatic sky.  I loved how isolated the singular house is to the left of the photograph which also assisted the viewer to realise the sheer scale of the mountains in the background. Slowing the shutter speed on this shot allows us to gain a perfect impression of the shallow stream tumbling over the pebbles and we are almost able to image the sound of the water as it passes in the foreground.  Colour plays an important role within this image and I love the way that Roach enhances the green of the grass and the beautiful pink tone of the sky to create a very interesting image.  The light protruding through the clouds is pleasing to the eye and keeping the mountains in the background darker helps us focus our attention towards the house and the river.

The above image, also taken by Roach is completely different in subject and altogether much brighter that the previous shot.  As this is a beach setting, Roach uses a more tropical palate of colours and these are very much suited to the subject of the photograph.  Although a totally different scene, Roach still uses similar techniques within this image and again colour is vitally important.  I love the composition of this photograph with the rainbow ending in the very centre of the image.  Roach has again enhanced the colours and this makes the beach and sky very appealing for the viewer. Again the background mountains assist in making the focus of the photograph the rainbow and the lush vegetation is a good contrast to it's bands of colour allowing us to see the faint second rainbow a little clearer.

My final artist image features a rather dramatic sky, which looks like it has been slightly edited on photoshop to ensure there is high cloud definition. I like this overall effect and although the colours are not as vivid as previous photographs, the sky's pink tinge is pretty giving the impression the photograph was taken either early in the day or at sunset.
Due to this light, the rocks shimmer and frame the photograph nicely.  I think the wide angle used to take this image gives the photo more drama and shows the vast coastline trailing off into the background which I liked.


My Artist Image Copy (SKETCH)

This is the sketch of my chosen artist photograph, when sketching this image I began to realise that there were lots of harsh lines within the photograph which had almost been softened by the photographer by using colour and a slower shutter speed. By producing a sketch I was able to understand his composition even more and gave me inspiration as to how I could perhaps frame my own photographs better and take more interesting views by using a wider angled lens. The landscape almost grew in scale and I liked this different perspective.  I decided to try this technique in my own images and to concentrate on colour and composition to try and produce my own epic shot. 




My Final Inspired Images

This is one of my final images which i took (inspired by my artist, Anthony Roach) Within his first image he uses a slow shutter speed to enhance water movement and to create an almost blurred effect to the river indicating speed. This is the feature which i have tried to replicate in my own image and I, like Roach, slowed my shutter speed to illustrate the water rushing over the rocks, as well as a high colour contrast. I also used a wider angled lens to try and fill the shot with the waterfall.  I think that this enhances the photograph further and makes the waterfall look more powerful.  Like roach, I also enhanced the colour of the sky in this image, to try and create further interest and concentrate the viewer's focal point to the rushing water.  I tried many vantage points when capturing these falls, however, this was my favourite position as when I lowered myself slightly nearer the ground, the width of the waterfall was greatly enhanced and filled the shot.

The image above was taken in a layby whilst in Scotland, I was initially drawn to the tall Scots pine trees which towered above the rest of the scenery and liked the way they broke up the sky.  Using Roach's technique of composition as inspiration, I tried to get as much of the landscape in the photograph as possible and found that my wide angle lens almost allowed the scenery to wrap around me. From this vantage point in the layby you were able to see far into the distance without actually being too elevated which I liked.  The scenery was varied too which meant that there were many elements to the photograph, however, the bright sunlight was difficult to work with and created glare with such a wide lens. I took some photos when the sun went behind a cloud, but these were dull and were not vibrant enough so continued with the sunlight and used Photoshop to alter the contrast int he sky and to enhance the colours to match Roach's images.

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