Finding the Photos

[Paul Burgess]

Hi all,

Being a amateur photographer, and even newer to landscape photography I have a question:

In landscape photography, how do you find photos??

In bird and wildlife photography, finding (or identifying) the subject is relatively easy. You see a bird, you photograph it. You see the critter, you photograph it. (Okay, so I know it's not that easy; but you get my point.)

But in landscape photography, I'm finding it different. I can walk through a gorgeous set of woods; and yet nothing really stands out (photographically speaking). I don't see any pictures. Sometimes the subject is obvious, like a waterfall or some such thing, but a lot of time it's not.

So, how do you find your photos??

Hope I'm making sense!!

Paul

P.S. For what it's worth; I don't live in a place of grand vistas, and as a student I can't travel.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Paul,
Sometimes you have to look for the small local scenes instead of the big/grand vistas. If you study the works of others, you will find that many of the best images are the ones that are closest to the photographer. You live in an area that you can do seascapes.....Robert Amoruso has some great ones......and I don't consider Florida the "hotbed" of landscapes! Paul Marcellini and Judd Patteson find small scenes in the Everglades and make them seem grand! Heck, even colors and patterns work.....and what you leave out is just as important as what you include! One thing for certain in landscapes.......the light is critical. The magic hours of an an hour B4 sunrise till about an hour after and then an hour B4 sunset to an hour after play a huge role in the dramatic landscapes we are all drawn to. Storms, fog, and other dramatic light can also work......but just making the effort at the sunrise and sunset times will help greatly.....it is what seperates the average.....from the extraordinary. Concentrate your efforts at those times.....and you will quickly be rewarded.

[Paul Burgess]

Thanks Roman! Very helpful; I appreciate it!

[LouBuonomo]

Paul,

I struggle with this also. I have been dabbling in landscapes but really have a hard time visualizing them. I have been working on waterfalls, seascapes and waves as grand vistas are not great on LI either.

I try to use some of my long glass to isolate portions of a landscape too.

Your right as they different than critters....

Lou