Landscape criticisms

[Toby]

I think any good photograph should make emtional contact with the viewer. I've looked at countless landscapes in photo.net and whilst their technical merit is undeniable they are totally devoid of any soul. It's easy in any form of photography to become 'technically proficient' the hard yards are in expressing how you feel about it. Look at how many great photographs are blurred or grainy and how many dull landscapes are perfectly exposed, in beautiful light, but don't move you an inch. I don't cherry pick one genre as being better than another, but I do want a bit of soul in my pictures.

 

[venchka]

Cool link, thanks for sharing! That's some excellent work.

You are welcome!

Sparrow,

You are hard to please in a curmudgeonly way. I thought that was my station in life. 😀

 

[Sparrow]

Agreed. I used to try and eliminate every power line, etc. when I shot and then finally gave up... otherwise where I live I wouldn't shoot very many places. Man-made things can be interesting as well, but for some reason I'm just not that interested by people themselves.

I think that’s what I’m saying, to the impartial viewer, nature’s boring nature with HV pylons in it are interesting, pylons with people are very interesting, pylons with nude people are very interesting indeed, it is humanity that makes the shot

 

[remrf]

OK what’s the point, no matter what you do or where you go landscapes are inevitably boring, made perfectly by an expert or badly by amateur without people or the artefacts of people all landscape photography is boring.

If fact they fit right in there at number two of my “pointless list” just behind sunsets and in front of wildlife with “autumn colour” close behind that, I suppose that’s why I like the RFF galleries; they have a mercifully small proportion

And we/I should care about your narrow little point of view because....?

 

[Sparrow]

And we/I should care about your narrow little point of view because....?

? you may want the general public to view, and be interested in your photos perhaps?

 

[remrf]

? you may want the general public to view, and be interested in your photos perhaps?

As far as I know the general public likes and regularly buys all of the photo subjects you have on your list. And ...oddly enough very few of them like "street photography" or even know what it is. In my opinion (which is how your post should have started imo) the bulk of the street photography I have seen here and elsewhere is little more than hasty snapshots of nothing in particular. Poorly framed, lighted and executed. Maybe there is great personal meaning in some of them but little for the casual viewer.

 

[DougK]

I think that’s what I’m saying, to the impartial viewer, nature’s boring nature with HV pylons in it are interesting, pylons with people are very interesting, pylons with nude people are very interesting indeed, it is humanity that makes the shot

That wasn't quite what I said.

If I could afford to travel to places where I could shoot "bare naked nature", I would. The natural world is a fascinating thing to me. I've just learned that a) sometimes I have to work with what's there, human mess or no; and b) cities are a type of landscape as well. You'll notice that I don't include people in my shots very often for the simple fact that I don't find people all that interesting. I do sometimes like the shapes, textures, and colors of things people create.

I think we'll probably have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Todd,

Were the prints in Houston? Still in Houston? Where?

.

MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), free on Thursdays 😉

Todd

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Tell me this man's work is boring.

GeeBee Photo

good link Wayne, some impressive summitar shots.


Todd

 

[venchka]

Thanks, Todd. I hope they are still up after T'giving.

Sparrow,

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I will give thanks for the Westons, Adams, Porters, et al of the world who's work I admire and respect. In my own limited, fumbling way I think that I shall devote part of Thanksgiving Day to creating a landscape photo or two. I might even go crazy and include flowers, fall foliage and a sunset in the same landscape photograph. That should put any audience I may be lucky enough to find into a coma. 😉

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all.

 

[DougK]

Thanks, Todd. I hope they are still up after T'giving.

Sparrow,

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I will give thanks for the Westons, Adams, Porters, et al of the world who's work I admire and respect. In my own limited, fumbling way I think that I shall devote part of Thanksgiving Day to creating a landscape photo or two. I might even go crazy and include flowers, fall foliage and a sunset in the same landscape photograph. That should put any audience I may be lucky enough to find into a coma. 😉

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all.

Don't forget to include a cat, the effect won't be complete without one.

 

[venchka]

Don't forget to include a cat, the effect won't be complete without one.

Thanks for correcting my oversight. I have two in B&W. 😀

 

[venchka]

My right brain is thinking that maybe we've been trolled. 😀

My left brain thinks...

The case for the incalcuable worth of landscape photography:

Eliot Porter

Glen Canyon

Lake Powell

Case closed.

 

[venchka]

good link Wayne, some impressive summitar shots.


Todd

There are Noctilux and 21mm photos sprinkled about too. Lots with red & orange filters. All on Kodak BW400CN. Shows how keeping things simple really works. Paying for the lenses is the hard part. 😱

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Thanks, Todd. I hope they are still up after T'giving.

It should be, here's a link to the exhibit: http://www.mfah.org/microsites/modernwest/

Todd

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

It's easy to take a landscape, it's much harder to take one well.

I had the opportunity to see a few of Ansel Adams prints yesterday, some Westons, Dorthea Lange and others. "Moonrise over Hernandez" was really amazing in person, much different than what you see in the books. The print has a depth that's hard to explain without seeing it.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to travel through British Columbia, from Prince Rupert to Vancouver. If there ever was a place that would make me want to buy a 8x10 view camera and shoot landscapes this place is it, absolutely stunning!

I also made the drive through the Badlands of South Dakota, tried my hand at some Landscape photography there, man did I suck at that. I wanted to throw my cameras away after I got those proofs back.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks!

Yes, yes; I whole-heartedly agree with you here. I saw a few of Ansel Adams' prints a few years ago at the Mpls Institute of Arts, and I agree that seeing a print in person is much different than seeing a reproduction or a post online (duh). But the thing that I was impressed with the most was the technique: the tonality, the details, etc. He was certainly the master of his craft. Aesthetically, there are a few things I don't like about it (Moonrise), but overall it's a good picture.

I agree with Sparrow's basic point, too, that in order for a landscape to be "good" (let's not go down the road of the meaning of that word), it must either be "unique", or must be beyond competent, technically speaking.

It's like speaking. Not everybody has the privilege of being able to speak. But there are millions of us who can, and a small percentage of those who can, can do it eloquently. Of those, an even smaller percentage can do it with beauty, or grace, or power, or mere base shock. Some can even sing, and fewer can sing beautifully. Who goes around praising those who can say "Good morning"? But how many praise the singer singing the National Anthem at the baseball game, or "Voi che sapete" or "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" flawlessly? Sometimes a mere "Bless you" followed by a "Thank you" is admirable in certain societies.

So: is it rarity? Perhaps. But it's the one who executes it who carries the weight...most of the time.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

My right brain is thinking that maybe we've been trolled. 😀

My left brain thinks...

The case for the incalcuable worth of landscape photography:

Eliot Porter

Glen Canyon

Lake Powell

Case closed.

You've got your brain flipped! 😱 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

In my own limited, fumbling way I think that I shall devote part of Thanksgiving Day to creating a landscape photo or two. I might even go crazy and include flowers, fall foliage and a sunset in the same landscape photograph. That should put any audience I may be lucky enough to find into a coma. 😉

Besides the mentioned cat, you should also have a woman holding an apple, next to a guy smoking. Preferrably, the guy should have many many many wrinkles which you should oversharpen in Photoshop.

Then you'll have your Znoogles (the cat) and the Allegory of Fall 😉

 

[Nick R.]

Thanks for the link. That's some great stuff. Whether it's a landscape or a manscape, a good photo is a good photo.

Tell me this man's work is boring.

GeeBee Photo

 

[venchka]

You've got your brain flipped! 😱 🙂

😱 😎 🙄

This comes as a surprise? 😉