The “earth” without art is just “eh.” Mother Nature is the greatest artist with the world as her canvas. The elements that surround us whether it’s terrain, lighting, wildlife or unpredictable weather; the world provides us with extraordinary color, texture, composition and inevitable beauty to capture and appreciate. Yet, how many times have you stood amidst an undeniably picturesque setting that seemed easy to capture yet when you look back at your photos they look so flat? (You can’t see me right now, but both of my hands are up in the air). While there are several techniques to explore when photographing landscapes, the following insight will discuss four techniques to help show more than is actually seen, allowing the camera to truly capture the moment. These techniques include: depth of field, foregrounds, water and weather.
Achieving sharpness in images that are closest to you and extending into the horizon is a significant and common component to landscape photography; it’s referred to as depth of field (or DOH). While practicing DOH can help isolate a subject from its immediate surroundings, this technique can dramatically enhance a landscape setting as it encompasses a subject matter with its environments, where the background and/or the foreground is in focus. This would be considered as having a large or deep depth of field, when you include a range that is several yards to infinity (Cutter, xx). A small or shallow depth of field is when the range of focus narrow which may be a few inches to several feet (Ramos, XX).
There are three main factors that contribute to the depth of field – aperture size, distance from the lens, and the focal length of the lens (Ramos, XX). The aperture which adjusts the opening of your came...
... middle of paper ...
...cliff with the waves crashing up, should the image portray the power of the surf? Including surrounding elements in the foreground or background (which will be touched on a bit later) helps sets the tone.
Looking beyond the physical elements of the water and seeing reflections can be quite magnificent and is an enhancement to the image you are trying to capture. Windless and calm conditions, typically early morning or evening hours work best; and Focusing on the real object versus the reflection is key to ensure the shot is in focus (Roth, XX). Beyond technique and timing, using a polarizing filter can help to reduce the reflection and increase contrast as it helps to polarized light that passes through (SOURCE, XX).
Foregrounds. Not immediately does this come to mind yet is an important factor to consider in landscape photography. Every photo merits a focal point
Topography is the features of land in an area. Those features can include rivers, mountains, lakes, hills, forrests, etc. A White Heron is overflowing with references to the topography of Maine, and more specifically the coast of Maine. The first sentence of Jewett’s A White Heron gives the reader a preview into the appreciation Jewett has for her home state of Maine, “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o’clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees” (413). While this description isn’t specific to Maine on the surface, it is specific to Jewett’s interpretation of the woods at sunset in Maine, and the beauty of color writing is that each reader will imagine their own sunset based on their own woods in their own region. Jewett was just beginning and her description of the land around her, and as the story progresses the d...
Florian Maier-Aichen is a landscape photographer and drawer.With the computer he is able to alter photographs and make them a piece of artwork that not only pleases his thoughts, but also makes a statement.Since he takes real life images of a landscape and then constructs them in different modes that satisfy him , those images aren’t reality anymore.In Blum & Poe you can observe the strange colors he added to enrich myth-making.He fantasizes landscapes, making them open ended
The objective of the experiment is to determine whether subjects with hyperopia or myopia have the same degree of lateral peripheral vision. Hyperopia, or farsightedness, occurs if a person’s eyeball is too short for the cornea, or if the cornea has to little curvature so that the light refracting is not focused in the eye correctly. This results in having trouble focusing or concentrating clearly on an object that are near to the person (http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/hyperopia ). Myopia, or nearsightedness, occurs when a person’s eyeball is too long or their cornea is curved too much. This leads to an incorrect refraction of the light and causes blurred vision when focu...
Photography is defined at the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. To understand photography is having insight or good judgment to know how to take the picture, but also edit it if need be. Does photography limit our understanding of the world? What some people haven’t realized is that photography is all around us, whether it is in the person’s mind to see it or not. While we see photography throughout our daily routine, people dismiss the small types of photography and focus on the bigger sceneries like other countries beautiful cities and landscapes. It’s true that in this day and age, most photographs we see have been altered in some way. When photographers use Photoshop to edit our photos, we use many different ways to make that image appealing to the eye. Although, photographers unless told to do so will not change an image into something totally absurd that takes away from being astatically pleasing. Images are a gateway to the insight of the rest of the world’s cultures landscapes, and architecture, and photography is the key aspect to it. Photography is a one way to see the world, but it is better if you go and travel around the world to see it. In order to see if photography actually limits our understanding, we have to first look at the positive side of photography.
One focal point in Twilight in the Wilderness is the sun. To bring the attention to the sun, Church uses the contrast in the colors in the painting to his advantage. He uses broad contrast as well as a focused contrast that reveals the main focal point. The broad contrast deals with the colors in the sky and the lack of the color of in the lower half of the painting. The brighter colors in the sky in comparison to the dull colors in the lower half of the painting draws attention to the brighter sky. Within the sky itself, Church uses the different colors and different color temperatures to bring the viewer’s eyes to the main focal point. The warm yellow colors being next to the cool and dark teal and red-orange colors emphasizes the brighter, warmer yellow of the sun and brings attention to
The nature in which we live is truly beautiful and something to preserve and treasure. When the Europeans first came to North America, they were immediately in love with the views they encountered. They were interested in wanting to know more about the land, the animals that peeked around, and the people who called it home. Artists such as, John White had heard the tales of what Christopher Columbus had described during his time in North America, which led to them wanting to make their own discoveries (Pohl 140). Everyone had their own opinions and views of the world, but artists were able to capture the natural images and the feeling they had through their paintings (Pohl 140).
landscape has become so commonly known and iconic. The painting is said to be the view from
Describing a house, a tree, or even opening a package are all very good times to use imagery to convey an image that readers can visualize in their minds. “Built of cinder blocks and was painted shocking pink. The principal tree on the place was a tall power pole sprouting transformers; it stood a few feet from the canal and threw a pleasant shade across the drive.” This example of visual imagery helps to visualize the surroundings that the writing piece takes place. Describing a main item in the story or essay is another good use for visual imagery. “The pot was handsome, and the tree looked like a miniature version of the classic oasis scene in the desert. When the plant was delivered, a small chameleon arrived with it and soon made the living
The mother and daughter are sitting on a bench of some sort on a ledge of a window with a portion of the window open. Outside the window there is landscape of mountains, trees, and a stormy sky. The sky is rich with a high value of grays including the whites of the clouds. The technique for creating the landscape out the window, the painter used an atmospheric perspective. The outside is slightly less focused and very fluid compared to the detail used for the mother and daughter.
beauty. Until now a meadow or a tree in a forest to me, was little
When looking at an art piece such as a landscape oil painting by Albert Bierstadt—American artist who created Yosemite Valley. “In 1859, he traveled westward in the company of a land surveyor of the U.S. government, returning with sketches that would result in numerous finished paintings” (wikipedia). The artist shows incredible attention to detail throughout the landscape. The use of reflections is extremely effective and visually accurate; the reflections in the water—clarity of trees, shrubs, pebbles, and rocks—might be one of the most noticeable features in this piece. The relative brightness creates the warmth felt in this painting. The interposition as well as the allusion of three dimensions provides a high level of depth. Aerial perspective is correctly used, furnishing the effect of distortion—the...
Branson, C. (2011). Mastering Photo » If I?m Shooting Close-Ups, Why Is the Background So Important? Retrieved from http://www.masteringphoto.com/if-i%E2%80%99m-shooting-close-ups-why-is-the-background-so-important/
When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The invention of the camera and its many makeovers has changed the art of photography.
Several authors have based some of their writings on their spirituality. Some of these writings are as intricate as the Bible or as basic as an article in a local newspaper, but the meaning and passion behind them should never be doubted. In Leslie Marmon Silko's "Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination", she expresses how her people have a very different meaning of "landscape". To Silko's people, the popular definition of landscape as being "a portion of territory the eye can comprehend in a single view" makes it seem as though the viewer is on the outside looking in. To them, the term landscape is much more than that. One cannot leave their surroundings, the earth and nature are always around us and we are always interconnected. The ancie...
When many people hear about the term “landscape”, they immediately think that it means “nature”. The natural landscape does play an important role in our society but what is more important is the landscape that we make and occupy. So, what exactly is “landscape”? The term can be illiterate in many ways but the definition given by the European Landscape Convention is perhaps the most useful and widely agreed one. It states that a landscape is ‘an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and human factors.’ This definition captures both the idea of landscape being physical like a tract of land, but also something that is mind and social shared, something that is perceived by the people. When it comes to Landscape Architecture, the International Federation of Landscape Architects says that ‘Landscape Architect conduct research and advise on planning, design, and stewardship of the outdoor environment and spaces, both within and beyond the built environment, and its