Been on a bit of a landscape binge lately. Like many photographers landscapes (or seascapes as is the case here) were one of the first subjects I ever photographed and are still one of the things I love photographing the most. It’s a kind of therapy. The nature of landscape photography forces you to slow down and be patient, waiting for just the right light and think through how to set up your shot. It’s a great change from the rapid pace of street photography where your subjects are generally moving and “the moment” happens and is gone in the blink of an eye. In landscape photography, “the moment” tends to happen much slower. It’s the ten minutes it takes for the sun to break through the clouds, or the moon to rise. Often you are the only person there and this can make you feel like the piece of land or beach or lake you are photographing truly belongs to you. (Did I go a bit overboard there? Yeah, I thought so too)
I was all set to go on a landscape photography weekend last week, when our dog Rosie, in a display of exquisite timing, decided to escape the yard and explore the neighbourhood. She must have eaten something she shouldn’t have because for the next few days she lost her appetite and wasn’t her usual-bouncing-off-the-wall self so we had to take her to the emergency vet, meaning we had to cancel our weekend away.
Not to be discouraged, I decided to visit some of my favourite locations, Swan Bay and Point Lonsdale. These are places where I learned and practiced many photographic skills and techniques and so have fond memories of. These are a few images from the shoot. Comparing these to early images from these locations It is satisfying to see I have grown somewhat in skill level. It also reinforced the advantage of knowing your location. I had an idea of where the sun or the moon would rise and what kind of light they would cast when they did, so I could set up a shot accordingly. If I didn’t already know these locations, I may have needed to come back several times before getting the shots I really wanted. The best landscape photographers will visit a location many times before finally making the image they have envisioned. So its important not to be discouraged if first results are a little less spectacular than hoped for. Possibly the greatest skill a landscape photographer can have is patience.
