I find a lot of landscape photography tends towards idealised romanticisation of the world. There always seems to be an emphasis on the dramatic (as in theatrically overplayed). Typical subjects being mountains, ruins, and sweeping coastlines - lit by thegolden light of dawn or dusk, or featuring lowering cloudscapes. Even those that don't go for dramatic overkill are shot on sunny days with bright blue skies. But most of the world, most of the time isn't like that
I find I'm making a lot of symmetrical images, a lot with very low or high horizons and a good few with the horizon dead central or nearly so. There is a conscious effort to avoid using the deathly 'rule of thirds' when it comes to placing the horizon. Apart from it being a cop out, there are other ways to balance pictures.
Something else I am realising is a feature of my landscapes is the hand of man. All three of the pictures here illustrate that. They are from a walk this afternoon selected as examples of slight progress rather than fully realised picturing. The first and last are of ditches, the second includes two wind turbines and there are pylons in the first.
What I am realising about making pictures of the land is that it has to be a slow process. The precise viewpoint has to be found, and the right light waited for, or returned for at a later date. This is not in my usual way of operating. It's a discipline I think will benefit me in the long run. I made on picture the other day which has a composition I like, but the light is wrong. I shall return to try and improve on it. However, it is a picture of a mirror calm tidal river. To get the look I want will require the high tide, the right light, the right sky, and no wind. Of course there could be a better picture to be taken from the same spot under other conditions. I'll only find that out by trying.
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