Isolation

Walking the same ground was starting to get to me, so I set off on a different route last Tuesday. Photographically it proved less than fruitful. Still, where there's a traffic cone there's a picture!

Wednesday I saved my walk until evening back on the old circuit. I didn't go too far though and messed around taking rubbish pretty pictures. When I saw the full moon rising over the wood in a cloudless sky I was tempted to try a minimalist kind of picture. It looked okay in colour at 3:2 but I went for the Ansel Adams look with a 5:4 crop and a monochrome conversion. It probably needs a bit more fiddling. I'm not sure if it's a touch too dark as it stands.

Having been unimpressed with the evening light the following day I went out after lunch, taking the 28-300 to see if that made any more sense as a one lens solution to the mosslands. As expected it worked well.

I certainly preferred the higher sun which reduced shadow length. Quite why early and late is recommended for landscape photography mystifies me. While the warm glow might be attractive I find there is too much dark shadow to contend with.

The horizontal strip approach is still ongoing. This might make a series within the overall project.

Another set within a set possibility is the vertical, dividing, centre line.

Some pictures rely on converging lines. These three picture structures might work as grids. I like grids!

While I continue to have these vague ideas in mind I still look for other ways to show what the landscape is like, and how it is used. Sometimes this is with detail type pictures.Although I am open to slightly unusual viewpoints I am trying to steer clear of pictures which look contrived in order to appeal to photographers.

I am also trying to go full circle to making better efforts at the kind of picture I started out taking before I got attuned to a way of seeing. The straightforward record type of picture which lacks any pretension at working as formal image in its own right (a 'good photograph') but which contains information about what takes place.

After trying the superzoom I had a couple of short walks with an ultrawide option. First time it was the 20mm, which I kept swapping for the standard zoom. Then I dug out the 18-35, which mostly got used at the longer end. Overall I've decided that the 24-85 range is where I'm at for this project. And for most things in all honesty. Although there are times when 300mm comes in useful for any project. It may seem boring to use such a standard lens, but it does make pictures that look like how I see the world. I think I might have said something similar before...

Ultrawides are good for when space is tight. Long lenses are good for when things are far away. Most of the time neither of those criteria apply!

All this landscapery is fine and dandy. But I am really missing the human element in the pictures. Despite trying to show that human intervention takes place I'd really like a few more people in the pictures. Which is slightly problematic in these days of social distancing.

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