Landscape Photography is Enhanced by the Evoked Emotions

This landscape of Charente-Maritime has a real subject: the net hut. We have choosen an atmosphere with cottony tones.

This landscape of Charente-Maritime has a real subject: the net hut. I have choosen an atmosphere with cottony tones.

When There Is a Visible Subject, the Emotional Atmosphere of the Photo Adds Extra Emphasis

Sometimes, when there is a visible subject, such as a mountain stream, the emotional atmosphere of the photo strengthens its message and increases its interest.

That is why I use a lot of filters in my photography. In addition to their technical uses, such as allowing me to improve the dynamic range and correct overexposed or underexposed areas, filters allow me to completely change the atmosphere of an image to create a strong emotional impression.

How I Create My Landscape Pictures

My landscape photos are never created randomly or on the spur of the moment. First, I always go through the recognition phase that I have talked about in other articles. During this stage, I let my imagination run free as I look at the area around me. I try to define the emotions which the scene arouses in me. I describe it in words such as dreaminess, abstraction, melancholy, joy, sorrow, etc. Once I have done this, either I set up my equipment or I note the place and come back later when the lighting is more suitable for what I want. If I cannot define the emotional atmosphere of the landscape, I go away, because I will not be able to take good photographs there.

Creating a landscape picture is always very personal. Such a photograph will appeal to some people, but not to others. I try to take photos that people will be interested in. For me, the worst case scenario is for no one to be interested in my pictures. That means that I failed to convey any emotions through the photo.

I always say that I practice photography in order to be loved. I do it to express what I feel, and I am always happy when someone is interested in my photos.

I believe that a landscape photograph should be thoughtful and express the photographer’s emotions. If it does not evoke any emotion, the photograph is simply a picture, not a work of art. This is why Gwenn Seemel’s definition of art works so well for me. A landscape photograph has to come from the heart. When I am explaining this to people, I often say, “It has to come from the gut.”

This landscape photographed in the morning before sunrise inspired us joy, happiness, energy.

This landscape photographed in the morning before sunrise inspired me joy, happiness, energy.

Technical Mastery Is Also Essential

To create a beautiful landscape photograph, the ability to convey emotions through photographs is essential, but before this can be achieved, mastery of the technology and techniques must be attained. Technical mastery is the foundation of beautiful photography. When I mention technical mastery, I mean both knowledge of how to use the equipment, and of how to process the photo. When technical mastery and emotion converge, the product is a picture which will interest an audience.

Finally

Over time, landscape photography has become a necessary part of my lives, because it is a form of art that allow me to fully express myself. When I am on the field, recording nature’s beauties, I am always serene, calm and happy. It is in these moments that I find joy and discover answers to my questions. Landscape photography allowed me to find the balance that I had sought for so long.

Be humble, patient, constant, persevering, and persistent because the road to excellence is long.

Landscape Photography Is a True Means of Artistic Expression

I love the wonders of nature. I chose photography to express myself and share the emotions I feel when I contemplate nature. For this purpose, I practice three distinct types of photography: underwater, wildlife and landscape. It is this last one which offers me the most ways to express myself and use art to show what I truly are.

This photo taken in the Chihuahuan Desert inspired me tranquility and wholeness with the sweet tones.

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Two Definitions of Art Which I Use in My Work

It is very difficult to define art. Many philosophers have tried, and they have produced an impressive number of definitions. I chose the two which are most useful to me.

The first one I picked because is more formal. It is from a dictionary, and states, "Art is creating objects or representing specific scenes in order to produce in humans a particular state of sensitivity, more or less related to aesthetic pleasure."

The second, less formal, definition that I always have in mind, is that of the artist Gwenn Seemel: "Art always causes a change, large or small, personal or universal. This is its value, its purpose, its goal and its complete definition."

Landscape Photography Expresses My Emotions Best

Comparing the three fields in which I participate as professional photographers is useless. They are too different. Each one gives me unique joys, sensations and emotions. However, landscape photography is the one which allows me to express myself most fully.

Underwater photography and wildlife photography also allow me to create beautiful art, but they are much more random. Dive time is very limited, and animals are unpredictable.

When I photograph landscapes, I can create pictures that express my true nature and emotions. I can choose a place with soft, dim lighting to evoke nostalgia or melancholy. Or, if I am happy and want to share my joy, I will move towards mineral landscapes with warm tones bathed in the rich, golden light of a sunrise or sunset. If I am going through a difficult period, I go to the woods for inspiration, and my photos show beautiful canopies, and bright light filtered through branches and leaves.

I could give hundreds of other examples.

Landscape photography allows me to express how I feel and what I have in mind. If I take, for instance, underwater photography, it is not very easy to show melancholy through a portrait of a fish or the atmosphere of a drop-off covered with soft corals. When I photograph a bird, or a red deer during the rutting season, it is difficult to show my intense joy through the photograph, even though I love wildlife photography.

The Three Components of a Photograph

I often say that a photograph has three components: the subject, the environment, and the lighting. They are the basis of all photography. If one element is missing, the picture will be uninteresting. During my career, I have often heard people say that photography is “all about light”. However, as I have matured and gained experience as photographer, I have learned that there has to be an equal emphasis on all three of these elements. Light by itself, crucial as it is, does not make a good photo.

I will always hold to the idea that a fine photograph combines all three of the elements mentioned above.

These hot lights reflected perfectly my mind on this trip. I wanted a high color and exuberant photo.

What Is the Subject in a Landscape Picture?

In wildlife photography, whether on land or under water, it is quite easy to see the subject: it is either an animal or a fish. The background is constituted by its environment, which is called negative space. The lighting enhances and highlights the background and the subject.

In landscape photography, it is easy to see the environment and the lighting. The subject, however, is sometimes more difficult to define. What is the subject in a photograph of a sea of clouds from the top of a mountain? Where is the subject in a photograph of a path in the woods? It is not always necessary to place a rock or tree in a photo to give it a subject. This is where landscape photography differs from the other styles most. In landscape photography, you can photograph a scene without having an obvious subject.

In most of my landscape photographs, the subject is the emotion that I am trying to capture. It is intangible, invisible. I believe that a landscape photograph must be able to elicit the emotion I felt when I saw the scene in the person who looks at it. The subject of the photo, in this case, does not come only from the picture, but also from how it is perceived.