[Musings] Re-envisioning landscapes

I've only very recently (in the last three months or thereabouts) begun taking landscape photographs. I've always been more inclined to be a people and events photographer - one who interacts, reacts and snaps in the hopes of recording, with some artistic and journalistic merit, the moment characterised by the person (or persons) and their engagement with the world. Then, influenced by a few photographer friends, I decided to take up landscape photography.

I started taking photographs that look like these:



Long-exposure shots of the coastal landscape at sunset, with the aperture stopped down to f16 or more, and the camera secured to a tripod, ND grad filters used to allow both correct exposure of the foreground and sky. You set up the tripod, frame the scene, expose, then wait for that "magic moment" - with a 2 second delay to account for the timer (with mirror lockup) - before hitting the shutter button.

Wallah.

I loved it. There was a sense of achievement in catching that right moment - that combination of light, setting and movement. And in achieving landsapes that seem so unearthly and which glowed.

So I did it again.

And again.

And again.

And it started feeling rather mechanical for me. Like writing a novel according to a formula. Like writing a Mills and Boon romance novel.

Just as quickly as I gained it, I lost the love for landscape photography.

I told myself that I should take a break from it. To begin re-thinking the way I photograph landscape.

Now, I make landscapes like these: