Lyme Park

Lyme Park, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Another stark shot at Lyme Park in Cheshire. The important elements in the composition here are the tree, the tower, the figure and the rock. Positioning the horizon low in the frame gives a feeling of space and expanse. It was important to get the base of the tree standing out against the sky, as opposed to being obscured by the background landscape.

Sand dune tree

Sand dune tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Wind swept tree on the beach at Formby Point, England. I love these stark and barren images though I must admit that I am getting ready now to see some leaves on the trees to give a splash of colour and to soften the landscape.

Lone tree - Photoshop auto contrast turorial

Lone tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Lone tree near Rode Heath, South Cheshire, England. This was taken with a red filter to enhance contrast. Sometimes the images come out a little flat - lacking in contrast. With almost every picture I do I go into Photoshop/Image/Image adjust/AutoContrast. Doing that with this image certainly brought out the vitality and contrast of the tonal range. It does not always make the image look better, but it can soon be undone in Edit/StepBackward.

Dead tree - Landscape as self-portrait of the photographer

Dead tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Dead tree near Rode Heath, South Cheshire, England. What does that mean? ‘A landscape as a self-portrait of the photographer’. I indicated earlier that you could save yourself hundreds of pounds or dollars by realizing that photography is not about how expensive you camera is, but rather is about a way of seeing the world: it is about perception and perspective. Ultimately, the photographer is selecting a particular aspect of reality, viewing it from a particular vantage point, framing it with the viewfinder at a particular time and in doing so is saying to others ‘Out of lots of shapes, vantage points and colours in reality, this one is worth looking at’. In making that decision to photograph this and not that, the photographer brings their own personality and perspective to the jumble of reality that is out there: they impose on reality their own perspective of it, their own ideals and preferences concerning it: they order it, frame it, look at it and arrange it in a certain way. I have already said elsewhere that I often take on a minimalist approach to my images and this says a lot about me. I hate clutter, busyness and closed in spaces preferring a sense of space, with things clearly defined and seen. I have a dislike for randomness or untidiness, preferring structure and formality: I like things ordered, structured, in harmony and balance. I do not particularly enjoy meeting people: I do not understand them very well, or trust them, so in my images, people are often reduced to impersonal formal elements in a composition. I do not take many portraits. It is in this kind of way that the photograph begins to reveal the character of the person who takes it.

This is why there may be a dilemma for the photographer who wants to earn money from his work. Lucky indeed is the person who can make a living from photographing what they like. Instead, they have to take on commissions, do portraits or weddings or work in photo-journalism or in advertising and design. As soon as I start thinking about making money from my images, I begin to think about what other people would like, what they would buy and so on, or I am doing a job for someone else, doing things they way they want them. I have to compromise my artistic integrity, even who I am, so that I have to see things the way other people want me to see them. For me, my photography is not about that. I want complete creative freedom in what I do, so that I take what I want, when I want, how I want, and if others like it, then that is a bonus. My photography is a totally selfish act; an expression of personal creative integrity, it is not about being told what to do and how to do it, it is not a job or a business, but a creative outlet and an expression of myself.

Old tree

Old tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Tree and fence near Rode Heath, South Cheshire, England. Once again a red filter was used for this shot.

Branches

Branches, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Tree branches. Another shot using black and white mode and a red filter to enhance contrast.

Dune tree

Dune tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Tree in the dunes at Formby Point, England. Definitely a competition entry for me. A combination of red and polaroid filters was used for this shot taken in black and white mode. I love the stong shape and texture of the tree against a minimalist plain background. The bit of tree trunk or stone lying on the ground in the distance on the right acts as a counterpoint to the tree, (and was there, honest, I did not place it there). Even the vapour trail of the plane in the sky adds to the shot.

Dove Dale and the river Dove

Dove Dale, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Dovedale, near Ashbourne in Derbyshire. This area is very popular with walkers though it is quieter during the week when this shot was taken. This is a conventional shot using an 18mm wide angle lens on a 35mm camera. In Photoshop, the image was rotated slightly to level the horizon and water. Here the river Dove leads the eye into the picture from the bottom left hand corner, but as the river turns, it stops the eye from moving out of the picture to the right and leads it back to the main element, the tree, placed about one third in from the left. Although a pleasant enough shot, it is a bit too bland and conventional for me.

The Cloud

The Cloud, originally uploaded by foto-art.

The Cloud, South Cheshire. This rocky outcrop on the southern edge of the pennines near Congleton is very popular with walkers. I found it quite difficult to photograph. On an overcast day, the hill just looks grey and somber, and it can also be difficult to get the right viewpoint. I realised that just getting the rocky face of the hill was not enough, the whole shape of the hill was important. In the end I took this shot about an hour before sunset, which was when the sun was in the right place to get the traditional view of the hill, and I used the tree and railway viaduct as other objects of interest. Unfortunately, the wide angle lens diminishes the size of the hill in comparison to the foreground objects, but of all the focal length lenses I had, I still felt that this was the best shot that I could get on this day. The wide angle lens was a Sigma 18mm and I used my 35mm camera.

DEAD TREE

Dead tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Dead tree near Buxton in the Peak District National Park.

I find that a wide angle lens is indespensible for this sort of shot. This was taken on 35mm film using a 24mm Wide Angle lens. Using this lens meant that I could stand very close to the tree (probably only about 15-20ft away) and still get the entire tree in the frame. The advantage of this is that the tree stands out clearly against the skyline. If I had stood much further away from the tree, which I would have had to have done if I was using a normal or telephoto lens, then the horizon of the distant hills would have cut right through the middle of the tree and the photo, dividing the photo in half and obscuring part of the tree. Wide angle lenses are very good then in helping to eliminate distracting backgrounds. I often find that I am also using a low viewpoint for such shots...lying on the ground or kneeling down. This also serves to lower the distracting horizon.

HEN CLOUD, PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK, ENGLAND

Hen Cloud, Peak District National Park, nr, Leek, England, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Hen Cloud at the edge of the Roaches near Leek in Staffordshire, on the south edge of the Pennines, in the Peak District National Park, England, U.K.