How to explore your inner photographic art cell in landscape photography

About a year ago, I found myselfLandscape photography

It is in a very delicate transition period. Before that, I had been shooting in North America, a “paradise” known as a landscape photographer, for a long time and went to many places. At the same time, I spent a lot of time to practice and master many technical skills before and after photography. Gradually, I felt that my films and styles had reached a time when I needed to make some changes. Of course, at present, I am still exploring and changing, and this process continues. In this article, I will also review the works taken in the past 2017.

Above All Else

After several years of shooting scenery, I no longer deliberately pursue simple and beautiful sunrise and sunset. Yes, the beautiful picture of sunrise and sunset can really give the audience the enjoyment of beauty, but what’s more, is this picture meaningful? In other words, can this picture convey to the audience the feeling and meaning that the photographer wants to express? If not, then this picture is just a “vase” at best. Maybe some friends will say that not all scenery movies are “vases”? I don’t think so. If a scenery film can express the author’s feelings and emotions about the scenery, and can resonate with the audience, as well as feel the feelings and emotions the author wants to express, then the film is not a “vase”, it has meaning.

Wuthering

During the past year or more, I spent a lot of time exploring and shooting in southeast Tibet. For me, this is not only a process of exploring new shooting sites, but also a process of self exploration. In this process, I also carried out a personal long-term photography project named Mountains’ Portraits. Through this project, I was looking for the original, pure and unique side of the mountain. There was no front, middle and back scenes to “decorate” the mountain. At the same time, I hoped that the audience could feel the emotion and feeling of personal photography. The following are some works on this topic.

Sharks Fin

For more than a year, when I was shooting in Tibet, I used more telephoto lenses and intentionally used less wide-angle lenses. I am particularly cautious about the use of wide-angle lens. If I do not encounter my favorite wide-angle scene and the feeling I want to express, I would rather not shoot even if there is good light, good sunrise and sunset sky. I am still experimenting and exploring the use of telephoto lens to show scenery. The Mountain Portrait Plan is an experiment that I am still exploring. Fortress

The Spear

Into the Dream

Stand in Storm

Spiritualization

In the process of self exploration, I tried to summarize the following 5 points. I hope to bring some help to you who are looking for change and shooting your own scenery works.

1. Pursue and explore originality

I believe many friends may have listened to it more than 10000 times. Shoot something different, unique and new. You can go to a new place that no one has photographed before; It can also be a place where many people have taken pictures, but it can be shot with a new perspective and a different post-processing image atmosphere. Art is creative. Copying the perspective and late atmosphere of others is indeed a good opportunity for novices to practice and learn, but for those who want to pursue their inherent artistic potential, this may be called “cloning”. Each of us is unique, growing up in different times, lives and family environments, and has different views and feelings on different things and landscapes. This picture is original as long as it reflects its own internal feeling of the landscape of things. It is important to show your perspective and your world through the lens. The charm of photography is due to its uniqueness. If everyone takes the same picture, it will naturally lose its charm.

Icebound Window

Southeast Tibet does have its unique charm. In March 2017, I saw the snow in winter, peach blossoms in spring, and temperate rain forests in summer. It can be said that three weeks have passed through winter, spring and summer. This is a unique film for me, and it is also the first time that I have taken a picture of ice cones and glaciers and snow mountains echoing each other.

The Path to Green Haven

In March 2017, when hiking in a valley over 2000 meters above sea level in Tibet, a unique temperate rain forest covered with moss was found. This forest has taught me about the diversity of Tibetan landforms, not only pine and fir forests, shrubs, rocks and snow mountains. The forest is also one of the most difficult subjects in landscape photography. I used the stream as a guide to simplify the whole complex scene, and this is still my favorite forest picture I have taken so far.

2. Focus

“Pictures can tell a story.” I believe many friends have heard this sentence. Someone may ask, “How can I tell a story with pictures? “In fact, any good picture has a central focus and a main feature, and different elements support this central focus and main feature. If we cover too many elements in the picture, such as too many scene elements and oversaturated colors of all elements in the picture, the picture will have no regularity and focus, which will make it difficult for the audience to find out what kind of story you want to tell. Many beginners, including When I was just learning to shoot scenery, I came across a big scene and wanted to include all the scene elements in one picture. This did not tell the audience anything, because the picture was chaotic. This is why composition always comes first in photography. Composition determines the central focus and main characteristics of a picture, and how different elements support the central focus and main characteristics.

Ice Wave

In the autumn of last 17, when I explored the shooting site in southeast Tibet, I rowed on this glacial lake. I used this wave like ice foreground to reproduce the landscape and feelings I saw on the boat, while leaving some of the lake surface and other ice blocks on the lake. This ice prospect supports important background elements and central focus: snow mountain and glacial lake environment.

3. Learn to choose light

In fact, when shooting scenery outdoors, different lights will affect the scenery at any time, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, and the light will always affect the scenery in different degrees. As a photographer, in addition to choosing a good composition, the second thing to do is to choose the light, the light that best suits the film you want to shoot, and the light that reflects the feeling you want to express. Yes, we can’t control the light of nature, but we can choose to use appropriate light to illustrate the story of this picture. Make sure that the light enhances the central focus in the picture and the feeling you want to express, and guide the audience to see the central focus. It’s not easy to go out for a trip, and it may be even harder to go to a place that moves you. Therefore, allow yourself enough time to wait for the right light, or keep an open attitude, adapt to the changing light and make rapid response. In many cases, the light of my most satisfied works only lasts for 2, 3 minutes or even less. In many cases, the camera is not even mounted on a tripod for shooting.

Fullfill the Dream

This is a remote corner in southeast Tibet, with beautiful scenery that few people can see. This is the first snow in this area this year. After a night of snow, all the scenery became white. In the morning, the clouds gradually spread, and the sunrise sun shone on the mountain peaks, which was very dreamy. The light in this film disappeared in an instant. When the peaks appeared slightly in the clouds, I immediately picked up the camera to find a suitable perspective for shooting. After shooting for 1 or 2 minutes, the clouds and fog soon piled up to cover some peaks. 4. Travel to places that impress you. The world we live in is colorful. Everyone has his own dream place and season. This place is not necessarily far away from the sky, but also in the suburbs near home. The landscape of the same place varies from season to season, and there will always be places that will most impress you. Ignore the places that are popular in photography and have been photographed by millions of people, and find and shoot the places and details that move you. Sometimes it is not necessarily a grand and spectacular scenery scene that can move people. Maybe a simple and small scene can also be enjoyed. For me, Tibet is a unique place, a place that can move me. In this short period of more than a year, I have gone back and forth three times. I can always be moved by different landscapes when I go in different seasons. When you get closer to a place, your personal experience and feelings can also be naturally reflected in the works, which is what I can experience when shooting in Tibet for more than a year.

Mountain Curve

The autumn scenery in Tibet has its unique charm, and this perfect U-shaped stream full of autumn scenery moved me to shoot it. This is a scene that cannot be covered by 11mm. I used a total of 18 15mm end pictures, 9 pictures taken in the upper and lower rows respectively. Later, I spent a lot of time semi manually synthesizing and splicing to achieve the visual effect I wanted.

Yearn for the Light

On the way to take photos in Tibet, a small tree growing on a cliff “desperately” yearned for a warm sunshine. It immediately attracted my attention and took this film. 5. Shoot for yourself

It is important to focus on what you want to shoot and follow your own inner voice. There is always a variety of noise and pressure around us, which is simply the “voice” and invisible “pressure” from photo social networking sites and other social groups. “This film has no characteristics and is general”; Or the “praise” that swarmed in; The number of likes in this picture is due to the external voice and pressure. You don’t need tens of thousands of likes to prove that a picture is a good film. A picture can touch your inner feelings. This is a good film. If it can resonate with other audiences, it is better. If it is simply to pursue attention and tens of thousands of praises, you will be eroded by it in the long run, and your film will naturally lose its charm and uniqueness. For me, being able to explore and live in the wild, and being able to contact with nature itself is the source of my enthusiasm. It is an additional addition to be able to share my journey and the landscapes I have seen.

Trap in Pieces

At first glance, you may not know what this is. In fact, it is the ice crystals on the ice covered lake. After the snow, the wind blows snow into these ice crystals, and the snow is trapped behind the ice crystals.

Insanity Net

The forest burned by the fire has only dark straight trunks and snow covered winter, forming an abstract painting.

This is two abstract works that I love, which were shot at the beginning of this year. This kind of abstract works has always seemed unpopular with the public, but it never stopped me from shooting such pictures. For me, they are special. I always marvel at the uncanny workmanship of nature, which can create some pictures that we can’t imagine.

In fact, each of us has the ability to create art and shoot our own works. What you need to do is to find out how to reflect your inner voice and feelings, keep trying and shooting, and don’t be afraid of the outside voice and “pressure”. I hope that in the new year, everyone will be able to shoot their own satisfactory works! Here I wish you all a happy New Year in advance!