Clearing winter storm over Teewinot Mountain, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
The Power of Negative Space. Successful landscape photography is often comprised of several elements coming together in harmonious balance within the frame. This can be quite complex or deceptively simple. Spatial relationships and color are the building blocks used to balance most compositions, and careful lens selection is essential in distilling an image down to its essence.
But sometimes less is more and an effective use of negative space can be a great tool to elicit an equally powerful response. This basic, but often overlooked principle of design, gives the eye a place to rest and increases the appeal of a composition through subtle means. The Japanese word ma is a perfect example. Roughly translated to “the space between two structural parts”, it is best described as a consciousness of place – the simultaneous awareness of form and non-form deriving from an intensification of vision.
The image above was made as a late winter storm was moving out of the Teton Range. By using a medium telephoto and focusing on the predominant white space I was able to isolate the spires and ridges to give the illusion that the mountains were floating in the clouds.
With the right conditions, adding negative space to your visual toolkit can be a simple yet powerful way to create strong images that resonate with your viewers.
Palms at sunrise, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
Compelling landscape images stand on their own and connect the viewer with a sense of place or time. They can be displayed alone or in a series to tell a story, but they all have one thing in common. They make a statement about a location that defines its uniqueness.
The use of color or form in a composition can provoke an emotional response. Leading lines draw the viewer into the frame, creating tension that guides your audience towards the important elements you’re presenting. Shutter speed can illustrate the passing of time to create mood. These are all-powerful creative tools that when applied thoughtfully can result in strong imagery.
Another technique is the silhouette, which uses a graphic approach to convey an idea. Any object or scene that is backlit and appears dark against a lighter background will work, but the key is to find a subject with highly defined edges. A diffused yet colorful background like a sunrise or sunset often works best as it compliments the scene and reinforces the message.
Try adding this technique to your visual toolkit to create powerful images that stand on their own and strengthen your visual storytelling.
Fresh snow on fall aspens, Inyo National Forest, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California
The Latent Image. Seventeen years ago I made the switch from film to digital and never looked back. The year was 2005 and it wasn’t without a great deal of hesitation, but I knew I wasn’t alone and that the time was right. Not long before National Geographic had finally started accepting digital files from the Nikon D100, and if the quality was worthy of their hallowed pages then it was good enough for me.
The biggest concern for most outdoor photographers at the time was preserving that classic “look” of film that the world had embraced from the early days of Kodachrome and later Fuji Velvia. We were told that if you shot RAW files, profiles and presets could be applied that would mimic any type of film. At the time it was all Greek, but in the years since it’s become standard practice in post production. The lightbox and loupe were traded for hi-resolution monitors and software, but the holy grail of image making was still dynamic range.
Cameras have advanced at lightning speed since then delivering better resolution, wider dynamic range, higher megapixels and price tags to match! But one thing hasn’t changed – the powerful RAW image file. This digital negative can never actually be touched or manipulated, but utilizing RAW processing programs like Lightroom can produce files that match any conceivable style or vision by applying those magical profiles and presets all while retaining the highest image quality.
One of the best features of shooting RAW is the fact that software manufacturers are constantly improving the programs to better utilize all of the image data captured by the sensor. I recently revisited a selection of images from my archive that were made just shortly after I switched to digital. They were made on one of those early bodies, but because I had used a high-quality lens and created RAW files I was now able to create much finer images from those files than the original software would allow.
In a side-by-side comparison I was amazed at the clarity and definition that had been hiding in those images just waiting for a future application to release them. So if you’re still shooting JPEGs you might want to consider switching to RAW. Though each camera manufacturer makes their own proprietary file, Adobe, the creators of TIFF and PDF, developed the DNG (or Digital Negative) – a great format that preserves your RAW file and a JPEG preview eliminating the concern of proprietary files and software going the way of the 8-Track stereo and Betamax.
One thing is certain, change is inevitable and technology will continue to evolve. It’s a wonderful time to be a photographer and reassuring to know that the images we make today can not only be enjoyed long into the future, but like a fine wine will likely improve with age.
