#3: My 5 Principles of Landscape Photography
In this episode I share my 5 guiding principles of landscape photography. In summary they are:
- Focus on passion over location
- Master the tools
- Remove the non-essentials
- Prioritize composition
- Embrace failure; focus on the experience, not the outcome
Books mentioned:
- The Photographers Eye by Michael Freeman
- The Photographers Mind by Michael Freeman
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
Share your feedback, questions, and comments below!
Re passion – I realized recently that finding a wonderful composition when traveling to a new place is easy. My work is returning to frequently visited woodland and park locations to see a new composition or one I have photographed before but in a new season or different light. This is work but I think will make me a better photographer. It isn’t about volume but seeing something I may have missed or that wasn’t there before. Leslie Landerkin
Hi Leslie, thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it.
I have to disagree with you a bit in that “finding a wonderful composition” is rarely easy, especially if goal is for a composition that conveys something personal. It’s always hard in my experience, and definitely harder as you say when it comes to familiar locations. I always tell my students on a workshop that if pictures are coming easy, either they’re simply repeating old habits and ideas, or imitating someone else. Either way, it’s not working in the “sweet spot”, just at the edge or just beyond your abilities. Just some food for thought 🙂
Hi Robert,
just discovered a Canson papers thanks you your product videos. Excellent work, thank you.
Have a question, are the books you mentioned in the podcast valuable to read on Kindle ? I wonder if there are pictures you need to see on paper or color screen instead of monochromatic Kindle display.
Thanks,
Tomek
“To thoughtfully capture the response you feel to the landscape, or your subject.” Yes! This is what is missing from quite a bit of the photography that I see, and even that I make. There is a lack of awareness of the emotional connection to a landscape or to a subject. Therefore, the viewer has no basis for a connection to the subsequent image. Wow! This is revelatory. Thanks! You are an inspiration! Keep sharing your thoughts and your work!