How do you capture the beauty of a landscape in a single shot? I shoot landscape shots so infrequently that I feel somewhat helpless when trying to do so. Normally they are kind of an afterthought, a second option when there is no wildlife around.
Last week in Germany, however, I was surrounded by mountains. I knew I had to get some shots of the mountains and I took a lot of them. As I reviewed them, though, not very many stood out. I decided to play around a bit and eventually came up with a couple of images that I really like. Both of them were taken from the destination point of the little cable car that I featured in an early posting.
The first image is one that I converted to black and white using an old version of Nik Silver Efex Pro software. The second shot is a panorama image that was stitched together from three separate handheld images using PhotoMerge in Photoshop Elements. The third image is the color version of the first image prior to using the conversion software.
It was a challenge for me to step out of my comfort zone and try a different kind of photography. In my experience, feeling uncomfortable is part of the learning process. This year I am going to consciously look for more opportunities to take landscape photos and see where that takes me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Hmm.. any discomfort you might feel certainly doesn’t get in the way of capturing some great photographs! I really love both of those photos whether in the original or in b&w. The composition is both interesting and very pleasing. I looked at the large-size in both and I wouldn’t have done that unless I found the composition interesting. I very much liked the subdued blue of the original. Awesome photos Mike! And very interesting to see your panorama too. I know I’ll very much enjoy seeing more of your landscape photos. Thanks!
Thanks, Liz, for your encouraging words. The discomfort that I feel is mostly associated with my uncertainty about composition. I am so used to having a very specific subject in my wildlife shots and in a landscape it is almost like the entire scene is the subject. The subdued blue of the color version was the result of a choice I made to decrease the color saturation of the image. The snow had a blue tinge to it and I wanted to make the snow whiter.
Really? Wow, it turned out so nice!
You are experimenting with your photography and learning through your experiences. Consider the words of R. Buckminster Fuller : “There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.” I think that your beautiful photos are proof of your success. Thank-you!
I totally agree with Ellen! So glad we can benefit from your experiments. 🙂
Great post 😁
Very Nice Mike! You certainly seem to get around which is good for photo opportunities! Landscapes are fun, especially when Dragonflies and Eagles are scarce! Plus nice work on the panorama! They are fun to do and great when you are only walking around with a long lens. Again, Nice images! Thanks for sharing them with us!
Excellent work Mike!
These are beautiful Mike!
Great. You were able to capture the beauty and the soul of these mountains.
Thanks. A photo is definitely a success if I am able to capture both the beauty and the soul–generally I am happy if I am able to capture the former.