Darwin Wiggett.
When I'd chosen to do this courses on of the first things i did was to get my hands on some extra reading to gain a little more understanding of what goes into a good landscape image, one of these books was The Digital SLR Expert Landscapes. In it i found a range of work by a Darwin Wiggett and was instantly draw to his work by his use of colour either as a strong background for a shot as above or as the contrasting effect of the vehicle in thee grass in the first shot above. I have obvious look at more of his work since on the Internet and find that he clearly has a very good eye for the light to be able to capture the colour as he does.
Edward Weston.
Weston was one of the greats of the 20th century using large format cameras and the natural light to produce as above that showed off the natural flow and shape of the landscapes he saw, he was a real artist and deserves all the credit he receives because along with Ansel Adams (who I'll get to later) create work with such beautiful contrast that still today there seen as some of the best and most influential landscape photographers. What you really have to appreciate is that with modern cameras and software we can always tweak our work to get it looking just right but they had to get it right and know that it was right because there was few second chances.
Galen Rowell.
With Rowells work it has to be the locations that appeal and with the shots above the hostility of the environments that he chose to work in. Some of them such as for example the figure on the mountain top you have to look at and think that it must have been a hell of a climb with all his camera equipment to get this particular shot but hell it was worth it. Again as with Wiggett someone who has complete understanding of colours and how best to use the light conditions to get the results he wants.
Ansel Adams.
Ansel Adams.
You can't look at Landscape photography with out seeing some of Ansel Adams work somewhere as he is regarded so highly as a true master of the art. Just the few examples that I've selected above show that he new how to use the environment around him and then wait for the light to be perfect to capture truly breath taking images. Enough has been written about his work and how it is so perfect that i don't think i can add any new perspective but i would offer this link that can do a better job then mehttp://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adams/adams_articles2.html
One thing i have be come aware of from just doing this piece is that i seem to be draw to photographer that work in the field of what I'd call Wildness photography. By this i mean thous places where still the landscapes there shooting can seem untouched by humans and still have their natural beauty that is sometimes lost when we move in.
