NZPhotographer Issue 22, August 2019

MORNING LIGHT, MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS
F11, 1/125S, ISO100
When arriving at a stunning landscape location, it is
easy to get a bit overwhelmed and often the result of
this is that you try to photograph the whole expansive
vista in front of you. While there is nothing wrong with
this approach, it can sometimes produce an image
with no defined subject and little artistic vision.
The first thing you should ask yourself is; what are you
photographing? Yes, the beautiful view in front of you,
but what part of this is your subject? And what parts of
this view do not add anything to the image or distract
from your subject? I think this is the most important
question when shooting minimal landscapes, as you
need to try and break down what your subject is and
what elements do not add to the image and can
therefore be removed.
SUBJECT
A painter has the luxury of choosing what to include in
their painting, a photographer needs to choose what
to leave out, this is harder than it sounds…
Shooting landscapes with wide-angle lenses can
produce some stunning results, but if not used well,
a wide-angle lens can result in you capturing a very
complex image without any clear subject. For this
reason alone I think it is one of the hardest lenses to
master. I find many photographers will seldom reach
for a longer lens when shooting landscapes and
this can often be a great way to help to simplify a
landscape, by filling the image with your subject so
that the viewer can easily focus on it. By focusing on
a smaller area on a landscape, you can reduce the
number of elements in your photograph, producing
a more minimalist image with a clearer and more
defined subject.
NEGATIVE SPACE
While the use of long lenses can help to simplify a
landscape as discussed above, they can also work
against you when shooting minimal landscapes.
Negative space can be very powerful in an image.
It allows the subject space to breath and can help
68 NZPhotographer