Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is photography which is meant to be used to document environments as an escape from the artificial world. People may use it to document their experiences when travelling. Landscape photography normally shows little or no human activity which helps to create the idea of a pure environment rather than the human influence of areas such as cities. There are many uses of weather, strong landforms and ambient light as the subject of the photos rather than people. Due to weather and ambient light being a large part of creating a moving landscape image it is important in landscape photography to plan the times of day to shoot a picture as this can have an effect on the final outcome. Even though some forms of planning are important in landscape photography, there is also parts that need spontaneity as some circumstanced, such as weather conditions, could actually cause for a photograph to actually be ruined rather than be amazing as planned. Many landscape photographs are taken using wide angled lenses as it captures more of the environment and its surroundings, rather than lots of close up details.

Ansel Adams was a photographer and environmentalist, but also an activist for the cause of wilderness and the environment. These were his passions which could be said to influence his work as a photographer, pushing him into taking pictures in a category that he was so passionate about. However he never made a creative photograph specifically for environmental purposes. Adams was sometimes characterized as a photographer of an idealised wilderness that no longer exists, this is truthful as many of the places that Ansel Adams photographed were those of the wilderness and park life that had been preserved making it seem this was. Many of his photographs of national parks are now used to show what the areas were like before tourism.  He was known most commonly for his boldly printed, black and white images however he did work in colour a lot as well. He chose to work a lot in black and white however as he felt that that they could be manipulated to create a wide range of bold and expressive tones. The use of colour for him was constricting due to the rigidity of the colour process.

Fay Godwin was a photographer renowned for her black and white landscape pictures of the British countryside and coast. Godwin started out as a portrait photographer due to seeing her family pictures, she however had a real love for walking which then inspired her to become a landscape photographer. She often photographed isolate parts of Britain but also sometimes capturing contrasting urban environments as well. Her work was inspired by many landscape photographers at the time. Fay Godwin is a known environmentalist which is reflected in some of her best known images which show the complex relationships and tensions between man and nature.  Many of her photographs were of the Yorkshire Dales and they created a cold, gloomy atmosphere.