May 2023, Great Landscape Photographers

Keeping you informed about happenings at Deliberate Light: photos to browse or buy, photography instruction (see also Digital Photo Academy), and artifact photo services. To get these newsletters by email a month before they are posted here, go to the DeliberateLight.com website and click on Newsletter Signup.

NEWS

Upcoming Workshops. I will be teaching the following workshops this month.

May 20 (location: Bartram’s Garden, Philadelphia)

· Mastering Your Camera Controls (1.5 hours) – using the controls on your DSLR/Mirrorless/Compact camera to make photos (tutorial on smartphone cameras available separately)

· Composition in the Field (3 hours) – walking tour in Bartram’s Garden with instruction and hands-on practice composing photos in-camera for good images (bring any camera)

I will also be teaching these same classes in July and August in different venues.

New Photo. In this evening light, these flowers look a little like whipped cream to me, and if you know me, you know that is a compliment. For a more detailed, enlarged view, see it in the Fine Art gallery on my website.

VIEWS

This month, I am sharing a few of the Landscape photographers whose work I most admire. I am not sure if this will work well, but to avoid entanglements with copyright infringement, I am providing links to photos for you to enjoy, instead of copying the images themselves. Please let me know if you think the hassle of clicking through on these links is more trouble than it is worth to you.

Ansel Adams (1886 – 1958) The Master Landscape Photographer. Adams epitomized straight photography: intense clarity of composition in-camera with little manipulation afterward beyond tonality setting. His objective was not realism, exact replication of only what the eye sees, but rather an intensification of the scene to convey something deeper. With that philosophy, perhaps you can understand why I relate to his work so well (if not, read my February newsletter). He would spend days, if necessary, finding exactly the right view and waiting for exactly the right light. Of this first photo he said, “I have been at this location countless times over many years, but only once did I encounter just such a combination of visual elements.”

Ansel Adams, Yosemite Valley, Thunderstorm, 1945

On the other hand, perhaps his most recognizable photograph happened by the exact opposite process. Driving through New Mexico, Adams saw this view, stopped the car, set up his tripod and camera, struggled to figure out the best exposure when his light meter broke, took this picture, turned away to get something and turned back for another shot and the light was gone. A masterpiece of serendipity, rare in Adams’ work.

Ansel Adams, Moonlight over Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941

Eliot Porter (1901 – 1990) First Fine Art Color Photographer. Up through the 1960’s at least, the received wisdom in photography was that only black and white photographs could truly be fine art, a prejudice that persists among some today. Porter started out photographing birds and realized that to better capture their distinctions, he needed color, so, in 1935, using Kodachrome film as a starting point, he developed his own processes to get the results he wanted. Once he had that, it was not a great leap to other nature photos in color. In 1943, his bird photos became the first ever color photographs exhibited at MoMA and in 1979, he became the first photographer there to have a one-person exhibition in color. His earliest work with birds was in black and white, but most of his life’s work was these gorgeous color photographs, the first one that I know of who so immersed himself in it. Judge for yourself, but it is clear to me that his color photos rank among the very best of fine art photography.

Eliot Porter, Pool in Upper Hidden Passage, Glen Canyon, Utah, 1961

Eliot Porter, Yangtze Gorge, China, 1980

Steve McCurry (1950 – present) Photographer of the Human Story. At the other end of the Kodachrome film trail from Eliot Porter, Steve McCurry was given Eastman Kodak’s last roll of Kodachrome film (he now uses both film and digital cameras). Best known for his portraits, McCurry (born in Philly, by the way) is also an astounding landscape photographer. A frequent contributor to National Geographic, including several covers, he has struggled with the line between photojournalism (where factual realism is paramount) and fine art (where there are no creative boundaries), apparently concluding that he is no longer a photojournalist. He says he wants the viewer to experience “the human connection between all of us” and feels first and foremost that he is a storyteller. Even in his landscapes, unlike so much of Adams’ or Porter’s works, the imprint of humanity is apparent and integral. In this first image, the works of humans are apparent, and you can see a few people’s tiny silhouettes in the distance.

Steve McCurry, Pamukkale Travertine Terraces, Turkey, 2011

In this haunting photo, there is not one single person appearing with that lone horse and yet it would be impossible to describe this photo as about anything other than the stunning enormity of human impact.

Steve McCurry, Al Ahmadi oil field, Kuwait, 1991

Carl Finkbeiner

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