Whether it's the glamor of Paris, the captivating shores of Ireland, or the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, it is very easy for a photographer to assume that one must go above and beyond to capture the landscape images that he or she desires. Dennis Ramos, a world-renowned fine-art and landscape photographer, took a completely different approach. He captured the beauty that surrounded him where he resides in Tampa, FL.
In one of my recent articles, I show why the camera isn't necessarily the be-all-end-all or deciding factor in your image's quality. It's the photographer's subject, understanding of light, preparation, and maybe a little luck that also comes into play. Ramos, whose work you may have come across in the Fstoppers' community, started a series where he photographed the more simplistic, not-so-famous architecture in Tampa Bay. Ramos goes explains why he photographed these areas in smaller towns nearby:
I had the chance to start this series during a call for entry for an exhibition to promote business in a downtown district through photographic visions of different artists. These historic places inspired me to capture the essence of the mood in that moment in time. The places and buildings will change but these captures will always be frozen in time.
The point is beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Luckily, as photographers, we have an eye to capture beauty no matter how something may look on the surface.
Ramos' work has been featured in a previous article on Fstoppers for which I also sat down with him for a quick one-on-one discussion about his process and his work, in case you missed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0nLJrHB8pk
Images used with Dennis Ramos' permission
Now THIS is a great post. So, so true. Creativity never dies.
Great post! love the look of these shots.
What exactly is "fine art"?
I've been taking photographs for decades and whenever this rather pompous, precocious term crops up, I ask the same question.
After all these years, no-one's ever, ever, been ab;e to answer it!
Broadly stated, fine art is that art which is made as an expression of an artist for purely artistic purpose as opposed to the creative expression of a commercial project. It also encompasses those works commissioned by others for display or to perform in a certain role.
It is a wide field that encompasses many media and purposes. Like most art it is what people agree is art.
Advertising blurs the boundary as many great works of art are made by advertisers and many great artists started by making ads.
In the end, the term is not one trying to be pretentious but rather descriptive.
Fine Art can arguably be any image that an individual or company finds to be expressively creative in nature. Worthy of print and display.
An excerpt from a blog post I wrote on this...
"We live in a time where almost everyone has a camera on them at any given time, and this in combination with the countless photographers in the world - everything has been photographed. Even though you will never find something that hasn't been photographed already, it's imperative to understand no matter what you find, that image has never been taken with your vision, with your emotion, with your purpose. This, is fine art photography."
Full post can be read at http://www.csnyderphoto.com/blog/2016/11/4/defining-fine-art-photography
So ... we should find beauty in the ordinary, even ugly, stuffy we find all around us?
I ... could not agree more.
Examples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevefretz/
These photographs remind me of the work of the great George Tice.
great post ! I didn't know Dennis but his work is seriously inspiring !