Landscape Photography Doesn't Always Have to Be Epic

We tend to be inundated by images of grand, epic scenes when it come to landscape photography, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking those are the only photographs worth taking. This excellent video discusses why even seemingly normal scenes can be turned into worthwhile images.

Coming to you from Thomas Heaton, this fantastic video discusses stepping back from "epic" landscape photography and exploring your local area instead. I think this is more important to consider than ever. With COVID, travel is very restricted right now, and traveling to popular locations simply is not an option right now. On the other hand, grabbing your camera and going for a walk can be a great way to get a bit of exercise and clear your head for a bit. On top of that, I am a big advocate of shooting your local area. This is because when it comes to selling prints, other people from your area will likely have a strong connection with places they recognize and have spent parts of their life in, and no one will know how to capture those places better than someone who knows the area.

If you want to continue to learn about landscape photography, check out "Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi." 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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I agree totally. Nothing against epic landscapes, but often enough what makes these photographs so striking is less their actual appearance than mostly of what I would call "epic post production". I´ve come to the point where I observe that this imagery reminds me more and more of the way nature was presented or interpreted in (oil)-paintings in the 19th century, where ". . it was given special weight as a carrier of moods and as a symbol of cosmic forces." You can especially see this looking at the way skies were painted (dramatic dramatic), something achieved in photography first by dodging&burning/clarity/detail exctraction/ and subsequently - if that doesn´t do the job - by sky replacement. I have done this myself and do certainly not object, but it leaves the sour taste of creating a piece of imagery with the sole intention of getting people to say "wow"!