How Do You Find an Original Creative Voice in Landscape Photography?

Gaining technical competence is hard enough, but developing an original creative voice is an entirely separate challenge. This can be particularly tough in a genre in which you do not get control over the presence or placements of elements in the scene, such as landscape photography. If that is something you find yourself struggling with, check out this fantastic video essay that discusses the process of finding originality in landscape photography. 

Coming to you from First Man Photography, this interesting video discusses the issue of finding an original creative voice as a landscape photographer. This can be especially difficult in landscape photography, where you do not get to arrange the elements in the scene, only change your position relative to them. Often, that is where a bit more attention toward developing a cohesive and consistent post-processing style can really pay off. One of the beautiful things about landscape photography is that there are so many directions in which you can take an image in the editing stages, so don't be afraid to experiment outside the box a bit to find what suits you. Check out the video above for the full rundown.

And if you really want to dive into 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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2 Comments

As this guy said, I think the key is just to create more. We all suffer from this feeling of not being good or unique enough and it stops us from creating anything at all. Just create more and eventually you'll discover something unique.

After spending 9 years photographing the Sonoran Desert in nearby Tonto National Forest my photos were looking the same. I found new creativity in the same landscapes with a small GPS camera drone.

Now I can take photos of the desert landscape from any angle and any height up to 400 feet. I can get wide-angle photos of inaccessible landscapes where I used to need a telephoto lens. Just gotta look out for random power lines!