{"id":963,"date":"2014-06-13T09:45:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T15:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/?p=963"},"modified":"2017-06-20T15:27:13","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T21:27:13","slug":"landscape-photography-use-your-minds-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/photography-lessons-tips\/landscape-photography-use-your-minds-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"Landscape Photography: Use Your Mind’s Eye"},"content":{"rendered":"

A photograph is\u00a0a facsimile of reality and our experience. Sometimes it represents the moment quite accurately; at other times, quite poorly. Landscape photography can be more like the latter. This article\u00a0is about how to photographically communicate the drama and the magic of the landscape, and the\u00a0emotion that you feel.<\/p>\n

You arrive in the morning\u00a0at\u00a0this rare oak savanna,\u00a0prepared to photograph the hot white glow of June grass reflecting the new day sun.<\/p>\n

Photo\u00a0A is what you see as you look ahead into the distance.<\/p>\n

\"A

PHOTO A: A view into the distance of this black oak savanna, as streaks of morning light
filter in to illuminate feathery white plumes of June grass.<\/p><\/div>\n

Glancing\u00a0downward\u00a0towards your feet (Photo B) reveals a\u00a0larger, more intimate, world of radiating grasses and forbs.<\/p>\n

\"PHOTO

PHOTO B: Glancing down reveals\u00a0new details that connect you more closely
with the individuals that make up the dramatic scene.<\/p><\/div>\n

Compared to Photo A, the\u00a0view\u00a0of June\u00a0grass in Photo B is\u00a0significantly more immersive. Yet, viewed through the “optical eye” of the camera or the human, these plants\u00a0still appear quite small, compared to\u00a0the mental picture\u00a0that we form\u00a0in our\u00a0“mind’s eye,” where grasses loom much\u00a0larger and dramatic. Even small subjects that take up an insignificant portion of our optical\u00a0field of view can be perceived as enormous by\u00a0our mind’s eye.<\/p>\n

Imagine. You’re hiking\u00a0on a solo backpacking trip through\u00a0Rocky\u00a0Mountain National Park and, suddenly, you spot\u00a0a cougar lurking\u00a0amidst\u00a0distant\u00a0boulders\u00a0upon the mountainside.\u00a0It’s possible that\u00a0you are being stalked and that\u00a0it will\u00a0kill you\u00a0when you go to sleep in your tent. Far off, the predator appears as a tawny dot. Yet, burned into your brain, the mountain lion fills the frame. Your mental viewfinder\u00a0contains no sign of\u00a0the fragrant field of flowers that surround you\u00a0or the\u00a0deep\u00a0blue sky and towering mountains, under which you are immersed, just the information contained within that tiny, dangerous dot.<\/p>\n

A picture of “a dot in the distance” isn’t going to\u00a0convey\u00a0the\u00a0urgency of\u00a0the moment. But you\u00a0can, if you\u00a0emulate\u00a0the\u00a0image burned into your mind’s eye:\u00a0a tightly-composed shot, using a long lens, of the\u00a0lion\u00a0with its piercing eyes. We\u00a0perceive the world with both our optical eye and our mind’s eye. The optical eye scans for important data. Then, the mind’s eye produces an image comprised of\u00a0a\u00a0potent condensation of\u00a0optical, sensory, and emotional data, undiluted by distractions. It is this tight, concentrated image created by\u00a0our mind’s eye that we’d like\u00a0to photographically imitate with\u00a0our camera’s optical eye.<\/p>\n

Combining Photo A and Photo B gives us Photo C, exactly what\u00a0our optical eye\u00a0sees from standing position.<\/p>\n

\"PHOTO

PHOTO C: The black oak savanna as viewed from standing position
with\u00a0the camera’s optical eye.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yet,\u00a0moving in\u00a0close and low with the camera revealed\u00a0what was in my mind’s eye (Photo D): a\u00a0landscape photograph that represented\u00a0my experience and\u00a0a magic that still conjures the same\u00a0emotion as when I\u00a0was there.<\/p>\n

\"PHOTO

PHOTO D: This photograph accurately reflected what I saw in my mind’s eye. Each time I view it, the image conjures up the same\u00a0emotion that I\u00a0felt when I was there. All it took was a close and intimate perspective.<\/p><\/div>What we see with our own two eyes\u00a0is full of trivia and distractions. No matter what kind of photography you do, trust your mind’s eye and emulate that image to convey the drama, the magic, and the emotion.<\/p>\n

Learn about these\u00a0techniques and more\u00a0by taking my\u00a0landscape photography workshops called Light & The Landscape<\/a> and\u00a0Art of Landscape Photography<\/a>, which are held every summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A photograph is\u00a0a facsimile of reality and our experience. Sometimes it represents the moment quite accurately; at other times, quite poorly. Landscape photography can be more like the latter. This article\u00a0is about how to photographically communicate the drama and the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[71,73,79,70],"tags":[252,257,253,254],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-photography-lessons-tips","category-landscape-photography-lessons-tips","category-nature-photography-lessons","category-photography-lessons-tips","tag-digital-darkroom","tag-hdr","tag-photoshop","tag-photoshop-elements"],"yoast_head":"\nLandscape 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Here in the woodlands of Will County, this afternoon landscape of bluebells along the stream would have been impossible to convey with just one photograph. Those who are familiar with HDR (High Dynamic Range) will take several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/photography-lessons-tips\/digital-photography-lessons-tips\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Landscape photography may seem tough when there's a wide range of light, and a lot of photographers turn to HDR software. But, in most cases, HDR doesn't work for landscape photography because of artifacts caused by the wind. Here, this springtime image of a Will County woodland would not have been possible without merging two consecutive shots taken at different exposures: one for the land and the other for the sky. But, HDR was not required.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/RaccoonGrove-140507-0010-FINAL-copyright-600px.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":948,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/photography-lessons-tips\/light-in-landscape-photography\/","url_meta":{"origin":963,"position":1},"title":"Light in Landscape Photography: A Matter of Life & Depth","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"June 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Good light can bring shape and depth to a photograph. In particular, low side-lighting or \"glancing light\"\u00a0can\u00a0be used to transform your landscape photographs and make them come to life. In\u00a0Photo A (below), the feathery June grass, yellow flowers of hoary puccoon, and other ground foliage are smothered in the open\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/photography-lessons-tips\/digital-photography-lessons-tips\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PHOTO A: Here, diffused light is cast upon a foreground of June grass, flowers, and foliage, resulting in a flat image that no amount of additional compositional prowess can improve.[\/","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Pembroke-Savanna-140607-0010-s1-No-Glancing-Light-copyright-600px-sRGB.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":145,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/digital-landscape-photography-and-digital-capture\/","url_meta":{"origin":963,"position":2},"title":"Digital Landscape Photography: New Possibilities in Storytelling","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Not\u00a0until\u00a0recently, did I begin to photograph the landscape with a digital camera, leaving behind the beauty of transparency film and the process of leaning over a light table, one eye to the loupe, to immerse\u00a0myself in the colorful world\u00a0living within. During my film capture days, I developed\u00a0a sense of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bluff Spring Fen-120821-0010-00-HDR-FINAL by Mike MacDonald, Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/BluffSpringFen-120821-0010-00-HDR-FINAL-600px-Copyright.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1162,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/winter-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":963,"position":3},"title":"Winter Red","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Winter Red So far this winter, the magic of frozen white was nowhere to be found. So, I tried to photograph it, anyway. With dense fog predicted for the morning of Dec. 24, I visited Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois. The fog wasn't as dense as I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The winter fog added a sense of mystery over the sand savanna of black oak and holly.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":816,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/photography-lessons-tips\/digital-darkroom-image-capture-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":963,"position":4},"title":"The Digital Darkroom: Image Capture is Only the Beginning","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"November 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Like it or not, capturing the image with your camera\u00a0is only the beginning. Digital darkroom work is needed to best convey the truth of your experience. That\u2019s because, straight out of your camera, digital images are inherently flat, lacking the sparkle of life and the fidelity of the experience. If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/photography-lessons-tips\/digital-photography-lessons-tips\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The much more truthful final image of storm clouds brewing over Kickapoo Prairie, after opening up the shadows using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CS6.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Kickapoo-Prairie-130807-0010-600px-sRGB-Copyright.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/landscape-photography-transcendental-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":963,"position":5},"title":"Transcendental Light & The Art of Landscape Photography","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On this typical May morning, along a bluff at Black Partridge Woods, transcendental rays of new-day light\u00a0fleck the verdant floor and streak across serpentine waves of woodland phlox, casting\u00a0the divine onto this springtime panorama. Thirty\u00a0minutes earlier, though, only flat blue\u00a0shade from the open sky illuminated the landscape. Editorially and visually,\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"In the art of landscape photography, light can have a transcendental effect. Here at Black Partridge Woods, woodland phlox spread in a serpentine wave across the bluff, as streaks of morning light dramatically and ethereally transform matter. \u00a92013 Mike MacDonald Photography, Inc.\u2014ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please contact Mike MacDonald for permission to use this or any image.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Partridge-Woods-0370-600px-Copyright1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1032,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions\/1032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}