Landscape Photography

I love nature, God’s wonderful creation, and being out there in it, exploring and hiking. That’s why I enjoy landscape photography so much; it’s an effort to capture the beauty of the moment, the wonderful scenes and places of our Earth, a small token to pass on to others that says, “Look, look what God has done!”

But in truth our efforts to capture the grandeur and wonder of this world are pathetic at best! That’s why I chuckle when I read the endless debates and opinions about what’s ‘natural’ in photography, and whether photo manipulation with post processing software, or the use of light altering filters at the time of the shoot are acceptable or not. In the end it’s all irrelevant really, as no matter what we do; we still end up with a flat, lifeless copy when compared to the actual scene and moment we sought to simulate.

Whether looking out across a scene of rolling green countryside at a distant forest, with giant white clouds floating by; or up at a towering mountain, awesome and forbidding against a glowering winter sky, so much is happening to us! Our senses are being bombarded with an infinitesimal multitude of detail, vast amounts of which we are processing in our minds, and vast amounts of which pass us by. We are having one of the most ultimate multi media experiences known to man!

The multitude and variety of sights and impressions that assail our eyes are phenomenal, and can never be entirely recorded by our little black plastic boxes, our camera obscura! We see levels of tones and hue that are lost by the inability of our lenses and sensors to record them; nuances of shade and detail far beyond the reach of our artificial instruments. Our eyes see in wide angle without distortion, record slight movement and detail miles away in telephoto, catch a distant flash of reflection and what was revealed in that instant of light then lost again to the shadow. We are experiencing time and change, phenomenon impossible to capture, and witness the cause and effect of motion in a split second over a vast area. The awesome mountain and billowing cloud are before us, yet at the exact same time we are aware that there is a ladybug wandering casually across our shoe. The macro and micro are ever present, and we are always simultaneously aware of both; though ultimately, as impressive as our sensory endowment is, we are left behind by the seemingly infinite degree to which they spiral out from us. We stand in the middle as the macro travels out to encompass our vast universe and the micro descends down to the wonders of the atom and beyond.

Sound fills seeming gaps in the picture, highlighting the experience and focusing our attention. The cry of an eagle echoing across a mountain valley between peaks stops us in our tracks, and we scour the sky. The sound of a distant waterfall seems to beckon us onward, almost demanding that we find it and discover its secrets. And one of my favourites; the wind in the autumn leaves when they have become stiff and hardened in death, different types and size of leaf adding their particular tone. A wind chime rustling sound, waxing and waning with the intensity of the wind, like an orchestra building to a crescendo.

Then there’s the physical feelings that accompany our experience, feelings that pull us into our surroundings, like an embrace, making us a part of it and not just on the outside looking in. The heat, the cold, the rain the wind; force us to enter into our immediate environment, sharing the experience with all the other elements. We are a part of it all. Our aches and pains sympathise with the ongoing struggle to survive throughout nature, the warmth on our faces speaks of the joy of life.

But then, over and above them all is the spiritual aspect. The experience of gratitude and the humbling effect life ultimately has upon us all. The elation, the wonder, the joy; the feeling of awe that rises in your soul as you round a corner to see yet another and even more lovely scene. At such moments, for most of us, regardless of affiliation or credo, there seems but one utterance; “God that is so beautiful!”