well i figure a good landscape photographer probably does not put that much though into it, when you good at something in allot of case it just comes natural, i figure at fist you need to put some though into it but after a while ist just second nature.
i figured there would be a few simple rules to follow and stuff like but i am getting bombarded with stuff that's not really making sense to me after i read it. maybe if my brain could remember stuff after i read it it would be different. give me a little bit to read and it usually sinks in. give me a lot to read and it usually does not.
First things first ...
" ... one of the best ways to improve is to keep trying. As a famous golfer once said 'The more I practice the luckier I get.' Repetition isn’t just about maximizing your chance of finding the right conditions, it also helps you figure out how you want to capture a certain image. This image from Death Valley took me three visits over the course of about eight years to finally get right. Between my first attempt and this one, somewhere in the back of my mind I toyed with compositions, took inspiration from images taken by other photographers and ultimately decided exactly how I wanted to capture these sand dunes.
Ultimately I ended up with something that appeals to me."
The Power of Previsualization in Photography
You are correct when you say you are becoming confused. That is the danger of forums, too many inputs when your brain simply wants an answer. We all mean well. However, we all go about this somewhat differently depending on our experience and our style of working. You, meanwhile, are still taking your first steps toward your own style of working. Go slowly and you will get there.
I'll boil my input down to its simplest concept, you are too impatient.
It's a very common issue when anyone today approaches a new experience. What can make things worse is when you fill your head with buzzwords and ideas and tricks and techniques which you do not fully understand.
You cannot make yourself into a great landscape photographer over night. You cannot grasp the parts which involve symbols and contrasts. You cannot force yourself to see line and color and contrast. So stop trying, you're only frustrating yourself.
Do understand the basic concepts of landscape photography though. Light, shadow, lines, shapes, color and contrast.
(You may want to place those elements in a short note to yourself. When you are viewing a subject, look them over to determine which are best emphasized in your next shot.)
Silk purse = Sweeping, colorful, high dynamic range vistas of majestic beauty and grandeur.
Sow's ear = where you can walk to in a few minutes when you live in Ohio and it's early November. Where is there dynamic range in Ohio in the middle of November? If it's not there, you cannot make it magically appear in your viewfinder.
You have learned enough with your camera through your bird photography to technically be able to, say, scramble an egg for breakfast. Now, you want to instantly be able to cook a five course, Northern Italian/Eastern French inspired meal for fifteen food snobs using ingredients found in the "Foreign Foods" aisle at Walmart. How much distance do you think lies between those two points? How long and hard do you think someone studies and works to cover that territory? How many failures will they have? How many successes? You do have to stop being so negative about your ability and become
waaaaay more positive about your potential.
Each bit of information you have received up to this point is nothing more than another tool you may use when it is appropriate. No one uses every tool every time. Quite literally, if you want to prepare excellent pasta, it begins by learning to crack an egg and how to boil water. The depth of preparing pasta is feeling the humidity in the air. You are still dealing with boiling water so don't get ahead of yourself.
Step back and begin with the simplest skills of a photographer.
You have light and shadow as your materials. Those materials define color, line, shape and contrast.
Your camera and lens are the tools you have at your disposal to shape those materials.
That's it, that's all you have. Now you need to make something interesting.
I won't say even a visual personality type finds photography "easy". The advantage a visual personality has is only that they can see the images and patterns in their mind before they snap the shutter as they have already been formulating ideas once they spot a subject. This is nothing more than nature for the visual personality.
Where they may struggle is in the technical application of the camera to achieving that image they have in their head. For some visually oriented people their dominant type is so overwhelming that they have difficulties with the other sides of photography. If you are a tactile type, you probably find the application of technical skills rather easy to accomplish. If you are an auditory type, then you need to carry on a discussion with yourself as to what you see and how to capture it in an image. You can use your smartphone to describe the prevailing conditions and the image you see plus the camera settings. You can detail these items in a journal. You can also use the hybrid nature of most modern DSLR's and include a bit of video/audio taken just before you take the photo. However you achieve the end, slowing yourself down is essential right now.
But, IMO, you first need to identify what your personality type is and then figure out how to apply your type to your photography. If you go shopping for a car, what do you do? Are you attracted by the looks? The shapes? The controls? The features? The sound of the car at work? How you shop is typically your personality type. No one is purely one type, we are all a mix of the three with one being predominant. It is your dominant nature you want to work from. The others will follow that lead.
With that in mind, I am still of the opinion you need to simplify.
Yes, you can go out and shoot water and sky. IMO, that's still a bit more than you need to tackle right now. You decide. But do not become even more impatient. You are learning how to crack an egg, remember? You don't need to prepare an omelet just yet.
My preference would be for you to only look at one object and to study it. Your materials are not the object itself, they are the light and shadows as they are seen falling on and around the object. They are what are making your subject of interest to us, the viewer. How the light sculpts a shape. How the shadows define a line. How color is emphasized or negated. Strong contrasts vs broad sweeps of low key images. Make the object stationary, unlike your bird photography. Show us what you see.
Try a city park. They are naturally designed to have attractive spaces and elements worthy of photographic study. Forget grand, sweeping vistas for now. There are none in the middle of Ohio right now.
Simplify. Show us a few shots of one thing no matter what it is. Take plenty, make yourself take, say, at least twenty or thirty shots of the same location and same subject. Show us five or ten. We can open up your framing in the viewfinder in time. Remember to get down low and go up high and to turn your camera. Moving an inch and saying that's a different view isn't what you're after.
I asked early on and I didn't receive an answer, what have you done to up your composition skills?
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