Published: 2020-04-07
Total Pages: 543
The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography, 2nd Edition teaches photographers how to convert their visual peak experiences—moments of extraordinary natural beauty that evoke a sense of wonder and awe—into stunning images that elicit the same awestruck emotion in their viewers. Author Glenn Randall is an experienced wilderness photographer, and whether you want to venture into the mountains for once-in-a-lifetime shots of raw nature, or simply hone your landscape photography skills from the safety of your back deck, Randall explains the art, science and craft behind creating stunning landscape photographs.
This fully updated edition of the best-selling first edition includes nearly all new imagery throughout the book, as well as a new first chapter, "Photographic Essentials," to help beginners to landscape photography get up to speed quickly. Additionally, this second edition takes into account how Randall's techniques have changed and evolved since the first edition published—from photographic practices to how he uses smart phones and apps as important and powerful tools for landscape photography.
After discussing photographic essentials, Randall focuses on the art of landscape photography. He describes his three-step process for composing a photograph and shows how good composition is an organic process that begins with rules but ultimately transcends them. Randall then explores the science behind successful landscape photographs, which requires understanding key concepts from geography, optics, vision, and psychology. These concepts include:
With some practice and by applying the techniques that Randall teaches you, you will soon be ready to master the finer nuances of creating magnificent landscape photographs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Photographic Essentials
Chapter 2: Landscape Photography Looks So Easy
Chapter 3: In Search of Extraordinary Landscapes
Chapter 4: Visualization
Chapter 5: The Art and Science of Light
Chapter 6: The Art and Science of Composing Compelling Images
Chapter 7: The Perfect Exposure
Chapter 8: Digital Capture and Processing of High-Contrast Scenes
Chapter 9: Take a Walk on the Wide Side
Chapter 10: The Landscape at Night
Chapter 11: The Psychology of the Compelling Landscape
Index
More Than a Rock, 2nd Edition is a passionate and personal book about creativity and expression. In this series of over 70 brief essays, photographer and teacher Guy Tal shares his thoughts and experiences as an artist who seeks to express more in his images than the mere appearance of the subject portrayed. Following up on the success of the first edition, this revised edition contains updated imagery, a new essay in each of the book’s four sections—Art, Craft, Experiences, and Meditations—and is presented in a beautiful hardcover format.
Tal makes an argument to consider creative landscape photography—expressing something of the photographer's conception through the use of natural aesthetics—as a form of visual art that is distinct from the mere representation of beautiful natural scenes. Tal covers topics such as the art of photography, approaches to landscape photography, and the experiences of a working photographic artist. His essays also include reflections on nature and man’s place in it, living a meaningful life, and living as an artist in today’s world.
The book is decidedly non-technical and focuses on philosophy, nature, and visual expression. It was written for those photographers with a passion and interest in creative photography. Anyone who is pursuing their work as art, is in need of inspiration, or is interested in the writings of a full-time working photographic artist will benefit from reading this book. The book is visually punctuated with Tal’s inspiring and breathtaking photography.
“Some images look like things, while others feel like things; some images are of things, while others are about things. A creative image is not a record of a scene nor a substitute for a real experience. Rather, it is an experience in itself—an aesthetic experience—something new that the artist has given the world, rather than a contrived view of something that already existed independent of them.”
—Guy Tal
“The medium of photography has a long tradition of practitioners who were not only masterful photographers, but were also insightful and thoughtful writers—the thinking man’s photographers. Among them we find such greats as John Szarkowski, Minor White, Bill Jay, and Robert Adams. It is no exaggeration to include Guy Tal on this esteemed list.”
— From the Foreword, by Chuck Kimmerle
See the images and read the stories behind the creative process of one of America’s most respected landscape photographers, William Neill.
For more than two decades, William Neill has been offering his thoughts and insights about photography and the beauty of nature in essays that cover the techniques, business, and spirit of his photographic life. Curated and collected here for the first time, these essays are both pragmatic and profound, offering readers an intimate look behind the scenes at Neill’s creative process behind individual photographs as well as a discussion of the larger and more foundational topics that are key to his philosophy and approach to work.
Drawing from the tradition of behind-the-scenes books like Ansel Adams’ Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs and Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape, Light on the Landscape covers in detail the core photographic fundamentals such as light, composition, camera angle, and exposure choices, but it also deftly considers those subjects that are less frequently examined: portfolio development, marketing, printmaking, nature stewardship, inspiration, preparation, self-improvement, and more. The result is a profound and wide-ranging exploration of that magical convergence of light, land, and camera.
Filled with beautiful and inspiring photographs, Light on the Landscape is also full of the kind of wisdom that only comes from a deeply thoughtful photographer who has spent a lifetime communicating with a camera. Incorporating the lessons within the book, you too can learn to achieve not only technically excellent and beautiful images, but photographs that truly rise above your best and reveal your deeply personal and creative perspective—your vision, your voice.