I agree wholeheartedly Gill. Emotion is literally what moves us and, potentially, others too. Thanks for showing so many glorious images of Shingle Street. I caught sunset there a couple of weeks ago. I had the place to myself and it was totally magical. I agree with Ian Saunders’ comment (above) about sometimes experiencing disappointment viewing images when the emotion of the moment overcame attention to my craft. Both are needed. Thanks again for such an interesting piece.
Thank you very much Steve. It is so interesting to read everyones comments. We all have times when our images don't work for one reason or another - sometimes our emotional response can overwhelm us and we forget the technical side in our excitement. However a technically brilliant image without any emotion will always be a record shot so it is important to pay attention to our instinctive response to a landscape.
I am glad you enjoyed Shingle Street - I hope you got some lovely images.
Definitely emotional whether it’s a big scene or a more intimate one. Technical ability grows over time and then a scene inspires you and that little bit of technical knowledge means you add a touch of creativity and that has a big emotional impact. But it’s a mixture, emotional reaction is great when it just seems to work, at other times even technical ability just doesn’t do anything that’s frustrating.
I totally agree Pat. The landscape has to move you in some way for the photograph to really connect with others. After a while the technical side becomes second nature, but we all still have mistakes and images that don't work technically - its part of photography and the way we continue to learn 🙂
I think you’re spot on Gill. I’ve definitely been focusing more on the technical side of photography since I started taking it far more seriously as a hobby a few years ago. However having learnt how to feel more comfortable with my camera and its settings I now feel the urge to explore new and more unusual compositions and to connect more to locations.
Thank you very much for your comments David. I think as we grow technically we naturally get more creative as the technical side becomes more intuitive. It's good to hear that you are getting to that stage and are exploring more and trying new things. It makes photography more fun too I think 🙂
It is always interesting to see workshop participants differing opinions of locations, some see it , some don’t, some need more time to see it etc etc.
I think that is one of the lovely parts of teaching people photography - I get to see how others see the world and I always find I can learn something from that. How people can interpret a place in so many different ways is always fascinating.
I think the process can be expressed as a virtuous circle:
Emotional response > technical ability (with the camera and if necessary with some post editing) >
resulting in a reaffirmation of the original emotional response.
Does the atmosphere of the scene emerge from the final photograph? Does it remind me that it was a hot/cold/calm/blustery day? If I can get this right, then I am happy.
Absolutely Sian, getting an image to convey how we feel when we are photographing it will lead to a much more emotive shot. Often we forget these things in the field, but they are so important to the mood of the final image.
Another great post Gill. I enjoy the way that photography is a blend of science and art. With practice I think the technical aspect can be understood and hopefully become second nature. Mastering this should hopefully allow focus (excuse the pun) to be fully directed to the artistic side and capturing an image that replicates exactly why we took the photo in the first place.
I agree that there needs to be an emotional connection with the landscape which hopefully will show in the resulting image; otherwise all we are left with is a technically correct record shot
I agree Andrew, the technical side has to come first and once it becomes second nature then we are freer to response intuitively to the landscape. I think it is easy to get hung up on the technicals and not to consider our response to a scene. I also think that post processing has a huge part to play in getting the mood and emotion to really shine through in a photograph.
Beautifully written and I'm definitely 100% emotional, technical ability doesn't get a look in as soon as I see something that excites me. This also can lead to emotional lows when viewed on a monitor later but I would rather have that surge of excitement every time.
I agree Ian, it is how we react to something that defines our photograph. The technical side gets better with practice but we all have those sinking feelings every so often. 😆
I agree, Shingle Street is one of my favourite locations on the Suffolk Coast. There is always something interesting to find there and so many people I have encountered who have interesting stories to tell about the place.
I agree wholeheartedly Gill. Emotion is literally what moves us and, potentially, others too. Thanks for showing so many glorious images of Shingle Street. I caught sunset there a couple of weeks ago. I had the place to myself and it was totally magical. I agree with Ian Saunders’ comment (above) about sometimes experiencing disappointment viewing images when the emotion of the moment overcame attention to my craft. Both are needed. Thanks again for such an interesting piece.
Thank you very much Steve. It is so interesting to read everyones comments. We all have times when our images don't work for one reason or another - sometimes our emotional response can overwhelm us and we forget the technical side in our excitement. However a technically brilliant image without any emotion will always be a record shot so it is important to pay attention to our instinctive response to a landscape.
I am glad you enjoyed Shingle Street - I hope you got some lovely images.
Definitely emotional whether it’s a big scene or a more intimate one. Technical ability grows over time and then a scene inspires you and that little bit of technical knowledge means you add a touch of creativity and that has a big emotional impact. But it’s a mixture, emotional reaction is great when it just seems to work, at other times even technical ability just doesn’t do anything that’s frustrating.
I totally agree Pat. The landscape has to move you in some way for the photograph to really connect with others. After a while the technical side becomes second nature, but we all still have mistakes and images that don't work technically - its part of photography and the way we continue to learn 🙂
I think you’re spot on Gill. I’ve definitely been focusing more on the technical side of photography since I started taking it far more seriously as a hobby a few years ago. However having learnt how to feel more comfortable with my camera and its settings I now feel the urge to explore new and more unusual compositions and to connect more to locations.
Thank you very much for your comments David. I think as we grow technically we naturally get more creative as the technical side becomes more intuitive. It's good to hear that you are getting to that stage and are exploring more and trying new things. It makes photography more fun too I think 🙂
Lovely words and pictures as always Gill.
It is always interesting to see workshop participants differing opinions of locations, some see it , some don’t, some need more time to see it etc etc.
Thank you very much Jon.
I think that is one of the lovely parts of teaching people photography - I get to see how others see the world and I always find I can learn something from that. How people can interpret a place in so many different ways is always fascinating.
Very thought provoking, Gill. Thank you!
I think the process can be expressed as a virtuous circle:
Emotional response > technical ability (with the camera and if necessary with some post editing) >
resulting in a reaffirmation of the original emotional response.
Does the atmosphere of the scene emerge from the final photograph? Does it remind me that it was a hot/cold/calm/blustery day? If I can get this right, then I am happy.
Absolutely Sian, getting an image to convey how we feel when we are photographing it will lead to a much more emotive shot. Often we forget these things in the field, but they are so important to the mood of the final image.
Another great post Gill. I enjoy the way that photography is a blend of science and art. With practice I think the technical aspect can be understood and hopefully become second nature. Mastering this should hopefully allow focus (excuse the pun) to be fully directed to the artistic side and capturing an image that replicates exactly why we took the photo in the first place.
I agree that there needs to be an emotional connection with the landscape which hopefully will show in the resulting image; otherwise all we are left with is a technically correct record shot
I agree Andrew, the technical side has to come first and once it becomes second nature then we are freer to response intuitively to the landscape. I think it is easy to get hung up on the technicals and not to consider our response to a scene. I also think that post processing has a huge part to play in getting the mood and emotion to really shine through in a photograph.
Beautifully written and I'm definitely 100% emotional, technical ability doesn't get a look in as soon as I see something that excites me. This also can lead to emotional lows when viewed on a monitor later but I would rather have that surge of excitement every time.
I agree Ian, it is how we react to something that defines our photograph. The technical side gets better with practice but we all have those sinking feelings every so often. 😆
Gill, thought provoking, Shingle Street a very special place, will have to make plans to return next year!😀
Thank you Chris.
I agree, Shingle Street is one of my favourite locations on the Suffolk Coast. There is always something interesting to find there and so many people I have encountered who have interesting stories to tell about the place.
I hope you get to visit soon.