Landscape Photography | Composing with Colour
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- The Colour of Meaning eBook: expressive.pho...
THE VIDEO:
In this video we head out on a very grey day and find joy and energy in the landscape. Back in the studio I compare horizontal and vertical versions of the same scene and explain the consequence of each.
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Photography: Alister Benn
Video Production: Ann Kristin Lindaas
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Which do you prefer; vertical or horizontal. But don't stop there: WHY? Thanks everyone for your comments, please consider being the new eBook The Colour of Meaning where I discuss the secret to finding ourselves in the landscape. expressive.photography/education/
I preferred the vertical composition, I found myself drawn-in more, I think it was the extra detail in the base of the orange triangle tree, it pulled me up and up through the image. Both beautiful though!
All in all, I prefer the vertical image. Easier for my eye to walk through as the components appear more balance and non competing. Excellent video Allister. Woke up to 8" of snow here, so savor your Autumn season.
I am enamored with the verticals composition. It shows more of the different colors, and I also like the details at the bottom, especially the branches that “swoosh” and I love the reds of the foreground. Gorgeous.
I personally like vertical shots. Long time before I did photography I saw some nature documentary on how sharks see things. There was an interesting difference in how sharks see vertical and horizontal lines compared to how we see them. One of the species noticed the vertical lines better and the anorher one noticed the horizontal lines more easily. Unfortunately I can't remember which species was which :) Anyway, thanks for the great content.
Just watched this a second time after months ... and enjoyed it a second time!
For me the horizontal image works better for geometrical reasons. It's like the diagonal lines separating the differently colored areas all have their origin at the lower border of the photo. It's like the colors all erupt from that lower border and I like the dynamic of that. Hope that makes any sense :D
Thank you Alister. Nice companion to your new book. You continue to illuminate. Joy, peace and happiness!
Thanks so much - big hugs
Thanks Alister and Anne Kristine for another beautiful video packed as usual with so much details and zen approach to photography (which I enjoy very much). The topic of colours is so interesting for me because I love colours, I'm so drawn to colours in every aspects of life....colours seem to nourish my soul and being out in nature, immersed in it is always a healing process. It is my natural medicine and I take a bit of it every day!
I like both the styles of the photo you took.
Each one of them speaks differently to me but equally they both give me something I love.
I love moody photos and the portrait really has a strong pull for it, in fact I love to look at the darker curved branches under the colourful canopy of leaves. I love those shapes but then I look at the landscape version and I see the beauty in that composition too, maybe because it something that I'm naturally attracted to when out shooting trees. 💚🌳💚
I always love your feedback - thank you so much
Thanks! Fabulous as usual, Mr Benn. I enjoy how you portray your relationship with the landscape and how that comes across through a philosophy. Just now, the former is more important from my perspective. Continuous hammering of bad news from the media, daughter being sent home from school for the 3rd time in 2 months because of covid in her class, our daily jobs being impacted by the way we are now forced to work. Dealing with these varying forms of pressure is required and an outlet for this is how nature and the landscape can help us to replenish the vigour for life. This approach also makes us remember that the ontological world around us goes on irrespective of our viewpoint and how humans interact within it. This very point reopens our eyes to things we don't see as often as we should be doing and encourages us to focus less on the mundane (or the minimum of what we must attend to) and focus far more on what puts a smile on our faces and drives a positive spirit. Don't let the bastards get us down! Thanks again :)
I know, it's hard to stay positive!! Our escape into nature is so valuable. Shame we manage to ruin it by making it competitive.
Looks like the good soaking that the woodland got has brought out the color of the leaves! I tend to enjoy feasting on detail, so prefer the way the vertical image has the contrasting dark branches and bracken of the forest floor.
Thanks 👍 They're getting a really good soaking today!!
I prefer the horizontal image, which to me has a “cleaner” feel that concentrates ones eye and mind on the essence of those shapes and colours . Great content again
really loving the editing! the "photographer" style photo videos and video composition is nice, as well as the music, but the shots are best!
Excellent video, Alister! I always learn something.
Awesome, thank you!
Another great follow on to your latest book... This is all very helpful as I shoot autumn pictures.... thanks!
Brilliant, happy to hear that
Alister, first, I appreciate the thoughtfulness you bring to these videos. I also appreciate the mirth (almost fell over, did ye?) and the attempts to explain a medium and process that, for me, are at the very least as subjective as they are technical. Which framing? I agree with your preference, though maybe with slight differences to your characterizations. Making this short and simple, I'd say the lower segment of the vertical doesn't strike me as discordant in a "down" kind of way? I'd say it grounds the feeling of the image, but makes it more complete. Therefor, the vertical, for me, is more about emergence (like the transition you talk about in getting out there), while the horizontal calls up the word "celebration", like your word "Joy". Given the transitory nature of the seasons at these latitudes (mid-Atlantic US, here), I'm glad you shared the joy, since consciously celebrating it when we find it does make us more resilient for the other times. Play On!
Stellar content as always. The online universe is inundated with "how to". Allisters content is so much more in expressing and articulating why, the consequences and affecting feeling. So looking forward to reviewing this episode again and again and of course next weeks video. Thank you again Alister for great insight and the experience
Thanks Dave, these endorsements mean a great deal to me.
The horizontal image is my clear preference. The colours, shapes and layers come together for a very uplifting image whereas the vertical, perhaps as a consequence of the shape and the darker areas and elements at the bottom of the frame, draw the image down and change the mood entirely. Great video, explanation and two wonderful images. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much
Alister, it’s interesting to compare your UK native bush to our’s in Australia, eg our Blue Mountains west of Sydney. One would find the mixture with autumn colours in our cooler cultivated land & streets. We have very few deciduous trees; they would rather be called ‘semi deciduous’. And our greens are more bluey green. So I relate to your native trees as cultivated flora. I love your lushness of flora but it’s hard to see it as ‘wild’ bush.
By the way our burnt out mountains are now recovering from last year’s fires.
Thanks for that. I know your area pretty well, I lived in Sydney back in the early 2000's.
Amazing images
Great vid! Seriously though... the vertical is where it's at.
Thanks for that - and thanks for your input.
Im particularly drawn to the vertical image, mainly due to the layers of colour and depth in the composition. Although I do like the horizontal with the orange triangle and the purple tint of colour in the background 🤩
Thanks again for your kind words and feedback
Would hate to have to choose just one of these images. But there certainly is a difference that I can only explain as the vertical feels like I’m looking “at” the scene, wherein the horizontal feels as though I’m “in” the scene. Not sure that makes sense to anyone but me. Thanks. ✌️
Always admire the way you find words to describe your photo's. Loved this video!
Thanks for that, much appreciated
I do some focus stacking and had never thought of using the playback to monitor where is sharp and where I need my next shot to focus on. I am going to use this tip. Thanks!
Great - happy to help
You mention about composition, about being instinctive, playful and this enhancing your creativeness. This sets you, in my eyes, far above some of the other "instructional" video producers where their "rules" on composition sometimes feel formulaic. I have realised that I enjoy my photography so much more when i exhibit freedom in choice of subject and how I express in my images. Sure there are more fails than portfolio images, but then I am happy, enjoying what I am doing. Wonderful video Alister and inspirational as always - this one will be watched several times before next weeks. It is a wonderful companion to Colour of Meaning.
That means a great deal to me, thanks so much.
Unjoined when I was sending all my money to defeat Trump and his Republican enablers. But now that the election is over i rejoined your site. You inspire. And with Trump out I am ready to be inspired artistically again.
I definitely prefer the vertical image. The flow is much better, with almost an ess shaped curve. The horizontal emphasizes or brings in too much of the dead trees at the top of the photo.
First time on time :) It was a pleasure Alister. My true love with landscape photography came back in 2008 during my first trip to Scotland. Since then I managed to return almost every year to Scotland and still my favorite places are around Torridon and Lochinver. Later on came also Scandinavia and especially Norway. Whenever I think about it is is not only the stunning views or the marriage of the mountains and sea that touches me. It is the light and the colour! And from that point of view both your recent videos and the eBook come so well! It helps me also in this so particular year when neither a trip to Scotland or Scandinavia was possible ... I discovered plenty great spots around and I try to look for their light, shape, contract and colours to express myself. Many thanks for these videos Alister! Keep up and stay safe!
Thanks man. We’re here waiting for you when travel is possible again
@@Alister_Benn thank you kindly :)
Great vlog buddy, some beautiful colours! And the layers in the images really pull you through
Thanks man. The week after that all the leaves had gone!
@@Alister_Benn just in time then lol hope your well mate
Yeah, doing well thanks.
Vertical because it give more depth. I am off to buy the book, I have never thought about LS the way you do, probably why my photos are not brilliant. Thanks.
Wonderful, Alister! Really enjoyed both of the compositions, even though prefering the horizontal one a tiny teeny bit more. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent, thanks very much for that kind comment (I like the horizontal too!!)
I was initially drawn to the vertical. After seeing the horizontal I wasn’t so sure. There’s something about the vertical though that “draws”me in. Maybe if the tree branches were cropped out of the bottom of the frame? Then the shot would start in the lower left with the orange triangle without the distraction of the dark tree limbs.
It's amazing how images that are essentially very similar can feel so different. Thanks very much for your feedback.
Always inspiring photographs. Thank you. With all the inspirations, I started landscape photography channel from Nepal.
That's awesome!
Err, the vertical for me. Every autumn is different; despite the earlier quick passing of the birches this has been a most enjoyable month or so and I'm with you in finding the colours uplifting, even in the pouring rain last week. The consequences of processing have been with me this weekend as I tried to make sense of an image I shot last month, but your thoughts have guided me to a version that reflects how I felt when shooting it. Thanks also for the pointer to LAB processing in the ebook, it's got me out of a hole with another image from late summer which I struggled with! Looking forward to the evening colours of winter soon.
Excellent, that all sounds great - happy your creativity is flowing.
You and Gibbs need to talk so we don't have to choose which channel to watch live. lol. Thanks for the content. Hope you and yours are well and happy.
I know!! Thanks very much for watching
You’ve got some nice colour in your vicinity. Autumn has been a slow burn for us this year and then the gales have removed the leaves, so I feel a bit cheated of autumnal colour on the trees. However, I agree absolutely about getting out into the landscape and the way it lifts my mood simply because it fills my senses and blocks out any other thoughts. Well, you’ve asked which image we like, and I like the vertical version. The why is a bit more difficult: I think it’s because the trunk of the tree on the bottom right helps to frame the composition and stops my eye sliding out of the frame down the edge of the brightly coloured yellow leaves on the left. Changing the subject, how’s the diet going? I couldn’t help thinking that your jacket’s looking a tad tight, maybe it shrank in the wash?
LOL - I had to laugh. Well, with the wedding and the obligatory 3 weeks of indulging in wine and nice food, I'd say not so well with the diet! I need to delete that video!!
Beautiful stuff Alister. And l find it interesting how different people see and are inspired by different things.
While l Iove your shots, l was personally salivating over that scene behind you with those gnarly trunks at the beginning of the video when you were setting up your tripod and would have spent lots of time shooting different comps of that. Did you take any shots of that?
LOL, I hear you. I was too focussed on making the video to really engage further with the scene you mentioned! That's the problem with the beast of the channel! It needs fed.
One of the reasons l don’t have one. I admire you and everyone else that take the time and make the effort to create a channel and produce videos worth watching. Kudos to you man!
@@josephcampisi5401 What's the old saying? Necessity is the mother of invention! If it wasn't for the channel nd selling ebooks we'd be in real trouble.
Hi Alister.. long time no speak bud. Apart from the much improved filming... I was wondering if you were playing piano and wrote the music? I guess yes.. I’m sure you are a bit dispondent about the second lockdown but at least you can still go out.
Hey man, long time indeed. The music isn’t mine!! I need to get on that. No lockdown here, we’re still free to roam 🏴
For me I am far more drawn to the vertical composition. The horizontal feels more compressed to me and I actually get lost in the "weight" of the leaves and branches - I lose all sense of perspective, distance, and scale. I find that somewhat unsettling. Somehow in the vertical I feel much more grounded and the trees are more like trees instead of abstract forms competing for space. In the vertical I feel a more natural separation of distance and can sense the scale of the trees. I also love the greater detail and character of the tree in the lower right. It just feels so much better to me.
Great, thanks again for your feedback.
The dueling live video release times between you and Adam was a simple choice for me, alphabetical! Sorry, Adam comes before Alister. Unless of course I go with the surname! Crap. Will have to alternate I guess.
Each version of your image is great. I love both and before I could pick one, I would need to rewatch the video. But I do have to say that since I have been one of your students, I have been drawn to the vertical 5X8 crop on many images. I have gone back in time with many of my images to see if that crop would work better. Once you start to see things through that frame, it made sense to me to use it more unless there was a very important reason not to. I mean versus the 2X3 crop. But, I do agree that the flow of content in any image needs to keep the eye moving. If it gets stuck somewhere, then also, there better be a good reason for that. Your two images tend to need to flow freely since they are mostly about color. Texture and detail are there too, but its the color that is most evident on first viewing. I'll rewatch and see if I can make a choice.
We're coordinated now!!
Hi Alister!! Nice video, thank you for this content. Were this book written in English only?
Hi Alister: I hope you don't mind, but am introducing your channel and your work on Colour to our Kelby One Community. I am not sure if you are familiar with this community but there are lots of photographers around the world. Keith
The more the better. Thanks mate
thanks again alister...i have two questions - 1) why does everything front to back have to be 'sharp" ? 2) can you merge the vertical and horizontal to end up with an interesting square ?
Thanks for the feedback. It doesn't "need" to be sharp, but in some cases the degree of fuzziness is too much. It depends on output as well, print vs web. Sometimes I just demonstrate techniques as they seem appropriate!
Oh man there was this piano again. I'm still curious about the name of this song from the intro.
Sorry man. It’s a rights free piece from Motion Array, I’ll have to check the name And artist when I’m feeling better
@@Alister_Benn thanks for quick reply. Would love to get the information as I find it to be really inspiring - and I don't want to restart thus video every 1.5 minutes while editing any more:-) all the best!
@@mathiaslibor287 motionarray.com/royalty-free-music/my-autumn-318969 it's only a 1.22 minute royalty free clip. Sadly it does not appear to be a song.
@@Alister_Benn Hey Alister, thanks again for the reply. I guess this will run in a permanent loop from time to time while editing images.
Also I'm already looking forward to the current vision and light episode. All the best and happy shooting. Cheers from Germany
@@mathiaslibor287 You're welcome man :-)