There are two types of Photographer … which one are you?
I love hiking up mountains around the UK whenever I can, either here at home or abroad when we are travelling.
Pen Y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales, it is a great hike to do and isn’t that stressful on the knees … although it does get quite busy at weekends, in the summer or on public holidays.
But when the weather goes bad, that’s when you can get this popular peak in South Wales all to your self!
Even though the conditions weren’t that great. We hiked up one morning … not for the sunrise, but looking for certain types of photo.
We did the hike from the Storney Arms which is a straight forward hike to do … although a little strenuous form the valley stream, up to Corn Du.
Landscape photography is such an amazing pastime, but it can be very frustrating as well. You have to deal with the weather, the lighting conditions, how the landscape is looking in relation to the seasons, as well as where you put yourself in that landscape … and very quickly it can become one of those hobbies that turns into a collection hobby instead of a creative hobby …
By this I mean that you can be a landscape photographer that does the research and in doing this research, you are swayed by those images you see.
Then when you head out, as other “more professional” photographers than you have come up with those compositions, you might subconsciously think that there is no better composition than the one they got, so you end up getting that shot and forget to look for others … very quickly this can become a habit that you build and you end up just going around collecting images you have seen.
The Replicator
This is a photographer known as the replicator. You end up just replicating other peoples photographs that you have seen on line. I must admit I have done this in the past, especially when I am short of time or I am feeling a little lazy … or uninspired by the location. But I try to get some photos of my own as well.
If I am at a popular location. I will photograph it from that popular spot but then I will try to find other compositions that I haven’t seen before, and this builds the creative side to photography within.
Now there is nothing wrong with being a replicator. You can go to a location and concentrate on getting your settings right without worrying too much about the composition and it will teach you a lot about what makes a good location in Landscape photography.
However, try not to make too much of a habit of this as it can be addictive and before you know it, you don’t know how to get a shot of your own … or you might end up with a portfolio of images that are like everyone else’s.
The Creator
The creator is someone who goes out to a location with very few preconceptions of that place and captures a photograph of their own. This is much harder to do, but it is much more rewarding.
I will sometimes look on google maps, but not click on any of the images it might present to me … I’ll be looking for a landscape that might be influenced by the sunrise or sunset light. So I’ll be looking for the contours and how the land lies.
The aim of this type of research is to not be swayed by any images of that location.
If I am going out at the weekend, the conditions aren’t that good but I have some free time. I’ll tend to do a location scout and in this there is no pressure as to what I need to photograph or a place I need to get to for sunrise or sunset, and this gives me the freedom to be creative and to hunt for new and novel photographs that could potentially make it into my portfolio.
Like I said in the video, sometimes you can be one and other times you can be the other … and sometimes you can drift between the two. They both have their benefits and they both will help you develop as a photographer.
Which one are you?
Let me know which one you are in the comments on the video, and also let me know what you think of this concept…I’ve been thinking about it for a while and it has got me thinking more in the direction of becoming more of a creator in my landscape photography.
In the video, I talk a little bit more about these two different types of photographer … so click on the link at the top of the page if you ahven’t seen it already.
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Thanks
Mike