Evolution of a Landscape Photographer
Firstly, let me make a disclaimer by saying that I am not an expert. I am a guy whose passion is landscape photographey, who makes mistakes and learns everyday, and who would like to shoot better every time he goes out. This blog and my YouTube channel are a place for me to share my knowledge and improve. These are my personal opinions and experiences and you may not agree with them, there is no right answer nor a wrong question here. I also have utmost respect for the photographers I am mentioning here in the blog.
Since last year, I have been following Chris Sale from the UK on his YouTube channel. It has been fascinating to see his journey from quitting his full-time IT career to becoming a professional landscape photographer in the Lake District area of the UK. It was a bold step he took, and it seems he is heading into the right direction, of course, with a lot of hard work. What I like about Chris is his approach to explaining the thought process behind the steps he has been taking to flourish as a Lake District Landscape Photographer (and beyond hopefully one day). To sum it up in one sentence, he has been honest and he speaks his mind. In one of his recent videos titled "Work the Scene | How I Find Compositions", he climbs a mountain in front of big reservoir, and on his journey up, he takes photos. The video shows him taking more photos on the mountain top and he shares the reasoning behind each photo he takes. I felt that I was with him during the entire journey. I felt tired of climbing up, I saw myself taking my backpack off my heavy shoulders and putting it down on the grass. I unpacked my gear and heavy tripod each time I took the photo, I felt the breeze, I saw the calmness of the valley, witnessed silence of the water, heard the birds chirping and even thought about going down the hill on my weak left leg and foot that broke into pieces in 2018. My imagination had mixed feelings of tiredness and sense of adventure, but mostly contentment of doing what I love to do... (ok, enough of poetry). I saw Chris and thought to myself, "here is a photographer who loves what he does, he is knowledgeable, his work is admiring, he makes mistakes and tries to improve and right now he is walking up and down the hill trying to make the best of the situation". All of sudden it struck me that I have been and still am on the exact same journey of photography. I have been on this path many a times and I love it when I am in the middle of the action. It was not always like that however, I remember moments when I stood on a big boulder in front of a mesmerizing sunset at Camps Bay. I had Nikon D800 mounted on the tripod, one of the best cameras of its time for landscape photography, and I didn't get one photo that I could publish... the opportunity was right there, but my skills levels weren't. I remember swearing in frustration and I felt irritated like a loser. In my own mind, a landscape photographer goes through a few phases which I am going to highlight below. These phases have boundaries which are somewhat blur, you might be transiting from one to another at the moment.
Phase I - getting inspired
Love for nature is hidden in you somewhere, it pops out and becomes obvious at a certain age in your life. Whenever it does, you start seeing around you, you feel inspired by nature and connected. I live in front of Table Mountain for the past twelve years, it is one of the natural wonders of the world. I once asked a friend on my way to work, aren't we lucky to have Table Mountain right here, he responded dismissively, "Yeah, it's there". He saw it everyday and stopped seeing it. A photographer is inspired, it is like a new spark of love, everything is fresh and new and your heart pounds being in nature or seeing its photos on social media or elsewhere. Before I bought my first camera in 2006, I always collected photos digitally, often printing them and sticking them on my wall as a student. They were a world into which I escaped in thought, imagination and dream.
Phase II - acquiring knowledge
You start clicking with your newly bought camera, or Googling/asking experts regarding camera choices. You shoot and feel disappointed many times. You keep moving, reading, watching videos and tutorials, learn how to compose, ask others for feedback, focus on post processing, feel more inspired by the work of your favourite photographers and frustration finds you once in a while if not often. Joining camera clubs, going out for photography, keeping your camera handy and stopping the car several times during a road trip are part of your routine. Before I forget to mention, "what were your camera settings?" becomes an important question. Also, you often wonder why my photos are not like the one that I saw on Instagram? If you don't give up, which most people I know do, you acquire knowledge and improve. You start understanding the ins and outs by practicing. Nature inspires you more and you want to do your best to be like photographers you admire, but you don't realise that by doing all of it, you are developing your own style, views and opinions, and approach towards landscape photography.
Phase III - getting wise
By this stage, camera settings questions are not important, you have gone beyond that as you understand the camera more than ever. Scouting a location or for a location becomes more important and a fun activity. When you witness a captivating golden hour, you appreciate it, admire it, stay in it and then take a photo as you know the photo will come because you scouted well, you have a composition figured out, camera settings are not an issue and pressing the shutter release is a mechanical task. You help others around you, give them advice and start inspiring others because your results are better than before and your work starts speaking for itself. You have spent hours and hours practicing your post processing skills. Wisdom tells you that you still have to take your best shot yet, and in search of that bucket list shot, you try to learn more, improve more and seek knowledge from wherever you can.Your favourite photographers are still your favourite, they still inspire you as they did before but now it is easy to connect with them at a philosophical level. I am sure when you are in phase III, just like karate black belts, there are dan levels 1, 2, 3 and so forth. Like Mr. Miyagi said, “First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine.” Remember, an intelligent owl seeks wisdom continuously and spreads it wisely (I just made this shit up). You realise that it is not only about this image, it is about the journey. It is about being in the moment! That reminds me of my favourite line from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:
Walter Mitty:When are you going to take it?
Sean O'Connell:Sometimes I don't. If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it.
Walter Mitty:Stay in it?
Sean O'Connell:Yeah. Right there. Right here.
I have been inspired by many photographers in and out of South Africa. Paul Bruins, Hougaard Malan, Janik Alheit, Simon Baxter, Alex De Cock, and Yasir Nisar are a few names that I would like to mention here. Honestly, it not always their photos or the images that have inspired me, being a photographer is not only about images. It is their approach towards landscape photography, it is the wisdom factor, dedication, hard work, consistency, post processing skills, calmness, knowledge, ability to visualise and many other factors that define them ... it is one thing in one photographer and may be another thing in the other that inspires me. They have all taught me in one way or the other, and for that I shall be in their debt whenever I shoot a scene. I have seen Paul trying to take the best image of Table Mountain day in and day out at Bloubergstrand in Cape Town, what a stunning collection he has. I have noticed Hougaard working hard and leading the way for the South Arican landscape photography community through his exemplary shots, tutoring and landscape photography gear. The way Simon Baxter visualises a scene in chaos of a woodland is sometimes jaw dropping for me, it takes a lot of practice to do that. So many thing to look forward to in each of these photographers. They must have spent hours in reading, watching, scouting, perfecting their composition, and practicing Ligthroom and Photoshop etc. How many trips they made to one location in search of good light and came back with nothing but experience? How much time did they spend in finding cool and famous locations that people go and take photos of? Think about the phases of evolution I spoke about... or make your own phases, and see the efforts these guys must have made over the years to go from beginners to the master level. Their knowledge speaks volumes and it is only because they have evolved through their experiences to become better everyday.
It is not for me to put Chris Sale or any of the above mentioned photographers in categories or determine which phase they are in. These are my phases of a photographer's life for myself and they might have their his own (every photographer for themselves). If you are reading this Chris, I would love to know how you feel you have evolved as a landscape photographer over the years, you know my email address mate!
If I look back at myself, I have come a long way from where I once started. Capturing in and around Cape Town has given me friendships, knowledge, confidence, ability to share what I have learned so far and above all adventures of lifetime!
Muji
