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BY ROY BARKER

There are many different versions or styles of landscape photography, not the least landscape photo art. Hopefully, I have been able to explain some of its characteristics in this topical article and it will leave you a little wiser. I have compiled other articles on a similar bend but none of them really cover this area of landscape photo art that well.

In my opinion, landscape photo art means creating a visual metaphor for a concept you have in mind, for a feeling within yourself. People often think that taking a landscape photo is a simple matter and that anyone can do it. But having a camera with you on a trip on the mountain, taking photos from time to time so that you’ll remember you’ve been there, has nothing to do with landscape photo art.

History indicates that it’s very difficult to become an “artist” in landscape photography. Besides the natural talent, you also need good equipment, much work and a lot of patience. Landscape photo art is not about taking photos; it’s about making them.

Good landscape photo equipment is quite expensive. If you can’t afford buying all the proper components from the beginning, you have to prioritize your budget into the lenses, as they are the essential equipment element in landscape photo art. You need prime lenses (with fixed focal lengths) and high quality zooms. The camera body must have an internal meter and manual setting capability for choosing the aperture and shutter speed. There is no need to mention that it is impossible to make a quality landscape photo without using a good tripod with a ball head. However, a good photographer can take excellent photos with any camera — the good equipment will only make photos even better — while a marginal photographer won’t be able to take good photos no matter how expensive the equipment might be.

Once you get the proper equipment, as a beginner in landscape photo art, you can start thinking about what places you want to photograph, what kind of light suits your idea best, what kind of weather you want, and many other details.

For instance, if you want to photograph a mountain landscape, you must have in your mind the message you want to portray, the feeling that you want to share with those who will look at your photo. If you’re taking the photo on a bright summer day, people who see it are much more likely to experience a pleasant feeling, or even strongly desire to go there. If you photograph the same landscape on a rainy or foggy day, the feelings you suggest are different but can sometimes lead to greater artistic license.

In order to transform “just taking photos” into landscape photo art, you also need to work a lot and to invest passion in what you’re doing. For instance, if you want to capture a sunrise in a specific location, you have to wake up before the sun rises and go there. Time becomes a consideration. Then you have to wait until the sky changes. It is at that moment when nature seems to wake up from its sleep, a moment that will only last for less than a second perhaps. You have to capture that moment in your photograph to please and impress.

Of course, it is possible not to get the result you hoped for from the first attempt, and then you have to check the weather forecast and get back the next day and try it again. And maybe the next day, instead of a sunrise, you will only see clouds and rain and you will have to return some other time. You need a lot of patience and perseverance in landscape photo art.

A simple photograph may have the power of saving or destroying a place. Imagine that you manage to produce a great photo of the most beautiful wild landscape you’ve ever seen. When people see your photograph, they may also want to go there to take pictures or just visit the location; this can eventually destroy wilderness and make it just a common landscape. Sometimes you should only share the image and keep the geographic details to yourself in landscape photo art — many professionals practice exactly that.

Roy Barker is the publisher of Income from Photography which is dedicated to coaching you on how to start your own photography business, placing a very strong emphasis on your profitability issues and guidelines.