Assignment 2: Place + Experience + Landscape

Due 9/13

Determine a location that you wish to explore through photography; this place must include a landscape. With a DSLR, shoot a series of no less than 100 photographs that relay the experience of being in this place.  From the original 100, choose 10 photographs that you find best relay the place, its history and what is unique about its experience. Post the final 10 photographs to your blog with a statement detailing why you chose the location and what you wanted to relay through the series.

Student Examples:
Zane Willard
Joshua Campbell
Kehri Behles
Jack Dean


What to think about when shooting Landscape Photography

• What is it that entices you about the location?
• Have you ever been a tourist, or been to a place that really took your breath away?  If so, did you ever take a picture to try and capture the grandeur, later looked at it and felt that the image you took didn't do the feeling and location justice?  Why does that happen?  With our eyes, we can see, interpret and choose what details we want to pay attention to and what we don't.  A lens can't do that automatically.  We're also taking a 3D space and flattening it to a 2D image.  The challenge will be to focus and control the lens so that it captures the splendor of what your eyes see.  This can be a matter of finding the right angle and composition.
• What statement are you trying to make about the location.
• Is there something about the place that you're trying to communicate?  Is the location old and feels as if it's from a different world?  Is it crumbling, abandoned and falling apart?  Is it covered in pollution?  Is it covered in flora that is replenishing the bee population?  What can help when choosing your landscape is writing down what theme or statement you want the photos to take, and keep that in mind when taking your shots.
• Thinking in Adjectives
• What is the character of the place?  What words would you describe if explaining the location to a friend?  How can your photos push those feelings?  For example, if you're shooting a light house and the word you want to convey is 'lonely', then if you frame the light house so that it takes up your entire shot on a sunny day, it might hurt not convey the message you intend.  What lighting, time of day and composition might make the same subject feel very different.  

If you're struggling to think about what you want to say about a place, maybe do some research on the location and see what other people have to say about it.  If you agree, you can use that information as your starting point.  If you don't agree with their assessments, then you can use your photos and blogs to make a counter-argument.

Don't worry if not every picture comes out well.  There's a reason why the assignment is to start with 100 photos.  Most of them are going to be crap.  That's okay!  That's normal in photography.  Try different settings, different angles, try the same angles with several different settings.  If you can find 10 decently good photos to use for your blog out of the 100+, you'll be well off.

Artists for Reference
Casper David Fredrich
Ansel Adams
Hiroshige
An-My Le
Josef Struth - Paradise Series
Florian Maier Aichen
Jeff Wall - Flooded Grave
Jason Lazarus - Standing at the Grave of Emmet
Reference from the NY Times
Photographer as Witness