Saturday, July 01, 2006
Bench, South Harris
Comments:
Very carefully composed and a different shot to one that I would have taken - interesting. You have caught a really subtle range of colours in the sky and the shot, as a landscape, is very peaceful. It also captures the feel of such terrain. The leaning plank slightly detracts though. Somebody obviously loves this view (perhaps the owners of the croft opposite) enough to put the bench there but it is not one of the first of man's toeholds in a wilderness to expect!
The plaque at the beginning of this walk said something about walking through tree-lined islands. We didn’t think we’d seen any trees until a man doing some fencing at the end of the walk pointed to a 1.5 mtr high bush and called it a tree!
This raises a question in my mind. The seat is obviously there to sit a look at a view. I now want to see that view. Nice composition and colours.
I want to know about that plank!
I find upland moorland landscapes really difficult to photograph. The inclusion of the bench here creates a vertical element to go with the horizontal one, although I find the intersection of the top rung of the back of the bench with the two horizons a distraction.
Your comment about the trees reminds me of the joke about Iceland: what do you do if you are lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up.
John E. I had to experiment a lot with exposure at the time to get the histogram that I felt would give me the most chance of success. This is a double RAW exposure marriage, from memory.
John L. I am interested in the fact that I have created the impression in this picture that there is some other 'view' to see. In reality that's it mate, that's what it looks like, 360 degrees of it.
Colin. I agree about the photography of this type of terrain. I have found my images only really capture its magnificence when I produced panoramas. I think it is probably more to do with my lack of ability than any other reason. I cannot help with the origin of the plank, Nora has offered to go back and find out for you. I suppose I could have moved the plank but it seemed to add to the feel of abandonment. I did actually get low to get the seat to break the horizon.
Today I watched 'Countryfile' (as I do nearly every Sunday) with morning coffee. Purportedly, it is to watch the weekly weather for us farming types but such joys as the survival of the water vole make it a first-rate beeb production. Today we were treated to an edition from Mull (first national maritime park?) and a side article from Harris about the making of the tweed. Apart from lapsing into nostalgia for the soft '...esh' I was keenly looking out for your man and his loom - sadly not shown.
I think, contemplating your reply to John L, that you captured the view very well (hence my comment about the careful compo) with the partial view of the inland loch. The 'publicity brochures' always show the golden sands and blue skies but, as you and Colin's lovely Icelandic joke point out, the absence of trees is quite striking and must be a difficult factor to live with for those coming from the mainland.
The plank comes from the centre of the seat and is a statement of sorts but not one that is strong enough to override a difficult landscape, which, to repeat, you have captured very well.
PS well married!
I love the subtlety of the colours in this photograph, the temptation to over saturate can be compelling. It’s funny how a good composition such as this one can leave the viewer wanting that very composition to change. Is that the tension that is sometimes discussed on this site? Like a walker approaching the bench, I want to see what is over that edge.
JohnJo. I am interested in what you say about PP and over saturating. After John E's comment I decided to check my work flow on this image. I was wrong it was not a double exposed RAW and I had made a minor change to levels and a minor change to curves which excluded the sky. I have CS2 and have never had any lessons but have looked on the net at what can be done and used free CS2 tutorials. One of the sites I have spent some time looking at is Radiantvista. I have found their formulaic treatment of images to be at odds with my judgement. So I have this very powerful tool, a bit like a JCB, and I use it to do almost nothing, JCB to weed a pot plant. I am almost at the point of saying if it doesn't look right out of the camera............move on.
Rex: you did right not to move the plank. In case I was misunderstood, I think that the plank is an asset.
If not being able to photograph this landscape is caused by a lack of talent, then I, and a lot of others, have that same lack. To expand upon what I said the first time - the inclusion of the bench adds more to this photo than a bench. Compositionally, it adds an anchor for the eye which otherwise scans the horizon. Emotionally, it adds an invitation to stop and rest awhile, just like a real bench does. The net result is a very restful photo.
I was thinking about this sort of landscape on a recent trip and decided that one of my difficulties in photographing it is that my response to it is largely not driven by the way it looks, but by the way it feels. Space, open skies, wind in the face, spongy ground. All things very difficult to photograph!
I think you've done well to capture some of that here. I can imagine sitting on that bench.
I think we all like it then! The plank is partially forgiven.
Following on from Auspicious' last comment about the difficulty of capturing the intangibles, and with the discussion on his site about aesthetics/luminous landscape in mind, I would venture to say that most people are photographing landscape in a 'pretty way' (dawn/evening light etc) because either they have not appreciated the intangibles in the first place and can only see the surface or they would like to but, in the absence of any idea how to do it, fall back on the 'light'. I can be as guilty of this as the next man/woman but am too lazy to get up early in the morning! Because man dominates so much of the landscape these days (short of going into the Sahara or Antarctica) I believe that a lot of landscape photos are at the best misleading, at the worst dishonest. Which is not to say that I don't appreciate the lovely bits of nature that are left but am very happy for someone else to get up early!
I'm bothered by having the horizon so close to the vertical center line. By placing the horizon on the center line I think you've ended up with too much foreground, which short changes the view and the bench.
There is something of interest over the first ridge but the angle fo the shot prevents me from seeing it. The bench's angle takes me up and over to the far hills which I don't think is where the viewer should be directed. Strong detail in the lower half of the picture but the sky is too flat. There is certainly much potential at this venue - this shot came close but not close enough.
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I find upland moorland landscapes really difficult to photograph. The inclusion of the bench here creates a vertical element to go with the horizontal one, although I find the intersection of the top rung of the back of the bench with the two horizons a distraction.
Your comment about the trees reminds me of the joke about Iceland: what do you do if you are lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up.
John L. I am interested in the fact that I have created the impression in this picture that there is some other 'view' to see. In reality that's it mate, that's what it looks like, 360 degrees of it.
Colin. I agree about the photography of this type of terrain. I have found my images only really capture its magnificence when I produced panoramas. I think it is probably more to do with my lack of ability than any other reason. I cannot help with the origin of the plank, Nora has offered to go back and find out for you. I suppose I could have moved the plank but it seemed to add to the feel of abandonment. I did actually get low to get the seat to break the horizon.
I think, contemplating your reply to John L, that you captured the view very well (hence my comment about the careful compo) with the partial view of the inland loch. The 'publicity brochures' always show the golden sands and blue skies but, as you and Colin's lovely Icelandic joke point out, the absence of trees is quite striking and must be a difficult factor to live with for those coming from the mainland.
The plank comes from the centre of the seat and is a statement of sorts but not one that is strong enough to override a difficult landscape, which, to repeat, you have captured very well.
PS well married!
If not being able to photograph this landscape is caused by a lack of talent, then I, and a lot of others, have that same lack. To expand upon what I said the first time - the inclusion of the bench adds more to this photo than a bench. Compositionally, it adds an anchor for the eye which otherwise scans the horizon. Emotionally, it adds an invitation to stop and rest awhile, just like a real bench does. The net result is a very restful photo.
I was thinking about this sort of landscape on a recent trip and decided that one of my difficulties in photographing it is that my response to it is largely not driven by the way it looks, but by the way it feels. Space, open skies, wind in the face, spongy ground. All things very difficult to photograph!
I think you've done well to capture some of that here. I can imagine sitting on that bench.
Following on from Auspicious' last comment about the difficulty of capturing the intangibles, and with the discussion on his site about aesthetics/luminous landscape in mind, I would venture to say that most people are photographing landscape in a 'pretty way' (dawn/evening light etc) because either they have not appreciated the intangibles in the first place and can only see the surface or they would like to but, in the absence of any idea how to do it, fall back on the 'light'. I can be as guilty of this as the next man/woman but am too lazy to get up early in the morning! Because man dominates so much of the landscape these days (short of going into the Sahara or Antarctica) I believe that a lot of landscape photos are at the best misleading, at the worst dishonest. Which is not to say that I don't appreciate the lovely bits of nature that are left but am very happy for someone else to get up early!