Landscape pictures in photography

In painting, the genre of landscape painting for a long time. Where does the word landscape come from?

In the 12th century the word was created in the Old High German -speaking area. The word originally described the entirety of the residents of a country. It was only in the late Middle Ages that the term landscape was relocated to the geographical importance.

The landscape did not play a major role in painting. There were few exceptions among the Greeks and Romans. Landscapes were shown in fresco painting and stage painting in a theater. In painting, the landscapes only deal more intensively in the Renaissance. First only as a environment in a scene with people.

However, landscapes of painters were also painted as a study. These painting studies served as a template for later paintings. Paintings where landscapes or plants were integrated in a painting. In most cases only as an accessory. It took a few more centuries to put the landscape in the foreground.

In the 16th century, interest in observation increased. This is how natural studies often emerged. Why more often? Albrecht Dürer and other painters have already painted nature studies. However, these were usually not order work. They served as the basis for order work. Painting studies were a kind of template for details in order pictures.

Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain are considered the two painters, who were the first to focus on a landscape. People and animals were only staffage. Protestantism in the Netherlands had a further influence on landscape painting

This suddenly fell away from the painter of the client Church. The painters had to look for new clients. Fautical citizens became the new clientele. These wanted to commission portraits or landscapes as paintings. 20

In the 18th and 19th centuries, landscape painting got new impulses through new painting techniques. Some of the formative landscape painters were William Turner , Caspar David Friedrich, Delacroix and Cezanne . In addition to realistic painting, creative and abstract ways were created.

The invention of photography

Photography was invented in the 20th century The art experts can decide whether photography is the continuation of painting or is just another visual form of expression with a different technology. Herman Krone is considered a pioneer of landscape photography . In 1853 he took the first landscape photos of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. This was followed by other photographers who deal with landscapes in photography.

In the 20th century, Ansel Adams another great landscape photographer. He perfected black and white photography with its zone system. He divided a picture into 10 sound gradations from white to black. His photos should contain these tone gradations completely. He achieved this through the targeted use of suitable filters in combination with an adapted development of the film.

As a finish, the crowning glory was the meticulous elaboration of a paper trigger in the photo laboratory on high-quality baryt paper. talking Fine-Art photography today

Even today, many landscape photographers, Ansel Adams and his type of landscape photography, are often mentioned as a model. The film technology has changed due to the first color films. Due to digital photo technology, many processes have changed.

The motif, the landscape, has remained. Many landscape photographers want to reproduce as many details of a landscape as Ansel Adams. They want to show the viewer a high scope of tone.

Map a realistic landscape in a photo. Is that already art? I personally find it a naturalistic representation. There are also creative display techniques in photography. In the end, the experts decide whether they are art. Creative techniques are also used in naturalistic landscape photography.

So that water looks fluid, you usually use long exposure times. Waterfalls are often presented. So that a lake or the sea looks smooth, you also use long exposure times.

How do great landscape photos arise in today's photography?

The planning is at the beginning. Most of the great landscape photos and landscapes are not a random result. They are the result of precise planning and implementation. In the Internet age you can use aids such as Google Earth or other databases. This allows you to determine possible motifs and recording locations. However, the finet tuning will usually be done on site.

Most landscape photographers therefore visit the location one or more times beforehand. Various perspectives and image sections are analyzed. With an app you can check sunrise or downfall. When is the blue hour? When is the Milky Way in the right place?

With most apps, you can save the motif as a project. If the right time has come, you check the weather forecast. The Milky Way will only be visible in cloudless sky. With a cloud cover, you can save yourself this photo tour.

If the place of recording has been determined and the weather fits, it can start. The weather plays the biggest role in classic landscape photography. With today's weather apps you can usually predict the weather very well for the next 24 hours.

However, there is no app that can predict how the sunrise or downfall will be. That depends on chance. With some experience you may get a slight sense. But mostly it turns out differently than you thought.

What photo technology use landscape photographers?

Most landscape photographers want to capture many details of a landscape. To do this, you need a camera and lenses with high resolution. Usually it is cameras with a larger sensor. Full format or medium format. 40, 50 or 100 million pixels are considered perfect among the fine art landscape photographers.

Nevertheless, you can also photograph landscapes with smaller camera systems. The high resolutions are for the highest demands in the field of fine art photography.

The ingredients for photo equipment :

• Full format camera or medium format camera
• Camera with a live view if possible
• Camera with remote release option
• Wide -angle lens with high resolution
• Stable tripod and tripod head
• Remunesters for the camera
• Gray filter, ND gradient filter, pole filter

The brand of a camera doesn't matter. The photographer alone is responsible for a good or excellent landscape photo . To do this, he needs specialist knowledge about photo technology and practical experience to apply what you have learned at the right time. Not all photographers are specifically implemented the theoretical knowledge in practice. Those where that can be done, take great photographs.

A few more tips from professionals

Great landscape photographer

Hardly any photographer can make a living from landscape photography alone. Most landscape photographers also photograph other motifs. It may be that there may be few photographers who can actually live from landscape photography? I will call some here whose landscape motifs I personally like very much.

The Brazilian Sebastiao Salgado taken great black and white photos of the earth with his illustrated book Genesis A photographic monument that should show the beauty of our earth. He traveled the earth for over ten years and photographed people and natural beauties. Thanks to many sponsors, this great photo project was possible at all.

The American art Wolfe was enthusiastic about his illustrated book Eden . In it he shows animals and landscapes on earth. As a nature photographer, his motifs are animals and landscapes. There are other illustrated books from him.

The break Michael Kenna is one of the few who specialize in landscape photography and apparently can live on it? His illustrated book Forms of Japan is a masterpiece of tormented photography. Great meditative pictures. Usually reducing the essentials. Great landscapes.

There are certainly other great landscape photographers. The mentioned are those that have left my work on my work. a landscape photo art or just photography? That doesn't matter to me. I judge a landscape photo according to whether I like it or not.

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

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