I’ma landscapeandlongexposure
photographerbasedin Galway,
Ireland.Thisphotowastakenin
theVal d’Orciavalleyin Tuscany
and shows a solitary group of
cypress trees shrouded in the light
of the last autumn rays of sun among the rolling
hills. It was a wonderful scene, and the ethereal
clouds drifting across it crowned the moment.
ryszardlomnicki.comRichard says: What an amazing landscape!
Looking simultaneously alien and miniature,
this is a scene that begs to be photographed
and Ryszard has done a great job recording
it. The tones are wonderful,withtheimage
al most monochromatic initssimplicity.
There’s a wonderfully minimalistfeelto the
image too, which is oftendifficultto hit away
fr om the obvious seascapelongexposures.
The trees act as the perfectdrawforthe
vi ewer’s eye, holding everythingtogetherand
creating a really well-executedcomposition
in what isn’t exactly a classically-proportioned
la ndscape image. There’sa lotof skillhereand
cl early Ryszard has a greatsenseof theimpact
that space and symmetrycanhave.
I admit to being a littlecuriousaboutRyszard’s
use of an ND filter to add movementto theclouds.Onpaper,it’sa goodideato adda dynamic
el ementto an otherwiseverystaticimage,
but I do wonderif thescuddingcloudsdistract
somewhatfromtheminimalistvibe.Thenature
oflandscapephotographyis theneedto work
withwhatyouhave,andwhilea clearskydevoid
ofanycloudsatall wouldhavemadefora starker
shot,thatobviouslywasn’tan option.Thatsaid,
however,I would’velikedto haveseena shotfrom
herewithoutthelongexposureeffectto seeif it
makesfora cleanerimage.
Justbecausewecandosomethingin
phot ography,it doesn’tmeanwe alwaysshould.
FantasticshotthoughRyszard!74 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
Lookingsimultaneouslyalien andminiature, thisis a scene thatbegs to bephotographedFeedback
Val d’Orcia valley
by Ryszard LomnickiOur experts analyse & critique your best images.
Send them to [email protected]Richard Collins
PP’s deputy
editor is a hugely
talented journalist,
photographer and
tutor with an eye
for the minimalist
and abstract.BenHawkins
Withover17 years
as a photographic
journalist, Ben is
an experienced
competition
judge, picture
editor and writer.Kirk Schwarz
With over ten
years spent as a
wedding, fashion
and product
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Kirk has an eye
for finer details.