The Intimate Landscape with Tony Worobiec FRPS

When shooting landscape, the temptation is always to point the camera towards the horizon, but there is also merit in taking photographs which completely exclude the sky. If we develop this idea just a little further, we should be able to find worthwhile images down at our feet, or possibly in small nooks and crannies that are not normally considered rich pickings for photography.

Look carefully at seemingly inconsequential elements such as small clusters of flowers, formations of rocks, or marks in the sand and you will discover detail that can serve as a microcosm for the whole. Look for exciting colour combinations, rich textures or patterns, as these can provide the basis for the photograph. This can prove to be a deeply satisfying, almost contemplative approach to photography, as it requires that you work slowly. Once you find an area of interest, move cautiously, almost metre by metre, checking out potentially worthy bits of detail. Soon you will be enthralled in a world of the miniature.

The great thing about the intimate landscape is that it is personal, as only you will have noticed it, but in order to be successful much will depend on your powers of observation, your understanding of the visual elements and your imagination.

Adopt working practices that promote individuality;

1) Avoid Clichés: whilst we may well visit honey-pot locations, learn to put your own spin on it.

2) Looking to your feet: what you see on the ground will be exclusive to you.

3) Looking upward: learn to create dynamic compositions by pointing your camera upwards

4) Looking from a high vantage point; identify wonderfully abstract elements.

5) Exploring "intimacy" by reducing the depth of field. Some of our most enigmatic landscapes can be created by using a very wide aperture.

Content:

Whilst a reasonable proportion of our time will be spent identifying suitable topics for "the intimate landscape", it is also our intention to build-in a period of practical work. There are two interesting cemeteries very near-by, but also an area of park-land with interesting deciduous trees just 10 minutes away. Please bring a camera with you to capture your own"intimate landscapes".

The outdoor part of the workshop will be dependant on the weather. If there is heavy rain we will stay indoors, so please bring 2 and 4 "related" images (in jpeg form) you may already have done,  copied onto a memory stick.

Interesting locations you may wish to consider.

1) The beach / tidal marks on the sand

2) Rock-pools.

3)  A single rock and flowing water

4) Sand-dunes

5) The Graphic Beauty Of  Empty fields, (particularly plentiful at the moment)

6) Floral pastures.

7) Skeletal Trees.

8) The marks of man.

9) Man-made landscapes

10) A close-up of plants

11) The beauty of clouds.

12) Flowing water in a river

13) The beauty of ponds.

14) Withering plants

15) Scattered leaves on the ground.

What to Bring:

Please bring your camera, and 2 - 4 images.

We provide tea and coffee, but we do not provide lunch, so you may wish to bring sandwiches with you. There are places to go within walking distance to buy lunch.

Address: The Royal Photographic Society, RPS House, 337 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3AR

Please visit https://rps.org/contact/  to help plan your trip. Please be aware that the car park in the Paintworks on a weekday is limited to three hours.  Weekends, and evenings after 6pm are unlimited.

Bristol Temple Meads is a 30-minute walk to Paintworks.

Buses running from Bristol Temple Meads to Paintworks are: 1, 178, 349 or the X39, but please check before leaving.

A Park & Ride service is available from Brislington Park & Ride. More information can be found at www.travelwest.info/park-ride/bristol/brislington  

Local Parking

If you need to bring your car and don’t want to use the Park and Ride Buses, you can book a place to park at a nearby supermarket using this link yourparkingspace.co.uk

You can also park all-day for £5 at Arnos Manor.  Visitors will need to go to the hotel reception to purchase a ticket to display on their windscreen.