Ely Cathrdral © Peter Fortune
I have been writing Editorials for 5 years and have seen some major but not necessarily big developments in camera development and an increasing tendency for photographers to experiment with more creative techniques. When I started, most serious photographers would regard the Scottish Highlands and Iceland as the places to visit to capture novel images, which tended to be interesting views or unusual juxtapositions of elements in an image.
Dijon Street © Peter Fortune
Now, many photographers experiment with relatively new techniques, such as Intentional Camera Movement and other highly creative editorial processes. Years ago, I read a book by a great photographer, Derry Brabbs, and he described waiting for hours for a couple of cows to move into the position in the shot he wanted to capture. I have never spoken to Mr Brabbs, but I am confident he would be very dismissive of “Photoshopping” an image. Oh, how times have changed (and maybe not for the better!).
Fashionable changes tend to “overshoot” the position that the trailblazers regarded as the place to get to and then zig back and forth until things settle down at an acceptable place. Of course I know some photographers who pour scorn editing using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. I recall the media blitz that engulfed Catherine, Princess of Wales (who is, after all, our Patron) when she had the temerity to photoshop a family photograph.
As for myself, I look at photographs as images, and while I am interested in what creative techniques have been used, the question I always ask is, “Does this image make an attractive impact, and does whatever editing not shriek out and detract from the impact the image makes. Needless to say, I keep my copies of Photoshop and Lightroom up to date and always explore the features that each new edition of the software offers and how they could be used.
This edition has the usual features plus three articles reporting on photographic trips to the Arctic regions of the World, the Heartland Peninsular, and Banstead Heath. This demonstrates the huge photographic variety that the World can offer, as well as a wide range of views, from almost panoramic to detailed close-up views.
The dates for the Newsletters for the remainder of the year are as follows:
Planned publication, copy deadline
June 07/06, 31/05
July 07/07, 30/06
September 07/09, 31/08
October 07/10, 30/09
November 07/11, 31/10
Enjoy your summer photography, and if you are going to a Landscape Group Workshop, why not write about it in the newsletter?