How to add emotion to a landscape

[colrehogan]

How do you put emotion & feeling into a landscape (e.g. get the viewer to empathize with the shot)? I asked a somewhat related question on the f32 site and it led me to this question.

[noseoil]

I like to keep a piece of cholla cactus handy. If there are any statements about a lack of emotion, I place it against the backside of the offending viewer, then refuse them my comb. This seems to work pretty well.

You can't put emotion into a landscape, this is the job of the paper and film. Sorry, but it takes a man (or woman) to make a room silent. tim

[Donald Miller]

Originally Posted by colrehogan

How do you put emotion & feeling into a landscape (e.g. get the viewer to empathize with the shot)? I asked a somewhat related question on the f32 site and it led me to this question.

Emotion can be added to a landscape by exposing under certain weather conditions. It can be added under certain lighting conditions. More emotion can be added by filter selection. Still more emotion can be added through the photographers decisions on the manner in which the negative is printed.

[Claire Senft]

Lighting, atmospheric conditons, camera placement, lens choice, filters used, exposure and development and the way it is printed.

[roteague]

Originally Posted by colrehogan

How do you put emotion & feeling into a landscape (e.g. get the viewer to empathize with the shot)? I asked a somewhat related question on the f32 site and it led me to this question.

I think one of the simplest ways is in the choice between horizontal and vertical shots. Horizontal lends itself to sweeping, grand landscapes, where as vertical lends itself to more intimate, landscapes that flow and draw the viewer in.

For example, the work of Jack Dykinga (http://www.dykinga.com/product.html) seems dominated by horizontal shots and his choice of subjects reflects that as well - desert southwest, mountains - all grand subjects. Where the work of Joe Cornish (http://www.joecornish.com/) seem more dominated by vertical shots. Take a look at these two photographers and you will see the point I am trying to make.

For me, I tend to shoot a lot of horizontal shots, but I am actively trying to introduce more vertical shots into my work. This is a subject that I have given some consideration to. I am in the process of writing/developing an article about photographing the shoreline for my website; the primary focus of the article is how to introduce emotion to the subject of shoreline photography. I still have a lot of work to do on the article before it is done.

My .2c worth.

[matt miller]

add people. I'm trying to add more people to my images at my wife's suggestion. I think it adds interest & emotion depending on how you do it.

[Ed Sukach]

Uh... Nudes..? Sounds like a good addition to me.

[blansky]

I agree.

Add people. Clothed or nude. People like to look at people. It adds scale and interest to the picture. How the people are set up will probably affect the "emotion" but people seem to add interest that a basic scenic does not.

National geographic started doing this in something like the seventies and I think it made thier magazine better.


Michael

[rbarker]

All of the suggestions so far work well, I think. But, the choice of technique and/or timing also depends on the emotion that you want to evoke. Then, there are the philosophical questions associated with the techniques.

[jbj]

"How do you put emotion & feeling into a landscape?"

I would say the first thing is for you to feel emotional about the landscape. It must resonate with you first, and if you can recognize the emotions then I would think that is the first step. Only then can you convey this emotion in your final print.