Wednesday Landscapes, 21 February 2018

You are invited to upload one or more of your landscape photos and, if you’d like, to accompany your image with some commentary: challenges you faced in making the image? your intent for the image? settings? post-processing decisions? why you did what you did? the place and time? or an aspect you’d like feedback on? And please feel free to ask questions of others who have posted images or to join the discussion. If you don’t feel like using words, that’s OK too—unaccompanied images (or unaccompanied words, for that matter) are also very much welcomed. As for the technicalities, the usual forum guidelines apply: files < 1 MB; image size <1000 px maximum dimension.

 

This week I’m again exploring the idea of the-opposite-of-serene landscapes. I figured this one fits the bill because it makes my palms tingle in a way reminiscent of my rock-climbing days. For me, the image is oddly more anxiety-provoking than the actual site was, and I suspect that has something to do with the lack of a horizon in the photo. I had tried stitching a vertical panorama to bring in the horizon, but my palms stopped tingling so I scrapped that idea. I then tried rotating the image slightly and cropping to improve the composition, but improving the composition seemed to once again reduce the image’s power, so here it is as originally shot.

 

Interesting idea, Leslie, to consider non-serene, more active or anxiety-producing landscapes. Mine, from Yosemite, is to me fairly active, and there's probably some potential for anxiety but I'm not sure that's what I, personally, feel from it. Like yours, the perspective is downward-looking, but I think the anxiety one might feel from yours comes from the camera's proximity to the "downward-ness." In yours, it's like the viewer's feet are teetering on those winding steps. Mine could easily produce anxiety because of the height and depth but the grander scale and distance may moderate that a little bit. The non-serenity I feel in mine seems to come from, in addition to the perspective, the contrasting shapes and light as well as some of the pronounced harder edges.

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Norma Desmond

Terrain near the base of Granite Mountain, in the McDowell - Sonora Range near Phoenix, AZ

Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg, Texas

Far away Maui can be seen now & then at sunrise. . Crown jewel this day. Aloha, Bill Fuji S9400

Developing thunderstorm, Death Valley. In my mind, this is not a serene photograph since I was preparing to camp out that night. Fortunately, the thunderstorm vented it's fury before dark, as thunderstorms often do. But it did provoke a bit of anxiety at the time.

Perhaps less "serene" than other landscapes I've done.

Since we can do more than one image, here's another one I just thought of.

 

If you don't like heights, this is probably one you should avoid. Part of this walk is on glass so you can really appreciate the height. Tianmenshan in China

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If you don't like heights, this is probably one you should avoid. Part of this walk is on glass so you can really appreciate the height. Tianmenshan in China

 

Just curious . . . In what section of China is this located?

Just curious . . . In what section of China is this located?

 

It's one of the two big national parks in the Zhangjiajie region of China. It's right about in the middle of the country, not close to any big city. Halfway between Chongqin and Wuhan.

It's one of the two big national parks in the Zhangjiajie region of China. It's right about in the middle of the country, not close to any big city. Halfway between Chongqin and Wuhan.

 

Thanks very much.

Sorry - somehow missed this first time around

Sorry, I did not notice the date on this thread until after I posted.