How Do You Get Emotion Into Your Images?

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Ok, I'll start straight out with the question, then have a ramble afterwards. Otherwise I'll end up straying off the topic and you'll all miss the point of the post.

How do you portray emotion, in particular with reference to landscapes, in a photograph?

Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just not a very emotional person. As a child, I apparently cried at the cinema when I saw The Jungle Book. When I see a nice landscape photograph though, I'm more likely to think 'nice sky', 'great light', and I'm not sure that I especially feel any particular emotion other than one of pleasure because I like the photograph. So if I don't feel it, how can I go about getting it into a photograph? How would I go about 'learning' how to get emotion into a picture, and what sort of method should I be adopting? How do I get people to 'connect' to with my photographs?

At the minute, I go out for a walk somewhere, look around, maybe wait for some decent light or time my walk to coincide with a time when I expect decent light, look for a composition I feel works, then set up and take my shot. I wonder if it's a little too clinical. If not a little too random and relying way too much on luck.

Should I say go to a location. And before I even unpack, look at the scene and ask myself why I like it? Is it peaceful, powerful, beautiful, harsh? Then, once I have my 'keyword' decide how I am best portraying that.

I'm not sure... but I feel it's something I'm struggling with a bit.
 
When I take a picture, it's because the thing I'm taking a picture of has evoked a reaction.
Be it "Oh, wow, that's beautiful" or "That structure is interesting" or "Ah, that's cute :)" or "Holy crap that was close!"

And those are the emotions I try to tie into my photographs to provoke similar reactions from people who look at it.
I really don't think there is anything more to it than that - try to use the formal elements and processing techniques to capture the thing that affected you emotionally.

I thought this was so majestic:
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How cute:
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That's interesting:
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In my opinion that's it. What emotion did it evoke? Capture what evoked that reaction and reproduce it.
 
I've always found the feelings you described as natural when it comes to scenery, long before I got into photography.
Too be honest it’s my admiration of an amazing landscape that got into photography.
As an example, last year we went to Iceland and there was a mystical feeling about certain locations than I just can't explain.
When I looked through the viewfinder I would slowly pan around to find a shot that just felt right to me.

This is one of the shots that just provoked my emotions.

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Technically it may not be brilliant to most photographers but it's one of my favourite shots and it means a lot to me.

I also tend to find that people and culture in other countries also tends to inspire me as well and as beautiful as the UK is, I just don't get the same feelings taking landscape shots here.
I think for some it comes naturally and for others it develops in time.
We as humans don't all feel emotional about the same things and this is obviously something you understand.
Perhaps if you look at what inspires you to take a shot rather than what attracts you to it emotionally, you might find it easier?
 
hashcake said:
Perhaps if you look at what inspires you to take a shot rather than what attracts you to it emotionally, you might find it easier?
Click to expand...

That is how I would approach it too.

Perhaps you're trying too hard to portray an emotion. You can hint at the emotion (you're feeling) through the subject, lighting & composition but ultimately you can't control what emotion the viewer will feel.
 
I do wonder just how possible it is to portray emotion in landscape images. The process of taking photographs is an intellectual or technical one; that sense of emotion that you FEEL as you view that landscape has to be translated somehow into getting a correct exposure and a pleasing composition. Then you've got to choose the equipment you use to do it.

If you CAN still portray emotion in a landscape image, in spite of all this, then actually you've done pretty well!

I suspect that pure emotion evoked by a landscape would probably result in a pretty messy and incoherent photograph, unless the process of translating it is entirely intuitive, which, if it were possible, would take a lifetime of experience.

Having said that the "wow" factor is still a very good indication that there's the potential for a good image in front of your eyes.

Does that make any sense?
 
Just another thought on this one....

I wonder where the idea came from that you can actually convey "emotion" in a landscape image.

One of my biggest frustrations with being a "landscape photographer" is how difficult it is to convey any kind of emotion or "inner state" when the subject matter is so entirely "out there".

You can convey feelings ABOUT the landscape, possibly about its beauty, or disgust about the way it has been abused, by your choice of subject matter.

But actual emotion - I dunno - is it something that you read in the photo mags, written by journalists who don't know a cliche when they see one?:thinking:
 
This is something i've never actually thought of when I take landscapes... the emotion side of it... or maybe I do and I dont know it... this thread has got me thinking though....

and you know.... I dont think i've ever tryed to capture anything more than a wow what a nice landscape in a landscape shot... maybe its me but im not sure you actually can in a PURE landscape shot! Will prob get shot down in flames for saying that.... but I guess to explain further....

To me anyway there is a difference between a Pure landscape shot which I take purely to capture the physical beauty of a natural view... and maybe say a travel/ general photojournalistic shot... which could be similar but like others say is trying to capture the emotion or feeling of a situation... I mean for example I took B + W shots of the general landscapes of the Robin Island detention camp when I was in South Africa... but I would not call them landscape genre shots... Id say they where capturing a general view but deliberately B+W and in a style because I was trying to portrey the feeling of imprissonment... which is a human one!

I hope you understand what im trying to say... I guess for me... A Pure landscape is nothing more than the WOW what a landscape... and the painter of the shot which for me enhances the beauty of the situation is the sun.

Mark
 
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