Winter Landscapes

This is an interesting thread and I just want to ask a question to see if anyone else gets this.

If you sit and really look at a nice warm summer image during winter do you find the photograph more evocative, with a stronger summer feel? Conversely does looking at a lovely crisp frosty winter image during the middle of summer make you feel cold and remember that time of year strongly?

As a photographer I love all the seasons, but I find myself pining for the ones to come. I really need to live in the present more!
 
Craig_85 said:
This is an interesting thread and I just want to ask a question to see if anyone else gets this.

If you sit and really look at a nice warm summer image during winter do you find the photograph more evocative, with a stronger summer feel? Conversely does looking at a lovely crisp frosty winter image during the middle of summer make you feel cold and remember that time of year strongly?

As a photographer I love all the seasons, but I find myself pining for the ones to come. I really need to live in the present more!
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I generally dont mind which season were in, providing the conditions are good or conducive to photography. Sometimes I find the height of summer rather boring where everything is the same shade of green.

This winter however we have had hardly any decent weather and prolonged spells of fairly mild but wet, flat grey and very windy weather. The landscape is a waterlogged shade of mud.

A very good photographer would probably still make some interesting images out of these conditions but I struggle for the time or motivation when its
 
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Craig_85 said:
This is an interesting thread and I just want to ask a question to see if anyone else gets this.

If you sit and really look at a nice warm summer image during winter do you find the photograph more evocative, with a stronger summer feel? Conversely does looking at a lovely crisp frosty winter image during the middle of summer make you feel cold and remember that time of year strongly?

As a photographer I love all the seasons, but I find myself pining for the ones to come. I really need to live in the present more!
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Yes, i think so. We become habituated to what we see all around us even in a relatively short time frame like spring or autumn (although spring seems to come and go so quickly). Looking back on images we took a few months ago can add value to them, as in -

Wow, was it really THAT frosty/green/colourful last winter/spring/autumn.

I bought a new body in October and i've barely used it yet.......bad timing, me thinks.:confused:
 
Craig_85 said:
This is an interesting thread and I just want to ask a question to see if anyone else gets this.

If you sit and really look at a nice warm summer image during winter do you find the photograph more evocative, with a stronger summer feel? Conversely does looking at a lovely crisp frosty winter image during the middle of summer make you feel cold and remember that time of year strongly?

As a photographer I love all the seasons, but I find myself pining for the ones to come. I really need to live in the present more!
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No not really, but it just reminds me even more how awful it looks outside right now.

Frosty images don't bring back negative emotions but grey and dark ones certainly do!
 
I feel summer ones (of mine anyway) are far more evocative and soulful than winter ones. There’s a look and feeling I like and it comes in the warmer months. I’ve been processing some old images from two summers back this morning just to relive some great times (not just because I think I can make them better)
 
I think I am lucky in that I enjoy the seasons.

Yes, late Autumn and Winter in a lot of the the UK can be dreich but there is always something to be had from it.

I really like the long summer evenings, especially in NW Scotland or Shetland, but also like the short dark days of mid Winter. The start of the growing season in the Spring and the colours of Autumn are superb.

I would detest living somewhere close to the Equator where there was very little change in the day length throughout the year.

Dave
 
Tringa said:
I think I am lucky in that I enjoy the seasons.

Yes, late Autumn and Winter in a lot of the the UK can be dreich but there is always something to be had from it.

I really like the long summer evenings, especially in NW Scotland or Shetland, but also like the short dark days of mid Winter. The start of the growing season in the Spring and the colours of Autumn are superb.

I would detest living somewhere close to the Equator where there was very little change in the day length throughout the year.

Dave
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I would love living in Tenerife or similar. It is nice all year round, and no horrible pests or horrible creatures around. There is that chance of volcano but thats about the only negative other than having to speak Spanish.

I have to say I'm OK with most seasons as long as they conform to the general expectations (i.e. dry and colourful autumn, warm spring with flowers everywhere). Even proper winter with snow and frost but plenty of sunshine would be fine. Unlike Steve I do prefer Scottish landscapes with snow as it just makes the scenery look far taller and more rugged, as well as better contrast. Sadly you can get maybe 10 days of such winter in a year if you are really really lucky now. The rest is that grey misery that I so passionately hate. I wish I was like a bear and just emerge from my cave 3 months later after the horror is over.
 
I love frost and mist. Snow sometimes works but can be difficult to shoot in when it's actually falling. Being able to shoot all day without the light becoming harsh is also a bonus, if you can find some.
 
jerry12953 said:
I think most of us would find living around the Med a bit dull. Imagine weeks on end of clear blue skies in summer without a cloud to be seen.......:sulk:
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I think I’d manage fine. Corsica, Malta etc ;)

I’m reckoning all going well I’d have my summers in the Pyrenees and spend winters in Tenerife or Lanzorote. Ok not the Med but a geological delight with masses of opportunities to take great pictures without it being “moody” (man I hate that word)
 
SFTPhotography said:
I think I’d manage fine. Corsica, Malta etc ;)

I’m reckoning all going well I’d have my summers in the Pyrenees and spend winters in Tenerife or Lanzorote. Ok not the Med but a geological delight with masses of opportunities to take great pictures without it being “moody” (man I hate that word)
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Have you ever been to Malta?.......not my cup of tea at all. Actually I found it a real dump. Corsica = stunning, Mallorca = stunning. But we'd soon be moaning about the lack of cloud. I do sometimes wonder what the ideal climate would be. Maybe the NW corner of Spain? Still plenty of cloud but hopefully NOT THIS MUCH, and it should be a few degrees warmer all year round.
 
jerry12953 said:
Have you ever been to Malta?.......not my cup of tea at all. Actually I found it a real dump. Corsica = stunning, Mallorca = stunning. But we'd soon be moaning about the lack of cloud. I do sometimes wonder what the ideal climate would be. Maybe the NW corner of Spain? Still plenty of cloud but hopefully NOT THIS MUCH, and it should be a few degrees warmer all year round.
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Plenty days I imagine with cloud but NE Spain/SW France would be just so perfect for me it’s unreal.
 
At the end of a day you can drop in almost perfectly matched clouds to almost any image. Reflections could be a fair bit harder but sure there is a proper way to simulate the little bit of water motion from existing data. So clear skies need not bb such a bad problem. Grey skies can't be dealt with properly at all and are in fact a major irritant
 
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LongLensPhotography said:
At the end of a day you can drop in almost perfectly matched clouds to almost any image. Reflections could be a fair bit harder but sure there is a proper way to simulate the little bit of water motion from existing data. So clear skies need not bb such a bad problem. Grey skies can't be dealt with properly at all and are in fact a major irritant
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That's fine for commercial use, works really well in your example. I'd find that approach completely unrewarding for anything else though, I'd see it as cheating unless you're honest about it but others will have different views.

Back to the thread what a dull winter so far, we need snow then I'd be happy for spring to come early!
 
Scirocco_09 said:
That's fine for commercial use, works really well in your example. I'd find that approach completely unrewarding for anything else though, I'd see it as cheating unless you're honest about it but others will have different views.

Back to the thread what a dull winter so far, we need snow then I'd be happy for spring to come early!
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Five months to summer :)

I cannot wait.
 
Scirocco_09 said:
I'd find that approach completely unrewarding for anything else though, I'd see it as cheating unless you're honest about it but others will have different views.
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I'd disagree with that. You still need to get there, get the light, get the comp and to be honest to do the dirty trick properly is actually the most challenging part of them all. It's part of a fine art image creation, as long as it adds to the final product. While I don't much like the idea of photojournalism creeping into landscape photography, it is still as accurate and possible representation of the place as it may be. I find very dark grad filters and black skies far more fake and repulsive.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I'd disagree with that. You still need to get there, get the light, get the comp and to be honest to do the dirty trick properly is actually the most challenging part of them all. It's part of a fine art image creation, as long as it adds to the final product. While I don't much like the idea of photojournalism creeping into landscape photography, it is still as accurate and possible representation of the place as it may be. I find very dark grad filters and black skies far more fake and repulsive.
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The “Max Rive” look is something that must be avoided at all costs. Man I’d hate it if my pictures looked like his.
 
SFTPhotography said:
The “Max Rive” look is something that must be avoided at all costs. Man I’d hate it if my pictures looked like his.
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Ive recently started following Max Rive on instagram. I thought some of his images looked amazing when I first saw them...now more and more I dislike them for looking completely fake. As someone said above the thought of putting a sky from a different location on a photo doesnt do much for me....but then whats the difference between that and tweaking in photoshop which I do regularly. Guess it comes down to your own preferences.

Back to the subject of winter..Ive recently taken to taking some night city scapes and using rain to provide some interesting reflections. There doesnt appear to be actually any good weather on the horizon for landscapes. Will post some later.
 
SFTPhotography said:
The “Max Rive” look is something that must be avoided at all costs. Man I’d hate it if my pictures looked like his.
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I had just looked him up. Some amazing locations there but that overprocessed nuclear explosion HDR look is truly degrading. I do fancy another trip to Tenerife even more after going through his stuff.
 
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