Lists

[Adrian Brewster]

Hi
I have a checklist for the mechanics of using the camera but I'm working on another list that comes before that, encouraging me to be more creative with composition and less mechanical in choosing and framing subjects. The great thing about landscape LF,particularly with a heavy monorail, is that it slows you right down but now that I'm getting better at handling the kit, I think I need to slow down some more and really meditate on the subject before releasing the shutter or else everything starts to look a little bit Joe Cornish but worse.
Does anyone use a list like this? If so, I would love to see it.
My first version is a bit of a mashup of David Ward, John Berger/Jean Mohr, David Hurn etc etc. I think it's self explanatory:

Forget lists.
Stick a pin in the map.
Visit, revisit and visit again - total persistence.
Tune into the feel, sound, smell, movement around you and really see it.
Forget about photography.
Single clear subject.
Plan it, have purpose!
Limited colour palette.
Abstraction, extraction.
Order out of complexity, chaos.
Texture.
Dialogic. Make it a conversation.
Contrast, juxtapose, tension.
Narrative: Context, subject, close up.
Expression, emotion, eroticism.
Be obsessed, enthused.
Have insatiable curiosity.
Do you know enough?
Power, passion, politics.
Strong, graphic, simplicity.
Vivid, ordinary is not enough.
Explore all angles.
Minimum elements.
Repetition, variation.
Shape, pattern.
Frame out redundant.
Solidity, depth, pinsharp.
Make it 3D!
Fore,mid and background.
Find stage, wait for actor and/or light.

Any other ideas you may have gratefully received.

Regards
Adrian

[dennis]

With landscapes there is usually something which attracts you to the scene initially. Then I find it essential to look at varying viewpoints; sometimes just a small move makes a lot of difference. Dennis.

[joolsb]

Politics? Passion? Eroticism?? Steady on there...

[Adrian Brewster]

Hi Dennis
I think that is covered by the "explore all angles" bit but I find if I go out and look for landscape that spontaneously appeals to me, I end up in the tripod holes of all the other photographers that have been there before me or if it's the "golden hour" there can be a queue up here on Hadrian's wall. That tree near twice brewed has been photographed so many times it's beginning to fade away. I guess the idea of the list is to encourage me to really explore, not just accept what has been photographed many times before and see things in a new way so that when the transparency goes on the lightbox, it will be really WOW. I think you have given me the idea for a new item on the list, "Stick a pin in the map" because everywhere has got something special about it if you look hard enough.
Yeah, I think politics, passion and eroticism belong in there Jools. Landscape can be sexy in a non pervy way and it's too easy to exclude everything which doesn't fit the sentimental, romantic vision of the countryside; immigrant workers picking crops in the fields for minimum wages, people living in freezing cold caravans because they can't afford to buy a house in a local village because they are all second homes ... etc etc.

[Joanna Carter]

My personal opinion is to forget lists, especially that long Try going somewhere, without planning, and then forcing yourself to make a picture. Look for the small things, details that would make a picture on their own. Maybe something as small as, or smaller than, this :

[Nigels]

Phew!
If I have to got through a list like that then, as well as having to consider the movement of clouds, sun, moon, wind etc while setting up the camera and shot, should I also be factoring in tectonic shift!?!?!?!?!

[Lynne Evans]

I'm with Jo on this. Before going out decide on the type of photography you fancy. Woodland? go for a walk in your local woods; water? stroll along the local stream etc. and photograph whatever appeals to you. You've no excuse in Northumberland! I've set off up Hareshaw Linn heaps of times and only once made it to the main waterfall, there is so much to photograph on the way.

I went to a talk by John Blakemore and his approach is to go to the spot he has in mind, put down his kit untouched, sit down, close his eyes and just get the feel of the place, sounds, smells, movement etc before opening his eyes and even then spending 20 minutes or so just tuning in. Seems to work pretty well for him!

Definitely no list!

(Cracking image Jo!)

[Joanna Carter]

(Cracking image Jo!)

Thanks Grommit… er Lynne

[Adrian Brewster]

Hi Joanna
Wonderful image! I think you have given me the first item on my list, "Forget lists". I may be slightly OCD in that I love lists (It's a man thing but I am in touch with my feminine side) and I think we all have them it is just that they become internalized, hardwired, taken for granted. We call them briefs, projects, common sense and mostly that works out OK. I don't have a problem finding images up here in God's own country and I think you are so right about concentrating on small elements in the landscape rather than the wide open Ansel Adams spaces. David Ward calls them intimate landscapes and mostly you don't need a list to produce a magical image of a fire hydrant being wrapped and reclaimed by ivy. You're a genius but I need a list to cling to when I can visualise the image but need help to place it in only two dimensions.

Lynne has given me the second item on the list which is the Blakemore inspired sitting meditation in a place, Tuning into the feel, sound, smell, movement around you and really seeing it." In the conclusion of one of my favourite books he writes about the need to "break conditional habits of seeing... it demands an opening of oneself to subject, the attempt to see with a sense of newness and of wonder." He goes on to say that "the pleasures of seeing must be paralleled by the pursuit of craft, by the acquisition of skills in the control of process that allows the translation of seeing into image. Blakemore seems a good example of a list maker, obsessively photographing tulips for nine years, questioning and developing his list of "relationship, recognition and realization."

So, I agree, forget lists to begin with, open yourself to this intimate landscape and then for me it is a long slog of lists and sketches before I expose any film. Probably helped by being too skint to afford too much film anyway.

Regards
Adrian

[gary mulder]

Before thinking Camera try to find what makes the landscape special for you. Feel your way in. Take your time. After a while allow your self to think "images" not camera. When you are convinced you need a camera it is time to get it.
This year it took me 4 days before i took the first picture on the scilly isles.

[AbsolutelyN]

I think Gary makes a good point. For me visit, revist and visit again - total persistence. I find myself going to the same place over and over, it gives you a real feel for the place. Sometimes you get it first time, other times it can take longer. I visited this spot at least a dozen times over 6 months before getting this picture. Tristan

[Adrian Brewster]

Hi
Thanks Gary & Tristan. I think "Visit, revisit and visit again" belongs on the list, refining what's important; the feel of sand and those smooth granite pebbles beneath your feet on the Scilly Isles or sorting out confusion, complexity, chaos with a mixture of composition and the backlit mist for the photograph of the wood.
The trouble now is the list is getting too long, as has been pointed out. I never really intended it to be a checklist that had to be methodically ticked off but just as a reminder of design elements that are too easily forgotten when you are caught up in the thrill of the moment, trying to defend the camera from a howling gale, answering questions from a walker who wants to know why you aren't using a proper camera, or just forgetting that the whole 3D eye-max surround sound experience of reality needs to be carefully organised, folded and packed into that tiny 5x4 space.
Brian Eno created a pack of cards that he used to get him out of difficult situations when making, producing recordings. Admittedly this led to Music for Airports and some pretty pompous U2 CDs but you can't fault the guy for being original. I guess that is a better format than a list, a way to kick start originality, personal style. Eno's cards have phrases like; "Turn it upside down, Don't be frightened of cliches, Would any body want it?" but most cards are more relevant to making music. So the cards are for when you need a little help in problem situations, when you know there is a good image out there but you just need a nudge to break the creative ice. The card could be completely useless, pick another one as a little provocation to get things moving.
So the cards will include all the suggestions in the list above but also more off-beat questions, words and phrases.
So far these include:

Squint
What's the mystery?
Turn it upside down.
Imagine explaining the image to a friend.
Imagine explaining the image to your worst enemy.
What's the emotion?
Incongruous connections.
What would you're favorite cinematographer do with it?
Calligraphic traces.
Come back at night with a torch.
Close your eyes and count to ten. Open your eyes, what's the first thing you see?
What's the last thing you see?
Have a cup of tea/go for a pint.
...etc, etc.

I guess there are a lot of pro photographers on this forum who will think that it's easy to develop your own style, voice, it just takes twenty years of practice but I probably don't have twenty years. I still have this recurring nightmare of being subjected to two hours of images at a local photography club. I wake up screaming and hope my photographs never look that bad but I suspect they do. Any suggestions for this random format gratefully received.
Regards
Adrian