I want to talk about the things I notice when I take photos. How I see the landscape in front of me, and why I am drawn to a particular view. For instance, this image of Mount Hood and why I’ve composed it this way. I’ve read a bunch about composition and obviously generally agree that the standard rule-of-thirds is a good starting point, but I find it rarely fits all situations. Sometimes the shot just “feels” bigger.
I like to take telephoto panoramic photos, (and one day I’ll write about that), but compared to a standard wide shot, it compresses the view. No longer is it a deep view with a lot of foreground, but a dramatic, almost intimate view of the shapes inherent in the landscape. Mountains are more prominent, the sky more focused… the “foreground” is more distant too. I like this because you end up seeing the landscape as larger shapes rather than fussing about details. Which is ironic in a way, since while the individual shapes simplify, the nature of creating a panorama with a telephoto means you end up capturing way more detail than any standard shot. And I think that’s a cool dichotomy.
