Inspiration
I spent a few minutes today browsing through the Top 101 Landscape Photographs from 2019.
They’re all pretty amazing; you’ll find one of my favorites here...
https://www.internationallandscapephotographer.com/index.php/food/159-2019-top-101-landscape-photographs?786
These images were selected as finalists in The International Landscape Photographer of the Year contest.
Of course they all exhibit technical mastery of exposure and depth of field which is to be expected in submissions to a Photographer-of-the-Year competition. (Notice the tack-sharp rendering in https://www.internationallandscapephotographer.com/index.php/food/159-2019-top-101-landscape-photographs?800.)
What I was most captivated by in all of the images was the simplicity of the subject matters. Take the one I linked to above as one of my favorites (#786 by Stas Bartnikas). This image of a snow-melt pond on a glacier could hardly be more plain but the composition, with the pond placed just right of center and the raking light accentuating the texture in the surface of the snow, I find exquisite. The image is minimalistic in theme but maximalistic in texture and visual interest. Another amazingly simplistic yet exquisite image is #755 by Lazar Ovidiu, just a collection of humps of snow, which is made captivating through the use of contrast and color.
If you have a minute or two, take a look, you won’t be disappointed. Hopefully, you’ll also find some inspiration for your own practice. I know I have.
