Project 28: intimate landscape

One of my favourite genres of photography is the close-up.  I take a lot of macro images of insects, especially dragonflies and butterflies but wouldn't consider these as landscapes.  I do, however, enjoy photographing flowers and vegetation in close-up/macro but I feel that the line where an 'intimate landscape' becomes a macro wildlife image is somewhat blurred.  For instance I recently took the image below with a view to using it as part of my autumn portfolio.  I wanted minimum depth of field to isolate the sunject so I used my 500mm lens with an extension tube attached.  Although I am pleased with the image (although I should have included the tip of the leaf and perhaps there is not quite enough in focus) and love the colour combination, I feel that the background is too much out of focus and shows no hint of a landscape.  It has become a still life.

 

Here is another close-up/ macro, this time of a poppy in bud and again a favourite picture taken a couple of months ago.  Here something of the background, although out of focus, can be discerned.  Still perhaps more of a wildlife macro.

 

Here is another poppy shot taken a couple of weeks earlier.  I have focussed on one flower with those behind blurred.  I feel that I have included more of the background and they are definitely poppies so we are getting into the realms of 'intimate landscape' rather than macro.

 

 

I now go on to include a selection of shots that I do consider to be 'intimate landscapes':

A photograph taken yesterday (24/10/12) despite overcast and misty weather.  This is a spot I know well 6 miles from home in the Lincolnshire Wolds.  I was driving past on the way to go walking and was struck by both the autumn colours and the reflection.  Definitely not a macro and no sky.

A shot taken in Bradgate Park Leicester whilst on a wildlife shoot, photographing the red deer rut.  Again the autumn colours were wonderful and I liked the way the stream leads the eye to the warm colours of the bracken.

Another shot in Bradgate Park.  I liked the colours of the bracken and the way they rose to a peak around the dead oak stump.

I took this picture earlier this year in the spring in a wood a few miles from home.  The focus is on the flowers in the foreground which I have arranged around a third but I have used a small enough aperture to make the background sharp enough to be easily recognisable.

A slightly more intimate shot here taken a couple of days ago.  I carefully placed my self so that the oak leaves in the foreground were set against the warm colours behind.  I am pleased with the drop of water on the oak twig.

 

What have I learned.  There is a fine line between a macro shot and an intimate landscape.  Both have their place but it is important that the photographer has in mind which type of image is needed and who the audience is to be.  Depth of field is also important and in some cases needs to be small enough to isolate the subject but, if it is to be a landscape, should be set so that the background contains enough information to make it identifiable.