Originally Posted by
Daniel Casper Lohenstein
Everyone has his own taste.
For my taste the sky in picture 4 is too dark. I don't understand why the clouds on the horizon are white, but at the top of the picture they are dark gray.
There is also too much in the pictures for my taste. I don't recognize anything. I have to look for things first. To find something, you have to know what you are looking for. To me, these are just more pictures that impress because of their resolution, but they don't show things. The fact that you're using a 90mm lens creates clutter.
In picture 1 it has 5 different large plants and two hills, plus soil and air. You could have gone to the 1st cactus on the left, there it has only 2 types of plants and 2 hills. One could have left out the right hill. Then one would have had a tension between the narrower form of the cactuses and the broader form of the mountain. This theme could then be varied.
On the right in picture 1 you see pointed bright cactus needles or flowers. Behind them is the large broad but dark hill. If one were to move closer, one could silhouette the light pointed shapes against the broad dark mountain shape. In image 1, this is disturbed by narrow cactus shapes behind it. Also, the light cactus shape protrudes above the mountain horizon.
There is an interesting crossing in the center of picture 1. One could exaggertate this with N+1.
The landscape there is far from finished ...
This sounds brutal, but I would do the following exercises:
1st day only shapes and their formal contrasts,
2nd day only brightness contrasts,
3rd day only singular compositions with emphasis on the center of the image,
4th day only structures within the form,
5th day only structures between different shapes,
6th day only panoramic compositions with elimination of too close image objects,
7th day only images with different perspectives such as the close view downwards, the distant view towards the center of the image, the side view, and so on.
But all of this involves using a long focal length lens to focus on the objects. At least 210mm for 4x5, better 300mm, or 150mm with a roll film holder with 6x7.
Also, in my humble opinion, it would be good to start with N+1 development to increase contrast. Then you have to commit to black and white and don't get stuck in gray. Let things become black or white, maybe they will create their own rhythm.
I don't want to lecture you, though. I have the same problem myself, and I think it's very brave of you to show your images. Somehow you are helping me to rethink my own images! That's great!
Anyway, you have inspired me a lot, and I think I will try what I wrote above myself.
Have fun!
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