I have watched photographers come to a beautiful landscape in a national park and simply set up their camera and tripod in the most direct view of this landscape. Such common positioning of a camera is one reason why so much landscape photography looks a lot the same.
You have a unique view of the world. I believe everybody does, and this unique view is important. This waterfall is part of Gooseberry Falls State Park in Minnesota, one of my favorite places, and a favorite place of a huge amount of Midwesterners. In spite of this falls being photographed tons of times, I am guessing that few images look like this. I deliberately got in close with a wide-angle lens and shot with a fast enough shutter speed to render the water the way you see it here. This makes the photo neither good nor bad, but it does make it fit my point of view.
Yes, I understand that some photographers like to go out and “trophy hunt” landscapes. They just want to go to famous landscapes and take their own picture of that landscape. I don't have a problem with that basic idea. I love to go to beautiful locations that I have seen in other photographs as well. But I have a unique way of looking at the landscape and so do you. There are things that impress us about a particular landscape that may or may not impress someone else. I think this unique point of view is important.
This image is from Arches National Park, another place that gets a lot of visitors, to say the least. And I am guessing that few people have this image. What was important for me was to show this late aster blooming near the rock fins in the northern part of the park because it fit my point of view (a flash balances the light on the flowers with the rocks).
Think about this. Not everyone will go to the landscapes that you photograph. As a landscape photographer, you are showing off the world that excites you. You and I are the eyes of so many other people. If all we do is duplicate images that other photographers have taken, that our eyes and our point of view are diminished. The world has lost the opportunity to see something special that you and I can offer.
I really like this dramatic black-and-white photo from another popular location, Joshua Tree National Park. It speaks to my sensibilities about rocks, Joshua trees and a special place.
I know, you might be thinking, but I am just a simple photographer, I'm not a pro, what difference does it make? I think it makes all the difference in the world. You do see the world differently than I do, than anyone else does. And your point of view is valid and important because it enriches all of us when we have a diversity of views of our landscapes. I think our beautiful world deserves that.
So just being aware that you have the potential of seeing this landscape with fresh eyes will help you start seeing your compositions better. Your choices about composition defined both how you see the landscape for your photograph and how any viewers of your photograph will also see that landscape. You are influencing other people's view of the world.















