People in the landscape - Pro or Con?

[JimFox]

I'm generally solo on my photo trips (except for my dog, who used to make her displeasure at my stopping to shoot, but has evolved into wanting to be the subject in certain circumstances). My husband used to hate posing, coming from a child/adolescent-hood of his mother wanting him to pose, so he generally posed with a bad attitude. A few years ago he complained that he had no pictures of himself soloing rock climbs. Well, if you're climbing solo & not taking selfies, dear, then how are you going to get photos of yourself? So I photographed him in the Winds a few years ago (from the base of the climb & from a pinnacle I scrambled up to get a bit higher to avoid the dreaded butt shots). Those are more in the category of Climbing shots than Landscape or Portraits/People. When we climbed together, it was in my pre-photography days. When I climbed with a friend who was a pro photographer, he kept his camera in the bag during the climb, taking summit shots or me digging out his car stuck in the sand on the way to Taylor Canyon shots conveniently wearing a Patagonia jacket he had brought along for just such an opportunity, etc. On my first trip to the White Pocket, I felt that the starkness needed some warmth & softness (it was March, 27 degrees, with snow on the ground, but the same conditions felt much warmer than Iceland, where I had just returned from), and nobody else was there, so recruited myself.

Here, I got my husband to pose in Round Valley Draw (Cottonwood Canyon Road) -- bad attitude & all
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And his favorite solo climbing in the Winds shot (not what I would classify as a Landscape shot)
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And the attempt to add a contrasting element to the White Pocket in winter
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So, while not including people in my photos for the majority of the time (they're mostly other photographers, if anybody else is even around), there are times when I feel strongly enough that they could add to the composition that I have somebody pose. I don't like the headlamp pointing up into the sky or finger pointed at something in the distance as those feel completely artificial. But that's just my preference (those shots may be more marketable if that's what the purpose is).

Very nice work Monika. All 3 of these are great examples of the human element adding to a photograph.

 

[lionking]

Interesting topic Jim,
if you'd asked me a year ago i would definitely say against human element, but as i improve (at least i hope) and study composition more and more, i hear more points for it, there are shots that lack a point of interest, while having both great light and beautiful location, so adding that element to focus on, makes sense, of course my default preference is to go without.
Since the light is a given element, sometimes you have to improvise, so i would not eliminate that possibility...

 

[Jim Dockery]

Monika, those are some great shots. What climb is your husband on? Looks like great rock. I love the Winds, but haven't been there for many years.

The White Pocket shot is an excellent example integrating a person in the landscape that is true art. You've combined two of nature's beautiful forms to make a unique image a step above any standard landscape. Bravo for the vision and effort to create it!

Part of my continuing human focus, even when out in the landscape comes from a heavy editing of all my old slides years ago when I got a scanner. I realized I didn't need more than a few of the thousands of mountain landscapes, or European cities I had captured over the years - it was the people, and wonderful days I'd spent with them, that I wanted to remember, just like Zeph's mom. And yet I still aspire to the high level art landscape I admired from the masters of large format back in the day. I do realize though that most of my attempts are not going to end up as prints or even in slide shows. At times I wonder why I spend so much time, effort, and $$ on it, but of course I enjoy it all.

 

[MonikaC]

Monika, those are some great shots. What climb is your husband on? Looks like great rock. I love the Winds, but haven't been there for many years.

The White Pocket shot is an excellent example integrating a person in the landscape that is true art. You've combined two of nature's beautiful forms to make a unique image a step above any standard landscape. Bravo for the vision and effort to create it!

Part of my continuing human focus, even when out in the landscape comes from a heavy editing of all my old slides years ago when I got a scanner. I realized I didn't need more than a few of the thousands of mountain landscapes, or European cities I had captured over the years - it was the people, and wonderful days I'd spent with them, that I wanted to remember, just like Zeph's mom. And yet I still aspire to the high level art landscape I admired from the masters of large format back in the day. I do realize though that most of my attempts are not going to end up as prints or even in slide shows. At times I wonder why I spend so much time, effort, and $$ on it, but of course I enjoy it all.

Jim, That's Seams Thin .10d R on Haystack. He'll have to take selfies when he's on Baffin Island this summer (shooting for Asgard).
I don't think there will be another similar opportunity at White Pocket as it's so popular now.....

 

[MonikaC]

One thing I've noticed on this site, and this forum in particular, is a lack of people in the landscape. If that is your preference, why? I go both ways...

I often hike with my wife and ask her to wear bright clothes that will show up so that I can use her as an interesting element in my compositions, and to show scale.

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Angels Landing Trail

Same with my climbing and skiing friends. Many of my favorite shots involve a person in action, which is why I'm there.

Larrison-Ridge-Sunset_Panorama

• Jim Dockery
• Apr 11, 2018

I have a print of this hanging next to my desk from one of my best days of back-country skiing

But... when I go do my serious photography I prefer to hike alone so I can stop where I want, take as much time as I like, and let myself become one with the landscape in a photo/meditation thing (often for sunrise while my wife is still sleeping). When I'm trying for a portrait of a mountain or a quiet wilderness scene it feels more pure without a person. I wonder how much of an influence the classic photos I love and aspire to of Ansel Adams, Ed Cooper, and Bradford Washburn (although many of his include tiny human figures) influence me.

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Icefields Parkway

Please add your thoughts and experiences. Do people add or detract from a landscape photo? I'd be especially interested in examples where you feel a human figure enhanced the shot.

This has been a great subject to bring up. Lots of passionate responses.

 

[AlanLichty]

One thing to keep in mind for at least my response in this thread - I shoot what I consider snapshots with people and places all the time especially since the cameras in our phones have matched or surpassed most of the point and shoot digital cameras on the market. I don't really consider the shots to be landscape photography that I would want to print but I do like having the ability to shoot almost any time I am outside and I love the fact that I have these shots in my collection. There are only a few images from that collection that have a place on a forum like this.

I do have more than a handful images from film days with people in them but I was somewhat conservative in taking them given the cost of film. I still have a lot of scanning to do to get all of those over to digital media.

I love being able to whip my phone out and shoot at will anymore.