Hi Everyone,

Don’t you just love an amazing summer sunset? Two weeks ago I headed down to Trigg Beach as there were some really nice clouds hanging around. I’m so glad that I did as we were given an amazing light show by Mother Nature herself.

Its such an amazing feeling sitting down by the beach with the warm wind flowing through your hair as the sunset starts to unfold in front of you. On this particular night there was heaps of people strolling up and down the beach and plenty of people surfing at Trigg Point as it was probably the first warm summer night here in Perth. Roll on summer!

I can’t wait for the first of the summer storms to come through and give us some really dramatic skies.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jamie Paterson

Australian landscape photography

What makes amazing and memorable Australian landscape photography? Its obviously a thought that I always ponder on no matter where I am. In fact its something that I never really had an answer for, until I read a quote by Ansel Adams recently and then it all clicked for me.

As landscape photographers its our job to use every single tool at our disposal such as composition, the rule of thirds, correct exposure, light and of course the time of day to invoke a emotion from viewers of our photography. Its not enough to just turn up somewhere and take a pretty picture.

Before you even pick up the camera you need to ask yourself, what am I trying to say? Walk around until you find something interesting and then ask yourself why is that subject interesting to you. What reaction does it cause within you? If you don’t feel anything about the subject then no one else will either.

The great landscape photographer Ansell Adams believed it was essential that a photographer responded to a landscape scene or subject before a viewer could. He said “I have made thousands of photographs of the natural scene, but only those visualizations that were most intensely felt at the moment of exposure have survived the inevitable winnowing of time”.

Look back at when you last captured an amazing shot that blew you away. I bet you it was a shot that you had already seen in your mind, one of unparalleled visual splendour. Or it was from one of the most stunning landscape scenes you have ever seen in your life.

If you can convey exactly what you were thinking and feeling right at the moment of exposure then you will be taking a memorable photo that people will talk about for years to come. So next time you got out for a shoot, trying seeing with your heart instead of your eyes. Feel the elements telling you what you should shoot and go with that feeling. Absorb the moment. Its one of the great things about being involved in Australian landscape photography, there is nothing like sitting in the Australian bush or beach and just absorbing all the great vistas.

Remember the camera doesn’t take a picture, it merely records what you were observing at the time.

Hi Everyone,

Last Friday night I decided to head out to the South Perth foreshore to see if I could get any shots of Perth from there. I arrived there and worked out a few shots that I’d like to get but as usual Mother Nature had other ideas and I could see that the sunset just wasn’t going to be that good over the city.

Its funny because as I drove past the Como Jetty on my way to the city I just had an instinctual feeling that the jetty was the place to be. I decided to follow my gut feeling and drove to the jetty and I’m glad that I did. Though the sunset wasn’t the best, it certainly had some really nice subtle tones in it that still made it really attractive.

The soft pinks are what did it for me. Sometimes subtle colours are so much nicer than the grand sunsets that we get on occasions. What do you think? So what was the lesson from this shoot? Always follow your initial feelings about a place, if you are driving past it and you just feel that is the spot to be, it probably is.

Thank you for stopping by, all comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

Australian landscape photography

Hi Everyone,

This seascape photograph is from Coogee Beach here in Western Australia. I’ve been meaning to get a shot of this jetty for ages but for some reason or other I’ve always driven past it. Well I finally decided to get a shot of it so I had to head down to the jetty for four consecutive nights before I got the colours that I was after. I was actually quite lucky to get any cloud at all as its summer here now and clouds are a rarity in Western Australia during summer.

I really like this photo mainly because the sun was captured just before it set, throwing up all those amazing orange and red colours and because if you look really closely you can see someone right at the end of the jetty fishing with their feet dangling in the water. Its moments like these that I love being a landscape photographer.

I hope you enjoy this photo. All comments are welcome.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

Australian Landscape Photography