William Eggleston is best known for his color documentary photography, but the photos really just look like snapshots of the mundane. This is a great documentary to give you a little insight into his work.

William Eggleston made color photography as an art form acceptable. Not everyone liked art photography in color, as people were used to black and white photos. I personally love his work, and when I first started taking photos, I found myself taking snapshots in an artistic way in hopes to mimic Eggleston’s style. He takes photos that most people would find boring and maybe not even take the time to consider the subject worthy of taking a photo. But that’s the beauty of Eggleston’s work: it’s finding something interesting in the things we see every day. 

Some may not agree that his photos are art, but I think every individual makes that decision on their own. I love how his photos take us back to a certain time, and the vintage process of printing really brings the colors out, unlike today’s printing processes. I believe a lot can be learned from Eggleston’s photos and his way of looking at the world. As many photographers, you first take a photo with your eye, then you bring the camera up to actually capture what you saw.

The Windjammers sailed in to the Harbor for the Gathering of the Fleet on Wednesday, June 28.

Prior to, Michael Leonard’s annual photography cruise had many cameras aimed in the direction of the windjammers sailing in Linekin Bay and the outer harbor.

The foggy, sometimes rainy, weather provided a mysterious air to Leonard’s photos.

Seascape photography presents an expansive realm of creative possibilities, where the ever-changing nature of the ocean becomes a source of inspiration. From tranquil sunsets to tempestuous storms, the diversity of seascapes offers photographers a wide range of subject matter and moods to explore. In this article, we delve into the various types of seascape photography and discuss the unique benefits and techniques associated with each.

1. Serene Seascapes

Capturing the serenity of calm waters is a popular genre within seascape photography. These images evoke a sense of tranquility, peace, and harmony. They often feature smooth water surfaces, gentle waves, and soothing colors. The primary focus is on capturing a sense of stillness and creating a calming atmosphere. Long exposure techniques are commonly used to create ethereal effects, transforming the water into a silky and dreamlike surface.

Benefits

• Instills a sense of calm and relaxation in the viewer.
• Showcases the beauty of coastal landscapes during peaceful moments.
• Allows for the exploration of color harmony and subtle tonal ranges.

Techniques

• Utilize a sturdy tripod to maintain sharpness and stability during long exposures.
• Use neutral density (ND) filters to achieve longer shutter speeds and create a smooth water surface.
• Incorporate leading lines, such as jetties or piers, to draw the viewer’s eye into the composition.
• Experiment with different exposure times to find the perfect balance between capturing movement and maintaining tranquility.

2. Dramatic Coastal Landscapes

Dramatic coastal landscapes feature the ruggedness and power of the ocean. These images emphasize the raw energy of crashing waves, imposing cliffs, and dynamic weather conditions. The focus is on capturing the awe-inspiring and intense moments of the coastal environment, showcasing the strength and force of nature. The use of wide angle lenses helps emphasize the vastness and grandeur of the scene.

Benefits

• Conveys a sense of adventure and excitement.
• Highlights the raw power and beauty of the ocean.
• Allows for the exploration of dramatic light and weather conditions.

Techniques

• Utilize a wide angle lens to capture expansive views and emphasize the scale of the scene.
• Incorporate foreground elements, such as rocks or seaweed, to add depth and visual interest.
• Experiment with different shutter speeds to freeze the motion of crashing waves or create a sense of motion blur.
• Pay attention to the quality of light, such as golden hour or stormy skies, to enhance the drama in the scene.

3. Intimate Details and Textures

Seascape photography also offers the opportunity to focus on the intricate details and textures found along the shoreline. These images zoom in on the smaller elements such as seashells, rocks, patterns in the sand, or intricate rock formations. By isolating these details, photographers can create abstract compositions and reveal the often-overlooked beauty of the coastal environment.

Benefits

• Highlights the intricate and delicate aspects of the shoreline.
• Offers a unique perspective on the coastal landscape.
• Encourages viewers to appreciate the beauty in the smallest details.

Techniques

• Utilize a macro lens or close-up filters to capture fine details.
• Pay attention to patterns, textures, and lines that naturally occur along the shoreline.
• Experiment with different angles and compositions to create abstract or minimalist images.
• Utilize shallow depth of field to isolate specific details while blurring the background.

4. Stormy Seas and Dynamic Weather

Photographing storms and dynamic weather conditions along the coast is a thrilling and challenging aspect of seascape photography. These images capture the intensity of dark skies, crashing waves, and turbulent sea conditions. The focus is on conveying power, energy, and unpredictability. While most will be at home, sheltering from the “bad” weather, a seascape photographer is in their element, out in the middle of these conditions, watching the light change, the waves crash, and the wind blow, with the images being captured at furious speed.

So, don’t be shy when it comes to seascape photography, as there are plenty of ways to harness the diversity and bag your own great images.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below 

People, they’re literally everywhere. At least that’s how it feels when you live in a country as densely populated as Japan. For the longest time, I was incredibly fussy about having people in my frame.

I’d painstakingly remove people in post with the clone tool or by blending multiple exposures. In some cases, I wouldn’t even take my camera out of my bag because I believed there was no shot to be had due to the mere presence of a human being. I used to spend the majority of my time looking at the work of professional landscape photographers shooting in remote parts of the world, so I’d developed this notion that scenes looked better without people in them. I’ve since come to realize that not only was I too stubborn, I was wrong and it was holding my photography back.

While it’s true that some locations work well enough on their own, sometimes the addition of people can enhance an image. I’d like to share some of the ways I’ve not only learned to use people in my frame but have actually begun to embrace them in order to enhance the scenes I was photographing.

I will also state up front that none of the images used in this write-up were staged. I know a lot of photographers will use models, friends, or themselves within the frame of their landscape or cityscape photography. That’s a totally valid way to use people in your images, but for these examples, I’ve only selected photos that were captured organically, thus I won’t be including anything about posing or outfit choices.

I also won’t be covering pure street photography, as the inclusion of people in that style is more or less the entire point. While some of these photos use elements of street photography, they’re not what I would consider to be primarily street photography.

Add Scale to the Scene

In a perfect world, we’d always have a banana with us for scale. However, absent the potassium-rich fruit, there’s almost no better way to add a sense of scale to your images than with the inclusion of a person. In the past, the mere presence of a person would have turned me away from a number of scenes, but in recent years, I’ve often found myself hoping for someone to be at the location I’m planning to shoot with the intent of using them in my image for scale. When using people for scale, it’s important to consider things like focal length; distance from your camera and the subject; and placement within the frame.

I have a few images in my portfolio that were taken in remarkable locations but simply wouldn’t work as well without people in them.

This image from Lake Shoji is a classic example of how a person can add a sense of scale to an already iconic landmark. While the location is stunning, the inclusion of a person changes it from what appears to be an early morning snapshot into a perfectly timed photograph. Ensuring that the boat was positioned between the reflection of the trees and the snowy area of Fuji was key for the balance of this image. Taken at 86mm

Scale isn’t limited to natural landmarks; it can be used for man-made ones as well. This early morning image from Senso-ji in Tokyo uses a person to not only show the scale of the gate but the lantern that hangs in the center of it. There was a bit of good fortune with the light in the right spot, but patience in photography is sometimes rewarded with images like this. Taken at 62mm

While the light and the landscape in this image from Kanagawa do work well on their own, the subtle addition of the fisherman adds an extra sense of scale to the image that brings it all together. Had I taken this image back in 2017, I would have removed the fisherman on the left and the people on the right, but I now understand that they serve to enhance an already picturesque location. The image is a 3-image panoramic stitch taken at 42mm.

Introduce Life to the Scene

Sometimes a scene or location works on its own. The light and elements within the scene all come together to create a stunning image that doesn’t need any additional elements. However, other times we may look at a scene or photograph and think to ourselves that something is missing or that the photo could use a little something extra. I’ve often found that that something extra is a sense of life within the scene. As I mentioned earlier, I was once adamant about my landscapes containing no people. However, in the years since I’ve begun to embrace people, I’ve taken quite a few photos that wouldn’t have worked without that sense of life that the people within the frame add. I’ve found that using people to add a hint of life works best in city areas or villages; we don’t live in the post-apocalypse after all.

As with scale, the tricky part of using people to add life to the frame is to ensure that the people within the frame are enhancing the elements around them with ideal placement within the scene. It all comes down to having the person blend into the scene organically without sticking out like a sore thumb. This is why I prefer using people organically, rather than opting to pose people within the scene.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is likely the most photographed izakaya on the planet. I’ve seen it photographed countless times by both famous and lesser-known photographers from all over the world. However, the photos from this location that stand out to me are the ones that added the extra element of life within the frame in an organic way. I’m not going to declare this as the best photo ever taken from this location, but it wouldn’t have made my portfolio without the people within the frame adding life to the scene.

From an iconic spot in the bustling streets of Tokyo to a lesser-known one nestled in the mountains of the Toyama prefecture, the technique remains the same. The second I found this location online; I knew I’d need a person to enhance an already stunning location. Taken during the middle of the day, the inclusion of the woman on the bottom left is doing most of the heavy lifting in this image.

A younger less experienced version of me would have left this location without a photo, as the harsh light leaves a lot to be desired. However, the more experienced version of me who took this photo sat there for over 30 minutes for just the right person to walk into the frame, and it was well worth the wait. Along with adding life to the frame, the person serves as a sense of scale for both the village and the mountains that surround it. If you find a location but you feel like it needs a little something extra, it’s worth waiting around for the right moment to develop.

Using people goes beyond photographing vast city scenes or landscapes, it can be applied in more intimate settings as well. This is an example of an image that simply doesn’t work without the inclusion of life within the frame. While the angle of this building in this abstract architecture image is trippy on its own, it’s not quite enough to make a strong image. In addition to a splash of color, the window cleaner gives the viewer a clear focal point in an otherwise simple image.

Convey Motion Within the Scene

While photography is a medium of art focusing on still images, it doesn’t mean that your image must be devoid of motion. In an interview regarding his art installation entitled “Work No. 850”, Martain Creed said, “If you think about death as being completely still and movement as a sign of life, then the fastest movement possible is the biggest sign of life.” In the spirit of that, one of the best ways to use people in photographs is to shoot them with a long exposure to add a sense of motion within the image. While this can be tricky because it can require extra equipment such as a tripod and ND filters on top of choosing the ideal shutter speed, the motion created can add an extra level of interest that brings a photo to the next level. Additionally, this is a great way to practice shooting with intent, as it requires you to envision the location in a way the human eye is incapable of doing.

In this image, I was able to frame the two women in the middle of the image and get off this single shot just in time. The chaos in the movement around them adds to the atmosphere of the image, while they remain isolated as the subject. Had this photo been taken at a faster shutter speed, the women would have been lost in the sea of people. Had it been taken with a longer exposure, they would have moved, removing them as the subject. Precision is key when trying to take a single image that blends stillness and motion, but when it’s done correctly it can enhance what would otherwise be a snapshot into something much stronger. Taken with a 2.5-second exposure.

Another single image, taken in Kamakura, the exposure of this image leaves the people walking around this iconic shrine looking like ghosts. With techniques like this, it’s possible to take interesting photographs, even mid-day at one of the most popular tourist attractions in the prefecture. Of course, timing is still important. Too many people walking through the frame, and you’ll end with a mash of indistinguishable colors. Expose the image for too long, as you’ll lose the people altogether. Weather conditions and the number of people passing through the frame will change the specifics of these settings, so be sure to take a few test shots before waiting for the perfect moment to develop. Taken with a 30-second exposure and a 10-stop ND filter.

I previously discussed the importance of intent and how it pertains to using more advanced editing techniques. This image is an example of shooting with intent and using people within your frame. While this photo might appear staged at first glance, it’s completely candid – believe it or not, I didn’t ask people to stand completely motionless on these steps for a prolonged period of time. Instead, I captured people in modern-day clothes walking up and down the stairs with a long exposure and then took a single image of this pair in traditional Japanese clothing to create a fine-art image using motion to separate the past from the present. Multiple 3-second exposures were used for this image.

Tell a Story

I used to think that storytelling was reserved for street photography, not landscape or architectural photography. However, I now understand that they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. As Fan Ho showed through his work, it’s possible to capture a larger scene while using the people within it the environment to tell a story.

Whether the following images are street photography or not is a discussion for another day, the fact remains that the inclusion of a person in each of these images adds a story that enhances them. This technique is a great way to enhance an image when you don’t have perfect conditions or want to create a unique image in a popular area. The challenge with storytelling is that you don’t have control over how people behave in public, but you want to capture them doing something that appears to convey a story. These kinds of images become easier to capture the more familiar you are with a location or culture. None of the following images were taken by accident. Rather, they’re a direct product of understanding Japanese culture, how people tend to behave in these locations or situations, and an immense amount of patience.

While this location is quite interesting on its own, the flat light and the overwhelming amount of green within the scene left a lot to be desired. The addition of the man taking a moment to pay his respects at the shrine adds a simple but essential story to this image that so many others from this exact location lack. His presence also adds the touch of life I mentioned before, as well as a sense of scale and a splash of color contrast.

Sticking with the theme of using shrines to tell a story, this is a shot that combines architectural photography with a splash of storytelling. While the fine details and near-perfect symmetry that traditional Japanese architecture offers are photo-worthy on their own, having the woman in the red dress not only adds scale and life to the photo, it tells a simple but effective story through culture. I often hear people talking about how they don’t live in an interesting area, but the inclusion of a story can turn an otherwise unknown location into a unique photo opportunity.

Sometimes, even a sunrise needs a little something extra. Anyone familiar with Japanese culture will know that it’s a longstanding tradition for people to view the first sunrise of the year. With this four-image panoramic stitch, I captured the tradition and the stories that go along with it on my local beach. Taken on January 1st of 2021, this is another otherwise mundane landscape that is enhanced by the stories going on within the frame, as locals tried to get whatever enjoyment they could, during the rather difficult times we were facing here.

Show the Culture

Sometimes, it’s not enough to simply capture a location. Whether it be a traditional area or a landscape, the addition of people within the frame can be used to capture the essence of the location, local culture, or event. While many of these locations and scenes work well enough on their own, the inclusion of people helps capture the distinct culture within them. I mentioned the word culture in the section about storytelling because they often go hand-in-hand, however, culture deserves its own section because it can vary from location to location. That is why when adding splashes of culture to your image it’s imperative to have an understanding of the regional traditions and cultures that define it.

There are some out there who thumb their nose at fireworks photography, but when done right, they can make for a powerful subject. One mistake I often see from newer photographers is to only photograph the fireworks. However, when you add people to the foreground, they can enhance the scene by adding a hint of energy and culture to the image. This particular image is an exposure blend, using the girl in the kimono to show the fireworks culture here in Japan. As summer draws close, I recommend trying this technique at your local fireworks festival. Arrive earlier than you usually would and try to find interesting compositions, just as you would when shooting a landscape and take a few test shots. If you’re concerned that the scene might change or become too dark, it’s possible to shoot the foreground in advance and blend in the fireworks later.

The Higashi-Chaya area of Kanazawa is a breathtaking location that can stand on its own. However, as I was photographing it on this very rainy morning, I couldn’t pass up the chance to capture this traditional part of the city with these girls in kimonos. While the inclusion of the girls doesn’t really tell a story, they help display the rich traditional culture of this area of the city, while also adding life and a splash of color. Of all the photos I took in this location, none quite show the essence of this area quite like this photo, thanks to these girls… and, well, the rain. Sorry, Kanazawa, you know it to be true.

The Shonan area of Japan is like no other. While the location is lesser known to most tourists, it’s the only place in the entire country where you’ll find a view of Mount Fuji with surfers, at least to my knowledge. While a photo of Mount Fuji would ordinarily stand on its own, the addition of the surfer in this image adds a splash of local culture that makes it unmistakably Shonan. When you include people within the image, it’s not only an opportunity to show off the scenery, but it also allows you to introduce an aspect of the culture unique to the area with people from around the world.

The Wrap-Up

Photography is a powerful thing. It can be used to tell stories, document history, capture personal memories, or make art. These things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. For newer photographers focusing on landscapes and cityscapes, I encourage you to try including more people in your photography. Rather than thinking of people in your frame as a nuisance, use them to enhance your work using the techniques I’ve highlighted in this write-up. I promise that you will spend more time with my camera in your hands, resulting in more keepers. What’s more, you may begin to appreciate those places you’ve been brushing off as boring in a new way. At the end of the day, the power to help us see the world in new ways is what makes photography so special.

About the author: Jordan McChesney is a landscape, cityscape, and abstract Canadian photographer living in Chigasaki, Japan. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of McChesney’s work on his website, Facebook, and Instagram.

In the spring of 1927, photographer Ansel Adams hiked with his friends through the snow at Yosemite National Park in California. The 25-year-old brought along his camera, as he always did, stopping to take a photo he later titled “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.”

That now-iconic image helped launch his career. Adams went on to become one of the most recognizable faces of American nature photography. 

“Many photographers speak about the fact that you cannot take pictures of the Western landscape today, or the national parks, without automatically thinking in some way of Ansel Adams,” said Sarah Mackay, an assistant curator at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Adams was born in San Francisco; his first solo exhibition was held at the de Young in 1932. And the de Young is hosting the new exhibition, “Ansel Adams: In Our Time.”

Mackay said, “What Ansel Adams advocated for throughout his career was how photography should be considered a fine art in and of itself.”

“For a while, was it not? Were people not taking him seriously?” asked Knighton.

“Yeah, I mean, photography, even into, like, the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, was always kind of struggling to be considered a fine art medium,” Mackay replied. “Today we know it to be, but it was not even throughout a lot of the 20th century.”

Adams was ahead of his time. In the new exhibition, his images are displayed alongside the works of some of the contemporary photographers he influenced, such as Abelardo Morell, who uses a camera obscura tent to capture two views simultaneously. His picture, “Tent-Camera Image on Ground: View of the Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, 2012,” is actually a photograph of the ground itself with the image projected onto it. 

“What’s so funny about this picture is, Ansel Adams took ‘Clearing Winter Storm’ from a parking lot,” Mackay said.

“Clearing Winter Storm” is typical of Adams’ work – nature shown as a pristine wilderness. 

Contemporary photographers, on the other hand, are more likely to include evidence of a human presence, playing up that contrast. Adams, meanwhile, is best known for the contrasts he created in the darkroom. 

When correspondent Ed Bradley visited him at home in Carmel, California for “Sunday Morning” in 1979, Adams gave a glimpse into his painstaking printmaking process:

Adams: “You see how this is burned out? I discard that.”
Bradley: “What do you do with your rejects?”
Adams: “They are destroyed. Everybody asks me, ‘Oh, don’t throw it away. Even if it isn’t good, I’d like it.’ But I can’t have bad prints out.”
Bradley: “You’re a perfectionist now?”
Adams: “Well, you have to be.”

From 1979, photographer Ansel Adams:

Ansel’s son, Michael Adams, used to accompany his father on his photographic expeditions. Today, he lives in that same Carmel home, where he’s kept the darkroom intact.

Ansel Adams was a classically-trained pianist. He referred to the photographic negative as the “score” and the print as the “performance.” Over his career, he “performed” his photos in several different ways, constantly tweaking exposures in the darkroom.

“I would have to say almost all of the ones that are well-known, there’s a fair amount of manipulation in the dark room to bring up what he wanted you to see,” said Michael. “And he would say, ‘This is not what you’re going to see when you look at this, but it’s what I want you to see.”

But as for what he wanted you to see, Adams was reluctant to get specific. Here’s what he told “Sunday Morning” three years before his death: “People say to me, ‘What did you mean with that picture? What did you have in mind?’ I said, ‘It’s in the picture.’ … If isn’t in the photograph, then I failed.”

With crowds still coming out in droves to see his photographs decades later, and with contemporary artists still riffing on his compositions, it’s clear Ansel Adams succeeded in capturing something timeless. Mackay said of Adams, “His ability to spot those images that were going to be majestic, and iconic, and really just gorgeous, is something that I think differentiates him from so many.”

     
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Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Carol Ross. 

Acclaimed nature photographer K. Jayaram, who is regarded as a pioneer in macro photography in India, died in Coimbatore on Sunday. He was 74.

A recipient of international and national awards, Jayaram dedicated his life to nature photography and remained a bachelor. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the body’s germ-fighting immune system, in March this year and was on treatment.

“He was in recovery mode. But he was again admitted to hospital a week ago due to an infection in the lungs. His condition deteriorated following a stroke and he died of multi-organ failure on Sunday afternoon,” said his younger brother A.R.K. Arun, who maintained a strong bond with Jayaram.

Jayaram got his first camera when he was 14 years old in 1962 and started photographing festivals, temples and landscapes. He won his first prize in a photography competition in 1963, a plastic cased Agfa Click-III. A voracious reader and collector of rare books on nature, science and photography, Jayaram even developed his own techniques for processing negatives in early days of photography.

In 1969 he got an optician to make a one diopter lens, which he attached to his camera. He photographed a pentatomid bug and a scorpion with young ones using the technique, which won him the International Salon of Photography’s gold and silver medals at Los Angeles in 1970. Jayaram became an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, UK (ARPS) in 1978 and he was awarded the distinction of Excellence from the International Federation of Photographic Art, Europe (EFIAP) in 1983, followed by Master Honour EFIAP in 1986.

He co-authored Some South Indian Butterflies and another book on Silent Valley. His photographs and articles have been published in international journals and magazines including Sanctuary and National Geographic, said Mr. Arun, who is a collector and expert on fossils. 

The frog Raorchestes jayarami and the spider Myrmarachne jayaramani are named after him. ‘Insects to Infinity’ is a documentary on Jayaram and his works. His last rites will be held in Coimbatore on Monday. 

London, UK

Laurence Ward, head of digital services for the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), withdraws a box from the storage facility of the largest historical archives in the UK

Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA