Close Up Landscape Photography

Image: By Stanier Images (copyright)

One of the most enjoyable aspects of landscape photography is that of observing more closely the small details of nature that most walkers would pass by with just the merest of glances, if noticed at all. Profound truths can be contemplated when one looks open-mindedly at the intricate patterns caused for instance by the formation of ice crystals or the orchestrated flow of water over an arrangement of rocks in a stream. One wonders which artist created such compositions, or what garden designer thought of such wondrous tapestries of colour! Indeed, much, if not most art is merely a reflection of nature, the character of nature. One only has to see the “organic” art works of Andy Goldsworthy to recognise this depth of relationship between nature and creator. This line is thinner than anyone might admit. All rhythms and sensuality, or even cold logic are all found within the structures of nature. Human yearnings and aspirations are often inspired by the works of nature. Business motivation posters often feature images of a person standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon’s vastness. Nature represents greatness. We look to it, we look into it and our whole being responds to it. It generates in us a full spectrum of emotional responses. Why? Because the creator of nature is the creator of man. Our relationship with nature is profound. We are intangibly bonded. The Christian bible says our bodies were created from the dust, but was elevated when God breathed His spirit into man bringing life.

So what has this to do with Close up photography? I hope that as a reader of these blogs you will see that my approach to photography is not just technical. Without real personal meaning in what I do photography would just be an exercise, and this does not interest me. I am an emotional, spiritual being, one who searches for significance in the person I am and the world around me. Close up photography reveals to me the sheer wonder of nature and makes me ask the question – how did it come to be so organised, so beautiful and so meaningful to me. Most strive for order in our gardens showing man’s intervention, man’s eagerness to bring nature into a structured aesthetic based on cultural, artistic tendencies of our age. But in close up photography my aim is to show that this order already existed before man ever attempted to tame and organise it. That in the seeming chaos of nature there is a profound order, and that it hooks into our very beings as we gaze into the beauty of it.