When the light doesn’t cooperate, sometimes a great view doesn’t make for a great image

 

 

As a photographer who primarily shoots landscapes, I am often faced with beautiful views when out in the field but those excellent vistas do not always make for great images. It can be confusing for non-photographers to see me standing around in a lovely park and not capture any photos, but as seasoned photographers are aware, a great view doesn't always make a great image. This is the theme of photographer Thomas Heaton's newest video.

In the video below, Heaton uses a Canon 70-200mm lens on his Canon 5D Mark IV camera. He's aiming for a nice and simple approach and composition. As he hiked toward his desired location, the light streamed through the misty conditions in an amazing way and Heaton had to hustle to get set up and capture a frame. It goes to show that sometimes landscape photography, often considered a slow and peaceful genre of photography, can be just as fast-paced as any other.

When finally reaching his final destination, the composition he had been targeting the entire day, there's a stunning view. However, the sum of the parts just didn't add up to a fantastic image. "At the minute, it just doesn't excite me at all," Heaton said of the scene. Sometimes the light works out, sometimes it doesn't, that's just the nature of landscape photography.

(Via Thomas Heaton)