The unearthly beauty of our planet in the pictures of the winners of the International competition "Landscape Photographer of the Year"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Landscape photography is a real passion for the photographer, it is a very difficult process, in fact. At first glance, everything is simple: I found a beautiful place, took a series of pictures - a work of art is ready. Yes, our planet is beautiful and amazing, there are many places on it, from the contemplation of the beauty of which, it will take your breath away. How to capture and display all this endless natural splendor? There are photographers who masterfully capture the right moment and angle - these are the winners of the International Competition "Landscape Photographer of the Year". In their artistic photographs, we can fully appreciate the wealth the Creator has endowed us with.

Landscape in photography, as in painting, (from the French words "paysage" and "pays", which means "terrain" in translation) is an independent genre in which the main object for the image is nature: forests and fields, mountains and seas, and its other objects and manifestations. These are the pictures that are evaluated in this competition.

The panel of judges of the competition is, of course, a very important part of the process. In order to maintain a balance of more than just nationalities, genders and shooting styles, last year's winner is invited every year. This practice makes it possible to maintain the same quantitative composition of judges and the modernity of the approach.

In 2019, the jury of the competition reviewed 3403 applications from 840 photographers. How did the judges choose the best of the best out of so many beautiful photographs? This year the passing barrier was 85.2%. According to the organizers, hundreds of pictures scored more than 80% and can be safely placed next to the winning photographs in the book, which is published by the college this year.

After carefully scrutinizing all the featured images, six judges, including 2018 winner Adam Gibbs, made a tough decision. Oleg Ershov from Russia became an international landscape photographer in 2019.

The competition provides for a series of awards in the following nominations: "Best Photo of the Year", "Best Photographer of the Year". Also this year there are five special thematic awards: Wildlife in the Landscape, Abstract Aerial, Snow and Ice, Lonely Tree, Sky Cloud. Winners in these categories will receive a cash prize of US $ 10,000.

The organizers of the competition give all the prize-winners a meter print of their competition photo from a high-quality photo laboratory and a copy of the annual book "Awards". Photographers to participate in this competition had to comply with certain conditions. Images must be photographic, that is, captured with a camera. There were no restrictions on the use of features such as HDR, tone mapping, cloning, composites, focusing, and others. Only the entire range of work must be done by the photographer himself. The involvement of editors or other assistants is not permitted.

Taking such a spectacular landscape shot takes a lot of work. You can easily see the potential beauty of the area, but to convey it in the fullness of splendor is a completely different matter. Especially considering that this area has been filmed a thousand times already. After all, you need to find an opportunity to take not just a photo, but a unique frame.

Panoramic views can be so breathtakingly large that it is sometimes very difficult to fit them into one photo. You can, of course, use a wide-angle lens, but the picture, in this case, will be reduced in size, and all the greatness of the landscape will simply be lost. To do this, experienced landscape photographers use a different method - they concentrate the composition of the image around one of the most key, interesting points in the landscape.

On the one hand, in this way, the area and view remain recognizable, and on the other hand, they present what they see from a completely different angle.

The trouble with all photographs of beautiful architectural monuments, for example, is that they are exactly the same. They are filmed mainly from the same points. Special viewpoints will help you take a great photo, but it will not be unique.

Therefore, it is better to walk a little longer, but find an interesting position. Take your picture from a different angle and you will be amazed at the result. So it is with landscape photos. It takes time to find exactly the point from which you get the perfect artistic image, not like everyone else.

There are many pictures of beaches or mountain ranges. But here's how to remove them in a new way? Photographers focus on the branches of the trees that surround the landscape, or whatever else is present in the landscape. These photographers are real explorers.

A sensitive photographer can choose the lighting so that the landscape, at different times, under different lighting conditions, looks different. Weather conditions are also called for help.

All these subtleties are very important for obtaining a unique, special picture. Sometimes you have to spend a lot of time waiting for the right moment, but the reward for your patience will be a genuine piece of photographic art.

There are many photographers. There are a lot of good ones among them. But there are few of those whose heightened sense of beauty, patience and flair, allow you to capture natural beauty in the ideal. When you look at such a picture, you just breathe out with a mixture of delight and regret: "I was there, but I couldn't take it THIS."

Of course, the resulting image still needs to be properly processed. Here it is important not only skill and professional flair, but also a sense of proportion. It is important not to ruin the natural grace of a beautiful landscape with unnecessary effects. Nature is so beautiful and amazing, I really want to catch and fix the elusive moment in eternity. A skilled photographer is able to capture that unique beauty of the moment, where the breathtaking landscape, the right lighting, and the very unique angle merge together.

In general, if we are talking about photographs of nature, then in order to take a good shot, a person must not only be a good photographer. One must love and understand nature very much. Be able to discern its stunning beauty, be observant and attentive.

In all landscapes, regardless of what is depicted on them, there is one common phenomenon that has a special power over the audience and the photographer - this is the sky. A huge variety of skies - cloudy, thunderstorm, clear, colored by the rays of the setting or dawn sun … The sky allows you to shoot photographs of various emotional stress from the same place.

Water is no less beloved for shooting landscapes - rivers, seas, lakes. Of particular interest is the dark texture of the water, which conveys various moods; Water colored with "sunny" or "moonlit" paths can give the viewer a feeling of night or evening, and under different lighting conditions, reservoirs can create the effect of both warm and cold days.

The mountains attract photographers with their indescribable grandeur and picturesque beauty of the mountain ranges. Crystal clear air, natural play of light and shadow give the pictures a special charm.

Often photographers use special filters so well that there are several depths of space in the picture. In this way, just by changing the brightness and angle of view, a forest brightly lit by the sun can be turned into a mysterious dark stripe.

In order to convey the appropriate mood for each season, it is important to use more than sunny days. Cloudy weather, fog, rain, snow can give a lot of interesting shots.

The depth of the space taken by the photographer and its scale can be conveyed by the presence of an object in the picture. The viewer will subconsciously compare near and far objects.

Of course, any object in landscape photos should be positioned against the background of nature so as not to attract the bulk of attention. The rule is that any object that is not related to nature should simply revive the landscape, bring something new and important into it. At the same time, without becoming something superfluous. After all, all this should not distract from the natural beauty of the surrounding nature and in no case should something other than nature acquire the status of a central one. The most important thing is to observe the holy rule: all objects in a photograph should not interfere with each other. They should just add showiness.

If you are interested in art photography, read our article about a blind photographer who conquered the world with his fantastic shots.