Light & The Landscape

Public Speaking Program

Based upon a portion of Mike MacDonald's comprehensive in-field workshop on landscape photography, Light and The Landscape explores the art and technique of creating dramatic 3-dimensional images through the use of light and shadow. Because photographs reduce the world to 2-dimensions, it is essential to be able to trick the viewer's eye into perceiving three dimensions through the use of various perceptual cues and photographic techniques.

In this program, Mike addresses three variations of light that are used to photograph the landscape: diffuse, soft sunlight, and glancing light. The latter is the most exciting when the sun is just above the horizon, causing a sensational combination of highlight and shadow, making subjects explode off the page. Light and shadows become subjects unto themselves, guiding the composition and the eye. The photo to the right shows how hundreds of subjects, kissed by warm glancing light, separate from each other and jump off the screen.

After two years of observing and analyzing his own actions in the field, Mike has developed short simple steps for solving complex exposure situations and the use of split grad filters.

The goal of the presentation is to set you on the road towards making perfect landscape exposures in any given situation. Because, no matter how creative you are, it makes no difference if you can't technically bring home the shot.