More photography from the New Jersey Pine Barrens
Fire in a Winter Sky by Richard Lewis 2015
I enjoy taking inspiration from landscape painters because they do not suffer from the limitations of photography. When art starts with a blank canvas and a creative mind, reality can be completely bent to an the artist’s vision, style and skill. Landscape photographers, on the other hand, have to start with the reality that we place in front of our cameras. Sure, we can manipulate it to an extent with our choice of lighting, exposure and lens. We can even further manipulate an image in post processing. But no matter what we do, landscape photographers build art around reality and cannot completely build the reality itself like our painter friends can do.
Most of the painters that continue to influence me are no longer living, but one named Peter Fiore is very much alive. Peter is a master landscape artist living in the Delaware Water Gap. What I love about his work is the way he delicately shows how light can create quiet moments of stillness on the landscape.
Winter Afterglow by Peter Fiore
Peter’s latest show at the Travis Gallery in New Hope, Pennsylvania was called “Last 15.” It was a series of paintings showing the last 15 minutes of the day. This powerful series has influenced some of my recent work.
I do not desire to create something that looks like a painting with post processing. Software, like Topaz Labs’ Impression, tempts one with some very sophisticated tools to do this. While I love using Impression, I feel that being a photographer means my work should ultimately look photographic.
I created the image Fire in a Winter Sky because I wanted to show that feeling of eerie calm in the last moments of a winter day before night descends on the frozen world. The painting of Peter Fiore’s Winter Afterglow was on my mind as I stood with my camera capturing the light fading over a cedar swamp. My desire was not to imitate the look of the painting, but to convey the feeling in the same way the painting by does using color and light.
Enjoy
Beautiful images!!
Thanks Kathleen. I can only take credit for the photograph though.
This is a beautiful image, made, for me, more powerful by the glimpses of the setting sun’s fire in the foreground water.
I thought your discussion of our having to deal with reality rather than a blank canvas was interesting and valid. If, however, I, personally, had to fill that canvas from scratch it could never happen. I also would be insecure in applying Glow (et seq.) but I have done it and have hung a result because it passed a simple test: I liked it a lot.
Ralph, I always say that most of us photographers are frustrated painters. We can’t do what they do so we apply our talents to record the world around us with a camera. Fortunately we have the ability with digital photography to “alter” the reality the camera sees to make it more to our artistic vision. No matter what we do, ultimately all art has to pass that simple test you mention. If the artist likes it, it is good art.
P.S. I just looked at Fiore’s web site and his work is beautiful. In a sense he’s making nature more beautiful than it usually is. Is that, then, a rationale for our using enhancing software on our canvases???
Why not Ralph, if there is a creative tool available, why not use it. I hope that photography, especially landscape photography, has embraced the idea of enhancing our images. Heck, you and I date back to the days of film. Even then we “enhanced” our images by using a wide angel or telephoto lens. Even our choice of film changed reality. How about the images that came from Tri-X vs. Kodachrome 25?
Chris Weston describes photography as ‘painting with light’
Derrick, “Paint with Light” is probably my favorite photographic term.
Beautiful work mate 🙂
thanks Ian
Hey Rich 🙂 I think your photo is really beautiful and it absolutely conveys the calmness of the scene. My sister is a painter and i find it really interesting that she tries to make really photo-realistic and classical stuff, spending hours to get all the details right to the point where i don’t see why would someone paint when these images could be achieved by taking a photo….And i, as a photographer try to re-create the feeling i had while i witnessed a particular scene, not caring to be “photorealistic” or accurate to what my eye was seeing but trying to show what my soul was experiencing…I always say to her, “if i could paint i would paint things that don’t exist, i would paint feelings and dreams”…Don’t know if all that makes any sense but well, i had some inspiration on the matter and thought i would share it with you 🙂
I’m glad you shared your inspiration with me, Alex. One of the things I like about your work is the way you convey what you are feeling more than what you are seeing. What would be a very interesting experiment is for your sister and you to paint and photograph the same scene. I think the results would be fascinating.
😀 I’m glad that you think so Rich! And that’s actually a really good idea… i will have to put my sister up for a challenge…hehe…
Wonderful image Rich and another for your Pine Barrens book! It’s great that you study the work of painters … we can learn a lot from them.
Thanks Denise. As much as I love looking at the work of our fellow photographers, Painters provide us a whole new visual take on things.
Beautiful shot!
Thanks Kristia
Outstanding capture! I will be following. Thanks for your like. ~ Les
Thanks Les. I appreciate your comment. I also look forward to see more of your blog.