I really have to make a deliberate effort to get past the instinctive gut feeling I should be shooting landscapes, not manscapes. That is, to include no man-made things in the image, particularly as a major element. That's a personal thing, not a reflection on any one else. Yes, to my eyes old man-made elements can work in a secondary role landscape-wise, but we have virtually none of that over here in the "new world", particularly not in the deep south. And by "old" I include, e.g., dry stone walls, cottages, castles, etc., not just truly ancient cultural artifacts.
Who knows... maybe that instinct comes from a life spent in an area where nature is generally mundane and any man-made dilution tends to have (even more) significant negative effect ...not much margin for error, so to speak.
And yet this aspect of the photo above is what leads one's eye (I almost want to say merrily) first to the treeline and subsequently off the edge of the little piece of the Earth pictured. It's an excellent photo.
I really have to make a deliberate effort to get past the instinctive gut feeling I should be shooting landscapes, not manscapes. That is, to include no man-made things in the image, particularly as a major element. That's a personal thing, not a reflection on any one else. Yes, to my eyes old man-made elements can work in a secondary role landscape-wise, but we have virtually none of that over here in the "new world", particularly not in the deep south. And by "old" I include, e.g., dry stone walls, cottages, castles, etc., not just truly ancient cultural artifacts.
While in general I still prefer natural, sometimes a little artificial can work.
But as it turned out, I ended up liking this image more than expected. The leading lines and graphical impact of the pier seems to integrate better than I thought it might.
Thanks!
Actually it's not that I necessarily want to avoid all human elements. Things like (as I mentioned) old stone buildings, dry stone walls, etc. seem to have environmental / landscape legitimacy. However we have none of that here. There's no sense of ancient, just old, discarded and disused. Things here are merely worn out, broken, rusty and decrepit. They have no authenticity of character, to my eye. So it's much rarer to find anything that "works".
I usually make a conscious effort to not include power lines.
Yep, or I clone / paint them out if possible.
Me too...
