So As I said before landscapes are not my thing. Again, I like other peoples images but it is not a genre of photography I thought I would enjoy because I guess its not exciting, not sexy like gig photography or cut and thrust like reportage.

Oh boy way I wrong!…. Sort of!!

I decided that I would get up early and get out to practice a bit more. We are told practice makes perfect and my logic is that practicing any area of photography, including that which does not excite me, will ultimately improve my ability to capture images at a later date.

So the plan; up at 04:00 hours and then off out to London’s Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens.

When I first started to look at landscapes I was not really sure what that was; I kind of just thought it was trees and a bit of open land. But looking up what makes a good landscape there was plenty on composition rules and the use of filters but the useful…really useful information was that landscapes are an ‘image that captures the environment and atmosphere of a scene’.

That sounds obvious but it actually made a big difference to me and what I was looking for.

So a fresh perspective and definition of landscapes and the joy of going to bed late and that 4a.m rise. (A bit more planning next time I think).

Arriving at the park I started looking for somewhere with a nice easterly view. I spotted some mist and found it a little frustrating trying to really show it off….. A swan heading towards me that I thought would be good on its own and it was a rush to get the camera ready. Of course, had I of thought about it I would have taken some bread with me and thats all mentally noted for when I get around to future landscapes.

There is no real detail in the image with the swan but if I’d flaffed about getting my exposure right I would have missed the shot.

Shoot and get a shot of mess about and get no shot. No brainer!

So its not detailed but I do like the image as a silhouette. I had bought a polarising (British Spelling. The correct way!) filter and a cheap graduated filter set. I had fun playing with the filters and getting set up quickly… I was really surprised how fast the light changes and alters everything. I thoroughly enjoyed myself this morning and have learned loads from the experience.

Here are a few of the images I caught:

I hope you liked the images?

As always, constructive comments are always welcome.

As a side note, if you are one of my American cousins or you are from elsewhere using American or international standardised English (British Spelling. The correct way!) please don’t take my little dig about correct spellings to heart. They are disposable comments made very much tongue in check.

Besides, my spelling and use of grammar is definitely not as good as it could be.

Thanks for stopping and looking.

Kind regards,

Jim Jimmy James.