www.photographymonthly.com PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY 59
organised. Instead I prefer to think of
composition as a personal response that
emerges instinctively. Also, logically; why
make a third of the composition sky if the sky
is uninteresting?
So-called lead-in lines is a formulaic way of
describing what Renaissance painters knew
500 years ago; that perspective draws the
viewer into the image,and so engages them in
the physical depth being depicted.
Leonardo da Vinci'sfamous `Last Supper'
fresco (at Santa Maria della Grazie,Milan) is
the best-known example of a perspective-
device painting, but every painting or
photograph with a grid floor,a path, or road,
or any other feature that leads to a vanishing
point is using perspective. However,if we look
for lead-in lines simply because they're part of
the rules of composition, we may be failing to
spot more subtle points of focus. It would
become very tedious if every composition
insisted on a path or road running into it!
Foreground interest is really just another
aspect of the depth illusion. The mistake we
make is to imagine all landscapes require it
(they don't); and when we do use the
foreground too often we don't pay it enough
attention. Ask yourself the question before you
next add foreground interest: `is this
foreground sufficiently interesting to merit a
picture in its own right?' This is a good piece
of personal quality control.
And if we `inject impact' into every picture,
do we allow space for subtlety? For mystery?
For peace and quiet? Pictures can come in a
range of emotional effects. If we lay the colour
and contrast on thick with every image we will
fail to express a variety of mood and emotion.
Impact and quality are not the same thing.
Finally, myth four is `only shoot in the magic
hour,dawn and dusk'. Of course, in good
conditions these may be the high points of the
day for lighting, and I have done more than
my fair share of them. But if shooting in
woodland, or a deep valley, or in a gorgeor
slot canyon, neither dawn nor dusk is likely to
be ideal. And evenin open landscape, the
subtle lighting that accompanies our charming
British weather can produce fascinating light at
other times of day.
The main thing is to adapt our approach to
the conditions and the times we have to be out
with our camera. I
ABOVE This image of Skye's
Cuillinrange from Marscois
completelydevoidof
foregroundinterestand also
demonstrateshow the sky
shouldn'tbe compromisedby
the rule of thirds.
LEFT You don't need to use
a top-of-the-rangeDSLR for
great pictures.This cracking
shot of curlingsea kelp at
Staitheswas taken with a
six-megapixelcompact
camera� a Ricoh CaplioR4 �
that doesn'trecordRaw files.
"If we inject impact into every picture
do we allow space for subtlety? For
mystery? For peace and quiet?
"
Whetted your appetite for
more Joe Cornish
landscapes? Head for one of
his galleries. There's one in Stokesley and another in
Northallerton. You can even own your own Joe
Cornish � as a card, calendar or print.
www.joecornish.com
Joe Cornish
Galleries
NEXT MONTH Joe discusses his love of his local
patch � the North Yorkshire landscape.

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40Page 41Page 42Page 43Page 44Page 45Page 46Page 47Page 48Page 49Page 50Page 51Page 52Page 53Page 54Page 55Page 56Page 57Page 58Page 59Page 60Page 61Page 62Page 63Page 64Page 65Page 66Page 67Page 68Page 69Page 70Page 71Page 72Page 73Page 74Page 75Page 76Page 77Page 78Page 79Page 80Page 81Page 82Page 83Page 84Page 85Page 86Page 87Page 88Page 89Page 90Page 91Page 92Page 93Page 94Page 95Page 96Page 97Page 98Page 99Page 100Page 101Page 102Page 103Page 104Page 105Page 106Page 107Page 108Page 109Page 110Page 111Page 112Page 113Page 114Page 115Page 116Page 117Page 118Page 119Page 120Page 121Page 122Page 123Page 124Page 125Page 126Page 127Page 128Page 129Page 130Page 131Page 132Page 133Page 134Page 135Page 136Page 137Page 138Page 139Page 140Page 141Page 142Page 143Page 144Page 145Page 146Page 147Page 148 Produced by PageSuite