People in the landscape - a tricky one that. Do you include or exclude people when photographing scenery?
I have to confess that normally I avoid photographing people (except at weddings - and even then I'd rather not!) but sometimes the addition of a person or group into a landscape composition can add so much in terms of telling a story or giving a sense of scale.
Such was the case here on the shores of Ullswater in England's Lake District. I'd been quite happily photographing this view as the sun was setting behind the hills when along paddles this solitary canoeist, aiming right at me.
I thought 'Wow!', this could transform a standard landscape photo into a real story teller, in which the viewer could put themselves in the place of the lonely adventurer, paddling on into the night.
I shouted to the guy in the canoe if he minded me taking a couple of photos of him paddling, which he was quite happy with, so I shot off a few frames as he went by.
This was the best one as the canoeist is nicely centred in a patch of light reflecting off the surface of the lake, and to my mind this makes a much more interested and engaging photo than the ones I took previously without the human element.
I'll have to try including a suitable person in my landscape photos more often I think.
Filename - canoeist 04.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 67mm
Exposure - 1/6sec @ f16, ISO100
Location - Ullswater, Lake District
This image - 800x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Image framed and taken in a hurry, hence the slow shutter speed.
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