208 Theme 2 Nature - Charlie Waite Professional Photographer

Assignment 208 Principles of Location Photography Theme 2 Nature

Research and influences - Charlie Waite Professional Photographer

Charlie Waite lives in Dorset and is one of the leading Landscape photographers in the world. He has produced over 30 books and Amateur Photographer magazine featured him as an icon of modern photography. He also runs a company called Light and Land which is a photographic tour company. 

First some general comments about the images by Charlie Waite below. There are a number of common elements to these images, the square format, many have saturated strong colours, very good tonal range, well controlled exposures, many have lines that lead the eye into the frame and strong compositions. They all have a very good quality of light, some possibly because they may well have been taken on the continent. The square format could be produced by always cropping the images but more likely is the use of a medium format camera with a square format of possibly 6 x 6cm. 

The first image below has a large tonal range between the very dark sky at the top of the frame and the bright blue/green sea at the bottom. However it works and the sky adds drama as there is no single focal point just the horizon (which is just off centre) to draw the eye into the frame.  

This image is a beautiful composition with the dark blue sky and the different textures of the sky, fields and trees. The image is divided into thirds by the dark blue sky at the top, the lighter sky with clouds in the middle and the ground and trees at the bottom for a perfect composition.

The lines of the vines draw the eye into the frame very well and towards the bright point in the sky just above the horizon. Again there are three sections to the frame the foreground vines, the middleground trees and fields and the background sky and clouds. There are also a good range of colours and textures from the bottom to the top of the picture.

The very strong saturated colours of the lavender fields and the dark blue sky give a very dramatic image. The horizon divides the image across the middle which is unusual but works as the centre of the frame is dominated by the building, the trees and the dark blue hills. The eye is drawn down the lines of lavender towards the building and the trees.

The monochrome image below is given scale by the cows in the water. There is little interest in the plain dark sky but there is enough interest in the lower third of the frame to make it a very good and unusual study.

This is a simple but effective image with the boat on the lower left third of the frame giving the single point of perspective. There is a good range of textures from the rough pebbles on the beach to the smooth water and sky and the colours are very subtle.

This is a very strong and dramatic image because of the viewpoint with the eye being led down the rows of lavender to the single tree on the centre horizon. This gives a single point of perspective and single vanishing point. The textures and minimalist colours of blue and purple add to the beauty of the image.

A classic poppy field but very well taken with the one tree as a single focal point of perspective on the top left third of the image. The image is also lifted by the clouds over the dark hills or mountains in the background and strong saturated colours.

The image below is in some respects a classic seascape but a little unconventional because the focal point of interest, the island is in the middle of the frame not on one of the thirds and the horizon is also on the middle of the frame. However the rocks and sky give good textures and colours. The photographer decided to keep everything symmetrical and has produced a good image.

The next two images are of tree lined avenues but at different times of year. The first image is of autumn and conveys this with the warm hues of gold, brown and red. Lines of trees are always a good subject as they draw the eye into the centre of the frame with a single focal point of perspective. The exposure is very good on both images as the first image has not become too dark in the background and the second image has retained some detail in the much brighter background.