Richard Muir

In 1986 Richard Muir published ‘Landscape and Nature Photography’, a book aimed at photographers of all levels with an interest in the countryside and wildlife. Prior to publishing this he had written several books on landscape history for the National Trust, illustrated with his own photographs, so may be considered to be sympathetic to the subject of landscape and nature photography. Obviously the medium used was film, and many of the photos were black and white. As a reference source this book covers a wide spectrum – equipment, locations of all types, subjects of all types, the darkroom, conservation and the law, weather and seasons and planning a trip. Although 25 years old this book still has much useful information, and many interesting photos.

 

Reference:

Landscape and Nature Photography. Richard Muir. 1986. George Philip, London.ISBN 0-540-01100-2

The first picture is a black and white image of foam at the bottom of a waterfall, and was printed in the book to show that close up photos can be as attractive and stimulating as panoramic views.

This image was taken with a 300mm telephoto lens. The scanned image does not evoke the same feeling of movement as seen in the original. I presume that a fast shutter speed was used since the bubbles seem to be most realistic – you want to blow them and be involved with the image, The texture of the water is most apparent. It is a comforting image – you do not know the depth of water or how accessible it is – but you could easily scoop it in your hands to feel and enjoy it.

However the arrangement of the bubbles is far from random. As can be seen below the Rule of Thirds has been used to good effect to guide your eyes to the top left hand intersection and then down and round to other bubbles. With the flexibility of today’s digital cameras this photo may have been printed in colour to give a totally different effect – I imagine that the colour spectrum would be visible in the bubbles, or a blue/green tinge seen in the water. However this black and white image works most effectively and is a reminder that this form should not be ignored.

The next image is a cluster of horse chestnuts.

Again scanning has reduced the brightness of the colours, but in the original the warmth of the colours is breathtaking. Texturally the range is huge – smooth, rough, spiky, fragile, soft, crispy – truly vibrant in both texture and colour.

The Rule of Thirds dominates once more with the top right hand area being dominated by one leaf which then draws you down to one very bright inside of the horse chestnut, while the slightly orange tint to the leaves draw you back up and around.

This is a very gentle image, full of warmth. You want to get involved, to pick up and touch each item.

The next two images are also autumnal, and possibly it is because it is the current season I do feel drawn to them.

Once more the scanning process has reduced the vividness of the original photo.  Richard himself explains this photo: “The woodland floor is the subject. A wide-angle lens has been stopped down to f/16 and the tripod mounted camera exploits its great depth of field. Yellow horse chestnut leaves are the main colour source.”

This is a photo of a commonly seen subject – woodland in autumn. However by changing the perspective so that the woodland floor is the subject the image is immediately refreshed. The large leaves at the front immediately draw you into the picture and from there to the central tree in the background, where the orange bracken standing next to the tree immediately catches your eye again and brings it back down. Whenever your eye strays to the back this vertical line immediately draws you back to the leaves. I find this a most stimulating photo.

The final image appears initially to be more traditional.

Richard explains this photo: “The woodland floor is omitted to concentrate attention on the juxtaposition of golden beech leaves and pale blue sky”. However you do not notice that there is no ‘floor’ – possibly because many of us wander through woodlands look upwards.

For me the light is the most dominant feature of the photo. The filtered sunlight extends the range of colours from the palest yellow through greens and browns to near black – but perfectly harmonious. The area of the photo which is the brightest and draws your eyes to it lies between two intersections of the Rule of Thirds, whilst the trunks to the right all guide you to this area. The trunk to the left provides a limiter on this side – your eye cannot wander away. The photo is crisp and bright and fresh – the place we all want to visit in autumn! A real gem.




Addendum:


This afternoon I walked around my own garden to try to discover an area where I might be able to emulate these pictures - not easy. The sun was low and wintry to give a suitable brightness. However although I could find spots to look through the trees towards the sky the missing ingredient was the boundary of the tree on the left - without that in the last image your eyes will automatically escape not to return.