A good camera and lens combination are essential, like peanut butter and jelly.

A recent trip to Myakka River State Park started off with me hauling a 600mm through the woods chasing after deer and several wild pigs snorting and rooting in the rich mud. But I eventually traded in the long lens and monopod for a tripod and a 19mm PC lens to capture the ever changing light moving across the park’s vast landscape.

The Nikkor 19mm PC (Perspective Control) lens is a wonderful tool and magical in its images. The tilt and shift capabilities bring back the days of using a view camera in the field. The 19mm PC is all manual, sharp and begs for you to take your time as you set up to compose a photograph. The front element is large and protruding, and demands caution where ever you are traveling. This lens may not be in everyone’s arsenal, and it is expensive, but it is one of my favorites.

As a landscape photographer, it’s challenging to capture some scenes in one frame without the distortion of a super wide angle lens. But with the 19mm PC and its shift capabilities, I can “shift” the lens and take advantage of the full cone of light.

Back at home, I will “stitch” together multiple images using Photoshop’s Photomerge and create a seamless high resolution panorama. The landscapes below are made up of multiple frames stitched together using a Nikon 810 and the 19mm PC lens. Much like a peanut and jelly sandwich, the high resolution D810 and the 19mm PC just go together.

Landscapes can take you places

I was recently showing a new client some of my work. She had visited the exhibit on imperiled birds at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature but was more enamored with my landscape photography. She was particularly fascinated with the black and white landscapes for what they reveal and what she saw in them.

We discussed the textures, the focal point, the mood, the sky, the horizon, the things you might miss in a color photo. We also talked about the memory of place, how a photo can take you to a certain time or event in your mind. She had grown up on Longboat Key and worked in Sarasota for decades. I showed her my photo titled Longboat Light and she immediately went back to her childhood and sitting under the trees at Beer Can Island reading books. Her story reminded me that there is power and emotion in place.

Because I have the exhibit on imperiled birds, I have spent much of 2019 more focused on my bird photography than my sea and landscape photography. In some ways birds are easier. They can be comical, they have personality, their colors are vibrant and they usually are active. While getting those shots can be tough, I always come back with something I am willing to share.

Landscape photography is a different sort of challenge. So much depends on the mood, the perspective, the light and the scene. It takes patience and care to find just the right shot. When I come back with a landscape or seascape photo, unlike bird photos, there is usually just one that stands out — only one I will print from a day of shooting.

I love landscape photography for several reasons. The first is that landscapes change, so I know that when I get that shot I want, it won’t be duplicated. The light will never be exactly the same against the plants and grasses; the water levels ebb and flow; there may be footprints next time where there were none. The second reason is that landscape photography is as much about preservation as my bird photography is. The birds are disappearing because their habitats are disappearing. Part of my mission as a photographer is to raise awareness about our environment so we all have the good sense to preserve it for the future. My third reason is that landscape photography evokes emotion. It can bring a sense of serenity, prompt memories and take you away from the chaos of the moment into some place wild and wonderful and can cause people to reflect on what’s important..

The conversation about landscape photography prompted me to think about what I love and it got me itching to go back out there and look around Florida for something I want to bring home and print.

The photograph below was taken in Myakka River State Park with a Nikon 810 using a Nikkor 19mm PC lens. It is two photographs stiched together using Photomerge in Photoshop. What you do not see is the mud that I am sharing with tripod.