How many times have you photographed the “perfect photo” scene, only to be very disappointed when you see the finished print? You just know that the original scene looked much better than your photograph shows. What happened? Photographic vision is the ability to look at a scene and determine if it is a good candidate for a photograph. This ability is extremely important for creating fine-art landscapes. Some landscapes are inherently photogenic, but some are not. Combining years of experience, books of compositional techniques, and extensive darkroom manipulations, even the best photographers cannot squeeze excellent photographs from some scenes. However, your photographs will improve by understanding the differences between the original scene and the scene actually recorded on film. Your ability to see the actual landscape as a photographic landscape will improve. Also, you will be able to decide if a particular scene (although it looks great while you are standing there) will not be as impressive in the final photograph. Most importantly, you will be able to exploit these differences to your advantage and turn a mediocre “real-life” scene into an outstanding photographic image.
