Fine Art Photography?
Spurn Point Sea Defences
“Fine art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion. This stands in contrast to representational photography, such as photojournalism, which provides a documentary visual account of specific subjects and events, literally representing objective reality rather than the subjective intent of the photographer.” ~ Source: Wikipedia.
Fine art photography, or at least its definition, can often be controversial. Each individual has their own interpretation of what is perceived as art.
120 sec exposure blended with 1 sec foreground
To my mind, taking an image with the intention of then manipulating or editing it to portray a feeling or a vision rather than a static representation, immediately becomes art – creativity surpasses the simple act of capturing the image.
Over recent years I have been inspired by a couple of UK based vloggers, Gary Gough and Lynne Luxon-Jones. Their long exposure images of seascapes and the post processing that accompanies them have really appealed to me. Many others are arguably more famous for these techniques but Gary and Lynne’s vlogs, with their style of delivery, have really motivated me to get out to the coast and try to replicate the look and feel of those shots.
Considering I’m a Yorkshireman, born and bred, its surprising that I’ve never visited Spurn Point. Yorkshires very own lands end, it juts out at the end of the Humber estuary as far east as it is possible to go before getting your feet wet. From carpark the very tip is about 3 miles with so many interesting coastal relics along the way. There are abandoned jetties and sea defences as well as a couple of lighthouses to enjoy and photograph. After just over a mile, you come to some of, what I believe to be, the most photogenic sea groynes. Having recently re-watched one of Gary Gough’s videos from the location, I set about trying to create my own version of the image. Dialling in a base exposure of 1/8th of a second allowed me drop to in a 10-stop neutral density filter and then adjust my shutter speed accordingly. This equates to 2 minutes, enough to flatten out the sea to give the ice rink smooth effect I was aiming for. Post processing was done in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop, converted to mono and the horizon blended to give the subject the isolation I required to give the image the feel I envisaged.
Whether or not the final image constitutes fine art is entirely up to the viewer. The feel, the intension and the look of the final image is exactly as I imagined it. To me it is a reminder of my first visit to this spectacular location and sums up the atmosphere of the day in a single frame.
