Photography Tutorial · 2017-06-11
The 5 Landscape Photographers Most Worth Following on 500px
Appreciating the works of excellent photographers is an important way for enthusiasts to improve their own photos. As an international, popular photography community, 500px can be said to be full of masters.
From multiple dimensions such as work recognition, creativity, influence, and photo quality, Thomas has handpicked and recommended 5 foreign landscape photographers on 500px.
The works of these 5 masters each have their own characteristics, embodying the unique charm of natural landscape photography.
No. 5
Alex Noriega
https://500px.com/alexnoriega
When it comes to the most momentum-gaining landscape photographer last year, it has to be this young American. In 2016, Alex won multiple heavyweight awards in a row, including the International Landscape Photographer of the Year, the American Landscape Photographer of the Year, and the Pano Awards Grand Prize.
Unlike many landscape photographers who excel at the wide-angle end, Alex's works are almost all created with medium and telephoto focal lengths.
He excels at extracting small scenes from complex environments, showcasing nature's textures, rhythms, and cadences.
He says his purpose in shooting landscapes is to record the scenery that moves him, and he also hopes that through the delicate depiction in his works, readers can feel the wonder of nature.
Alex's works are delicate, quiet, and full of unique atmosphere. Although they lack a bit of impact, the more you look, the more you like them - like a cup of clear tea, leaving an endless aftertaste.
Alex is now mainly active in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, shooting its deserts, forests, and peaks.
No. 4
Paul Zizka
https://500px.com/paulzizkaphoto
If Alex's strength is close-up small scenes, then this next master's works embody his extraordinary outdoor abilities everywhere.
Paul Zizka is an adventure photographer from Banff, Canada.
"The most magnificent, extraordinary, and marvelous sights in the world often lie in dangerous and remote places."
Paul's formidable ice-climbing and kayaking skills not only let him reach places rarely visited by humans, but also mean his landscape works always feature an explorer scaling heights as a finishing touch.
Kayaking under a sky full of stars, ice climbing amid brilliant auroras - such combinations give his photos tremendous impact.
The connection between humans and nature is the eternal theme of his works.
While people linger over the wealth, status, and fame brought by modern society, Paul's photos try to reawaken in viewers the courage to explore the true meaning of life, helping us rediscover our close connection with nature.
No. 3
Daniel Kordan
https://500px.com/kordan
Daniel Kordan is a Russian photographer who grew up in the suburbs of Moscow.
His early study of art subjects gives him extremely strong control over composition and color in his photography.
His post-processing style is highly recognizable on 500px. Most of his works don't feature high-saturation, high-contrast, or high-sharpness images.
Instead, through precise depiction of local color and grayscale, he delicately presents the scenery's side that is either calm, brilliant, or wild.
Daniel majored in physics in college, but that didn't hinder his constant exploration of art and nature.
He worked part-time as a travel guide in his spare time and kept writing for geography magazines, gradually becoming a professional landscape photographer.
Now Daniel explores all over the world all year round. His favorite places to shoot are Tuscany in Italy, Kyoto in Japan, and the Lofoten Islands in Norway.
No. 2
Max Rive
https://500px.com/maxrivefotograaf
You may have seen this photo on Alipay's login page in the past, as well as on many outdoor advertisements. The photographer of this photo, as well as the model in it, is the unconventional Dutch landscape photographer Max Rive.
Max can be called the man best at self-portraits in landscape photography. In many of his photos, you'll find his own figure standing high and gazing into the distance.
Max is also especially skilled at creating panoramic stitches, and his use of foreground depth is masterful.
His post-processing style leans toward dark tones, with a magical touch.
Although Max was born in the plains of the Netherlands, he fell in love with the outdoor atmosphere the first time he traveled to the Alps.
Later, he even gave up his studies to devote himself to landscape photography, leaving his footprints across the high mountains of Nepal, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and Chile.
Max is also a photographer who loves to share. His Chinese-language landscape photography course co-hosted with Thomas can be joined by scanning the QR code below.
No. 1
Marc Adamus
https://500px.com/maphoto
In terms of overall strength, American photographer Marc Adamus is undoubtedly one of the leading figures in contemporary mainstream landscape photography. His works are grand and majestic, often giving people an incredible sense of awe.
Marc deeply understands the essence of getting a spectacular landscape shot and is extremely creative in framing and composition, which is admirable.
Often, only after his works are published do people realize, "So there's such an amazing vantage point!"
Marc often uses satellite maps and contour maps to find combinations of snow mountains, canyons, rivers, and vegetation, studies the positions of sunrise, moonrise, and the center of the Milky Way, and discovers unusual compositions.
He also possesses superb pre-shoot skills. Through keen observation and masterful technique, he can capture incredible photos even on popular routes.
Through the integrated use of composition, color, and light and shadow, Marc Adamus's photos showcase the most beautiful, wildest, and most awe-inspiring force on Earth - nature.
He firmly believes that landscape photography isn't a simple record of scenery, but must incorporate the artist's emotions to touch viewers' hearts and resonate with readers.
The images used in this article are all from the photographers' 500px homepages
The images and text used have been authorized by the 500px community