If you’ve seen my work, you know that I love negative space.  And in landscapes, that often means lots of sky.

It’s a more fine art look. Where the sky is an actor in the play. Usually dramatic clouds, color, and or celestial bodies give weight and relevance to the otherwise vast expanse of negative space.

But that’s not the “postcard” look.  The more I shoot for stock, the more I’ve learned to layer my landscapes to give them more dimension and a greater sense of depth.

It’s a very basic concept, that to many of you is a “duh”.  But it wasn’t to me.  I learned to shoot from feeling; to convey deep emotions and artistic expression.  And the way that manifests often times in my work, is with a very two dimensional feel where the depth is stripped away and the viewer is left with light, color, and basic shape.

Neither way is better than the other.  Some people have an eye for the 3-D postcard, and others, the 2-D expression.

I have had to learn to see the postcard. And I’m really enjoying the challenge of seeing in this new way.  It sounds simple, but it’s oh so interestingly complicated… to frame a balanced and compelling photograph that incorporates all three elements: foreground, middle ground, background.

These three elements working together, with lines leading the viewer into the image, colors complimenting one another, and light dancing and playing makes for a supremely sellable image.

And I would argue, that beyond the sellable, if you can also incorporate the artistic expression, you have made truly great art.

Those are the kind of images I’m striving to make.

— andrew