Freedom and Control: Are Photographers Control Freaks?

“Relax. Nothing is under control.”
| Origin unknown

Don’t landscape photographers check places before they go there? For weather conditions, aurora, or wave beach forecasts. Don’t they create Google Maps to look up routes to their targeted iconic locations? Don’t they go to those locations at the perfect time for the best lighting conditions? Then they frame their subject, checking the edges of their framing for distracting elements, just to make their image, not to just take it. They make a quick backup copy of the images in the field to not lose it. At home on the computer, they carefully edit their image, fixing lens spots, and flares and cleaning up the image, then correcting the white balance, raising the micro-contrast, and editing the image locally. They may find the most suitable paper, prepare the image with the corresponding ICC profile adapted to their printer, verify if all the colors are in place, and print it. Finally, they look for the right frame to hang the picture in the best place on the right wall and to set it in the right light to evoke the desired emotion in the viewer.

A question comes to my mind: Where exactly is the expressive part in expressive photography?

This blog post may be a bit exaggerated, but I hope that this thought will encourage you to think.