Are you looking to diversify your portfolio, connect more deeply with nature, and enjoy your time outside more?
If so, this Ebook + Workbook is for you.
Once you start looking beyond the grand landscape, the natural world is full of fascinating smaller scenes—intimate landscapes, abstracts of natural subjects, plants, trees, and tiny details. We designed Beyond the Grand Landscape to teach you everything you need to know to expand your photographic practice to include these subjects, with the ideas and exercises applicable to any landscape.
This self-guided course includes a PDF ebook and PDF workbook. The ebook focuses on developing a mindset conducive to connecting with small scenes, seeing more deeply, building your composition skills, learning to work with all kinds of natural light, expanding your technical skills, processing your photos, and curating portfolios. The workbook helps you put the ideas from the ebook into practice through ten in-depth exercises.
PRICE: $39 for the 291-page PDF ebook plus 58-page PDF workbook.
ABOUT Beyond the Grand Landscape
This is a fully revised and substantially expanded second edition of our popular ebook on photographing nature’s small scenes. This edition of Beyond the Grand Landscape is designed to be a self-guided course. The 291-page PDF ebook features a mix of practical and inspiring advice to help you build your knowledge and skills related to all aspects of photographing small scenes in nature. The 58-page PDF workbook will help you put the lessons from the ebook into practice through self-reflection, focused practice time out in nature, and finishing a personal photo project. The PDF workbook can be printed out and filled in by hand or used as an editable PDF. Both the ebook and the workbook have been designed for reading on a tablet or phone with a large font and simple design.
The ebook and workbook include the following:
Key creative concepts, mindset lessons, and field practices to help you discover and photograph a diverse array of small scenes
Chapters on composition and visual design, working with a range of natural light, photo processing for small scenes, and presenting your work including curation, sequencing, and portfolio development
Essential field techniques and technical fundamentals for creating intimate landscapes, natural abstracts, and plant photographs using a simple kit of equipment (this chapter includes an extended section on how to use focus stacking to photograph small scenes)
Inspiring interviews with a diverse group of talented photographers, each with a deep portfolio featuring intimate landscapes and small scenes, including Eric Bennett, Michael Bollino, Carolyn Cheng, Brent Clark, Michael Frye, Robb Hirsch, Anna Morgan, William Neill, Alex Noriega, Alberto Rodriguez-Garcia, Michele Sons, and Claudia Welsh
Six in-depth case studies and four start-to-finish photo processing examples
Practical, hands-on exercises to facilitate your learning and the application of the concepts in the ebook
More than 250 photos to demonstrate these concepts in a practical, inspiring, and immediately applicable manner
Who will get the most from this Ebook?
Beyond the Grand Landscape focuses on the creative aspects of nature photography: seeing opportunities in nature, your mindset, composition, and working with all kinds of natural light. While we discuss the technical essentials of photographing small scenes, we assume some familiarity with digital photography. If you are looking for very detailed instruction on the basics of digital photography, like exposure settings and basic processing skills, this is probably not the ebook for you. We also take a practical approach, so this ebook includes little information on the technological side of photography. If you are looking to add diversity to your photo portfolio, want to connect more deeply with nature, and are open to thinking differently about nature photography, we think you will get a lot from this ebook.
EXAMPLE PAGES FROM THE EBOOK
Reviews of Beyond the Grand Landscape
“Was ‘Beyond The Grand Landscape’ worth my time? Without a doubt. For me as an intermediate photographer with relatively sound processing skills, it was exceptionally helpful in numerous ways. I have read a lot of photography books over the years, but this clearly stands among some of the best for several reasons. First, it provides lots of clear, succinct, practical guidance on key topics and tactics. It’s easy to get around and every link works. Second, it’s clear that the book was very important to you both and comes from the heart. I also think it shows a lot of maturity and confidence in that you profile many other photographers that have inspired both of you and you provide a voice to them in a meaningful way that is inspiring and helpful to others.
I think for the intermediate and even some advanced photographers this is a resource that will absolutely improve their skillset and mindset. I found the book very well structured, easy to read, practical, and insightful. Thank you both for taking the time and putting so much effort into developing such a high-quality resource for me and the photographic community.”
“I want to thank you for your ‘Beyond the Grand Landscape’ book. I am a serious amateur nature photographer with a preference for the intimacy of the small scene. While there are a few books on macro-photography or flower photography, there has been nothing that confirmed my interest or extended what I already know until I found your book. It is comprehensive, informative, well-illustrated, and above all, very practical. Thank you for putting it together.”
“I am becoming very excited about intimate landscapes and smaller scenes. At the risk of bragging... I want you to know I took the two of the best shots I have ever taken after reading your ‘Beyond the Grand Landscape’ ebook. The photos in the ebook are fantastic (not surprising) and the prose is excellent. Thanks so much for your help.”
“A few days ago I purchased three of your books. I’m reading ‘Beyond The Grand Landscape’ now and I think it’s great! It’s so complete with all the information you guys share. I’m learning a lot and I just felt like sending you this message.”
“I read - even devoured your ‘Beyond the Grand Landscape’ ebook. I know this not being the considerate way to do it as the book deserves more contemplation, which I hope to do soon. I am taken by your approach to landscape photography (and I also admire your blogs).”
“I also have your fabulous ‘Beyond the Grand Landscape’ ebook. It’s a great resource that I will likely refer to over and over to remind myself to expand my photographic vision, and simply to be more focused on nature’s beauty even when not photographing it.”
Learn to Take Photos Like This…
Beyond the Grand Landscape is all about seeing a broad range of photo opportunities while out in nature, connecting more deeply with the natural world, and being open-minded about light, composition, and subjects. If you want to learn to create photographs of intimate landscapes, portraits of plants and trees, and abstracts of natural subjects like those shown below, this ebook will be an essential resource.
