Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

This morning I drove through some amazing fog to get to Caribou and it got me thinking about this picture that I took in the fall. If you look closely, you will see that the three shore lines drop in value and the shadows become bluer as they step back. This is an atmospheric effect caused by the scattering of light by the air and humidity. You can also see the effects of the reflecting light on the water. If I was out with my oil painting kit, this is a place I would set up camp to work.

I studied Plein Air oil painting with Joe Paquet for a couple of years. The main thing I learned from Joe was how to see what was going on. Once you have studied landscape oil painting, photography becomes a lot easier. I’ve hung up the easel for a while, but I still spend time talking with Joe and also photograph his paintings for him. Below is one of his paintings I shot earlier this week. I’ve been meaning to show some of his work and this seemed to be a good time to do so.

You can see the same effect going on here with the ridges as they recede, only Joe is making decisions continuously to add depth and make the design of the image work. When he showed me his original field study, the mountains were in different places; he ‘moved mountains’ to balance the design and improve the effect of distance.

When I photograph a scene, the viewer doesn’t question the odd uneven appearance of surfaces, but with a painting, if something seems slightly out of place, they think the artist made a mistake. So Joe has to make every surface tell you what it’s doing as well as work with the painting as a whole. I’ve tried doing this, it’s really hard to keep it all in mind.

But then, that’s why he paints and I photograph. I learn a lot working with him and I think he’s learning a little from me.

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