William Neill

Awesome photograph for landscapes, water, light and nature. I am a fan!

Portfolio: http://www.williamneill.com/portfolios/landscapes-of-the-spirit/index.html Top picks:
Landscapes of the Spirit:
1)Dawn, Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada. Foreground shows rocks under the water, middle ground is all blurred blue water, background is 2 mountains meeting with fog in between.
2) Twilight Surf, Big Sur Coast, California. Time exposure on moving water creates a foggy blur on top of the rocks that I like.
3) Bridal Weil Falls, Eldorado County, California. Using a medium shutter speed, probably 1/25th of a second he captures the water falling on the rocks. There is focus there, but also a blur at the same time showing motion. I find this interesting.
4) Rocks formations and surf at twilight- again, he uses a time exposure to create a ghost effect of the moving water on the rocks.

Impressions of Light:
1) Giant Seqoias, Maripose Grove, Yosemite National Park. I think he uses a camera shake to create this effect. The trees are obviously stationary, so he must have had a 1 second exposure and tilted the lens up or down slightly while the shutter was open. This creates a really interesting effect. It looks very painterly.
2) Carp, Bronx Zoo, wow, at first, I had no idea what this was until looking at the title, and now I see it. He took a time exposure of the fish while they are swimming under water. I love the effect.
3) Dawn, Mono Lake, California: This would be a boring image without the time exposure. There is no focal point, just ground and sky. But the longer exposure creates a Gaussian blur and painterly effect that I like.
I find this series very interesting. I love the effects of time exposure of light on different objects and scenes. He used close ups, middle ground, moving objects, and landscapes.

Meditations in Monochrome
These remind me of Ansel Adam in terms of contrast, light and shadow. He does some very stunning landscapes in black and white, and also patterns and repetition subjects.

"The reason I photograph is to experience the beauty of Nature, of wild places. I explore the essential elements of rock and tree, of cloud and rushing water to discover the magic and mystery of the landscape. My search for beauty is romantic and idealistic. It is the spirit of the land I seek-be it in a small piece of urban wildness or in vast wilderness. Rachel Carson, in her book The Sense of Wonder, writes, "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."