Comments from Scott
On his landscape photography.
“Landscape photography for me combines a passion I have for the environment and my love of the outdoors. It’s a terrific excuse to get out and see some fantastic parts of the planet, and also share it with others. Personally, I love the experience of being on top of a mountain in a remote area as a new day dawns or as the sun goes down of an evening. It’s an awesome and inspiring experience, in a stress free environment - a real escape from the fast paced pressures of modern society. It’s also a chance for a healing reconnection with nature and a link to what a less populated and polluted world must have been like many years ago. I thus try to capture photographs that enable viewers of my images to experience these moments.”
“It gives me great pleasure to know that I can bring images of some of Australia’s most scenic and iconic places into the homes and offices of people worldwide. The feedback from people once they have got the prints home and up on their walls is terrific… it makes the effort of all those early mornings up well before sunrise to trek out to just the right spot — especially when it’s snowing and blowing a gale — that much more rewarding.”
“While photography for me is a great excuse to get out and travel, my images are ultimately the result of research and then lots of patient hours spent outdoors, exploring, learning, feeling, and seeing to find the right composition. It’s then great when everything comes together and I get great weather and light, enabling me to capture images I’m happy with. There’s thus a lot of time and physical effort that goes into capturing many of these images, not to mention the early mornings. All that said, I enjoy every minute of the outdoors regardless of whether I capture the images I want.”
On digital photography.
“I happily acknowledge that in the digital age I fully embrace the power of technology and the digital darkroom — turning the raw captured camera data into the emotional impact that existed for me at the time of capture. However, I generally only use minimal digital post production, similar to that what has always been done in traditional darkrooms, to make my photos represent the scene as I saw it. For my landscape limited edition prints I strongly believe in the authenticity of my images being an accurate reflection of the scene at the time of capture. It is important that people realise my images are photographs, that they are in fact real events that I experienced in real places. My best photos are simply the result of amazing scenary captured in the right light, most often around sunrise or sunset. Importantly, people can go out and see these places I photograhed for themselves, and in the right light, see exactly the same colours as they see in my images. There are of course exceptions — some of my images have obviously been manipulated in post processing beyond what I saw — they are rare and it is deliberately obvious that they have been altered.”
On the environment.
“I capture both mother nature as well as man’s built environment. I’m always in awe at both, in terms of what exists naturally and what mankind has achieved. I respect both. It is however my hope that my wilderness landscape images convey in part what I feel very strongly about: that we need to preserve the few wild, untouched places remaining in the world and protect our precious wildlife and natural resources. Sustainability and protecting what we have left are ever growing challenges in an increasingly industrialised and urbanised world. I hope my images help people recognise what we still have left and that it is worth protecting and preserving.”
“In early 2011 I was pleased to announce an exciting new ‘Plant-a-Tree’ Partnership with Trees for the Future. Under this partnership I have committed to plant a tree, for every limited edition print or other product sold. Additionally, I have also committed to plant a tree for every new fan of the Facebook page and followers of Scott Leggo images on Twitter. It is my hope that this and future initiatives can help my business make a small but positive impact to the world we all live in.”
On his business.
“The growth of the business and the interest in my landscape prints has amazed me somewhat. Producing these photos is a lot of work, so it’s great when others appreciate the images. Despite the great enjoyment I get from this job, it is not as easy as some may imagine. This is an expensive, time consuming business that requires travel, commitment and lots of patience. It often takes many early mornings up well before sunrise to enable me to get to the right spot — only to have the weather turn at the last moment. I think few people (other than fellow photographers perhaps) truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into getting many of these shots. That’s why they are so special when I do finally capture the shot I am after with great light — especially after it has involved a climb up a steep and slippery rockface in the cold dark of early morning. In this way though I actually feel fortunate that I have been lucky to see many great sunrises or sunsets and colours.”
