Photography Research - Matt Whorlow

Matt Whorlow is an English photographer who is based in Cornwall. His work covers a range of different styles and mediums, including wedding photography, event photography and landscape photography. I am going to focus on landscape photography throughout this post as this is the area which fits the photography used on conventional regional magazines. Whorlow's work is grand in style and elements such as lighting, shot type, framing and imagination show throughout. Furthermore, the use of photographic techniques is highly apparent as ideas and surrealistic styling is shown. Whorlow may use photo editing software to change colouring in his images, however the basis of all of his work is based around a raw photographic nature. 

I like this image above in particular as his use of photographic techniques has allowed him to capture the bright, setting sun, alongside setting a slow shutter speed and capturing the motion of the water. The colouring in the sky is majestic in style - the bright oranges contrast the darker sea and rocks which present ideas of binary opposition. Furthermore, the smooth nature of the water, as it's motion blurred through use of the shutter speed setting, presents a surreal nature which grab your eye and draws you into the image. The vibrant colours and detail and texture of the rocks make you feel like you're there and also make the audience want to see more of his work. Whorlow also perfectly captures the dark horizon, as the vanishing point is presented dramatically, dragging the eye straight up towards the bright sun set. 

In this image, Whorlow has made full use of the contrasting colours, as well as the beautiful reflection of the sky alongside the water. He has chosen to shoot the image with the boat in the foreground, however it does't take 'centre stage' due to the positioning as well as the colours. This I think allows the image to present a sense of natural beauty, alongside presenting the presence of human life alongside the river, telling a story. The horizon, back-lit, shows a clear contrasting style to the brighter foreground and sky above. 

In this image Whorlow had opted for a simplistic shot type, as the blue bells perfectly contrast the green of the trees. He has used a long shot and tried to capture a relatively even 50/50 split ratio on the page. Again, he has captured the darker vanishing point in the middle of the image, which seems to allow your eye to be drawn right in and also to split the two very strong, vibrant colours.