So many of our most vivid memories come with landscapes. And landscapes need a touch of the human to really bring out the drama and the startling proportions. This understanding, of humans’ affinity for powerful places, is illustrated in Sherry Nelsen’s photographs. If her models and clients are willing, she is always game to make extra efforts to get to spectacular sites. And we have quite a few of them close to home.
“It’s part of the fun, part of the journey and reward, to create something that is really jaw-dropping.”
Her eye for the perfect backdrop is just as sure whether at seaside, in the snowy mountains, or in cowboy country, giving her portfolio a wonderful and rare “surf and turf” flare. Nelsen loves to study the work of other photographers and travels to workshops to keep current and inspired. Her website at freshairphotography.ca shows her consistent approach to diverse subject matter. Visit her Wedding, Lifestyles, Passion, and Business galleries, which contain many examples of her instinct for finding and highlighting the heart of each scene and subject.
“I love to scout out locations that will provide a dramatic backdrop for my newlyweds. A photo should be a piece of art! I want it to be so spectacular that the couple can look at that moment, that perfect moment, and smile for the rest of their lives and never tire of looking at it.”
People’s passions are her specialty. An animal lover, Nelsen enjoys the challenges and possibilities of including animals in her work. “The bond with people and their animals is sometimes more fierce than between two humans. I like to show a little of that as well in my work.”
Animals enhance many of Nelsen’s landscape photos, and she particularly loves photographing horses. For her they function as a gateway into a scene. The presence of the horse “. . . adds to the story of the photo. It helps give perspective in size for one thing, and it sometimes makes the viewer dream about being in that gorgeous spot themselves!”
Weddings are so often a couple’s best chance to shout out the unique style that will mark their lives together, although couples often struggle to articulate this style for themselves. Nelsen is adept at using their choice of location, degree of formality, their interactions with the landscape, the wedding party, and each other to tell their stories. And so you’ll see a kiss made all the more intimate by a vast and sweeping sky overhead. Solemn vows are much more solemn amidst breaking waves and towering rocks. Hands held are more poignant in a limitless landscape.
Words | Nancy Pincombe
