Vacation for the Heart and Mind

Inland

Abstraction of Light

This is my 700th blog post. That is a lot of posting. I started my vacation inland taking in the natural beauty the Earth provides with a little help from the Light of Sun.

My goal with this vacation trip was to shoot everything with natural light and my new Vivitar 70-200mm lens. I accomplished those objectives for the most part, using my Tamron 17-50mm lens for only a few landscapes.

The image to the left is an abstraction of light illuminating the leaves of a tree through the forest canopy. This was done intentionally, using the natural light bouncing off the tree leaves and a naturally darker area that fell in the shadow and I moved my camera to create the movement.

Contrast of Light and Dark

Again, using the natural light falling through the forest canopy to allow the light to fall on the subject and leave the background in shadow I was able to capture and isolate the subject.

This is a technique I have been working to master for a couple of years now. Like all things in photography, this technique requires some compromise of others choices, such as composition as the shadowed area might not always be in line with how you may want to compose the image and depth of field with adjustments to the aperture. Another compromise is exposure, in which the subject might not be as brightly lit as you would like due to the low light; see the middle image below as an example.

Delicate Fern

Lightly Lit Leaves

Bloom in Contrast

Ocean Side

Patterns

Heading to the beach, I found natural patterns as well as man-made structures.

The patterns that can be found in the sand are as varied as the fingerprints on the people in the world. All you have to do is look around with an open mind.

 Observing the patterns is as simple as looking at the bigger picture and ignoring the smaller details from the onset. Once I have captured the patterns I then move in and look at the details.

Sand Patterns

The above photograph and the photograph to the right we both shot within ten feet of each other.

Again, just by looking, I was able to find both of these photos. It takes a shift, an intentional shift, in the way I see to be able to see the patterns. It can be difficult. It is a lot like trying to the forest for the trees or trying to see the sailboat in the middle of a poster of patterns of static (popular in the early 90s).

Once the shift happens I start seeing the patterns everywhere. I see the patterns in wood, sand, gravel, asphalt and even in crowds of people. After practicing for years, I can now switch from one mode to another and back again.

It just takes time to develop the ability to switch it over if it doesn't come to you naturally.

Fossil Love

Sandcastles in Triplicate

Metamorphosis

Aquatic Adventures

The sand of time lead to the sea

I have a huge fascination for waves. I will let those images speak for themselves.

Patterns in the Waves

Green Crush

Afternoon Light

Back to Back

 The best way to photograph waves for me is to shoot in the light of the afternoon sun, but that is because I am on the left coast. If I were to be standing at the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, I would shoot early morning, an hour after sunup. This is what helps makes the waves glow.

Aloft

Subjects in the sky are always of interest for me. But I typically don't shoot things that are directly overhead because the underside of a bird isn't as interesting to me as it flying at me.

Goodnight Moon

Burning Sky

Sun Sets on Another Day

And Finally, I love it when subjects in the sky make their way to the ground.

That's all for now. Do yourself a favor, take a few days and find your artist. It is an amazing journey.

Artist Versus Analyst

Following the Rule of Thirds

Let me preface the following statement with: this is not a post about how great a photographer I am. My ego is in healthy check. Now that I have said that I can say: I am generally a pretty good photographer. 

As a photographer and teacher of photography I preach the rules of photography. I preach about composition; the rule of thirds and filling the frame. I preach about exposure and the histogram. I preach about subjects needing to be interesting. I preach about light and shadow and how to make them work.

I also practice these things, some times to a point of my Analyst squashing my Artist. My artist asks what-if questions and my Analyst doesn't like what-if scenarios. My Analyst knows that 1 + 1 = 2 and that is not to be challenged, ever.

The image above was an attempt by the Analyst to make a technically good photograph. I followed the rule of thirds. The horizon is not in the center plane of the photograph. I properly exposed the subject. I did everything right. Yet the image lacks pop and impact. This image would not be able to move a turd with bulldozer, let alone move someone emotionally. I might as well have photographed a black cat in a black room with the lens cap on. If I were to post this by itself, it would have likely received a few obligatory comments, if that, but it definitely would not have moved anyone.

Following my Artist

Then there is this photograph to the right. The photograph breaks several of the rules mentioned above. Lets start with the composition. The horizon is on the center plane of the photograph. The subject, the sun, is dead center in the image. Rule of Third/Fill the Frame rule is thrown out the window.

Now let's talk about exposure. In relation to the rest of the image, the lower right corner is under exposed. This leaves a dead spot in the image technically speaking.

Technically speaking, this image is a train wreck. But from an artistic standpoint, this image moves people in spite of the rules. This photograph evokes an emotional response that the first photograph could not. Why? Because I allowed the scene to move me before I tried to capture it. My Artist saw what was beautiful about the scene and captured it shutting down my Analyst

So when I posted my Artist's photograph on social media sites it received more comments and "likes" than most of my images usually get. As a matter of fact, I had five "favorites" from complete strangers, people I don't follow or don't follow me, within fifteen seconds of posting it.

What makes one photograph work and the other not? The first photograph was a true attempt at capturing the scene of a setting sun. It was shot with a Nikon D200 using the 200mm lens with careful consideration on exposure and composition. It was edited using Adobe's Lightroom with some dodge and burn and noise reduction. A professional photograph from professional equipment.

The second image was made using my cell phone and an HDR app that anyone can buy for $3.49 from the Android App Store of your choice. The photo was edited on my phone using Instagram. Both photos were taken by the same photographer; me. So why the huge disparity between the two? Is a camera phone that much better than a Nikon DSLR? I have said it many times, it's not the camera that makes an image it's the photographer. The failure of the first was a result of my Analyst being in control and the success of the second was the difference between my Analyst and my Artist.

Trusting my artist

Sand Patterns

I think I know what happened; how my Analyst got in control at the start. When I first got to the scene I was thinking, location, shot lists, exposures and composition. I set up, pointed the lens, fired a frame or two recomposed, refocused, fire again. Rinse and repeat. I didn't let the scene talk to me and let me know what it was showing me. My Analyst doesn't see such things. I was focused on getting the specific shots I wanted or thought I should get given the rules of photography. I was hell bent to get "The Shot" even if the scene wasn't really showing me "The Shot". My Artist was buried in the world of technicalities.

I finally put my camera aside, unhappy with the results. Took in the breath-taking scene for several minutes. I saw what was happening; I wasn't seeing the sunset through the sun. I shut down my Analyst and my Artist came rising to the surface. I grabbed my phone, opened the HDR app and fired off three frames. I stuck my phone back in my pocket as the HDR app was processing the three image series. I grabbed my camera and walked back to the campfire we had on the beach to warm up. 

I put my camera away and sat on a log by the fire. I grabbed my phone, saved the resulting photograph and shared it via Instagram. I didn't dink around with lots of post processing and cropping and tweaking. The photograph didn't need much of anything to make it pop. The photograph captured exactly what my Artist saw in the scene. The photograph captured exactly what the scene made me feel when I finally stopped, shut down my Analyst and took the scene in while my Artist came to the forefront.

I walked away from this experience re-finding the value of not getting lost in the technical aspect of the process. I know the technical aspects of photography, so I need to let go of the Analyst in me more often. I need to allow my Artist to do the job an artist does best. In the end, I know how to use the tools and I know the rules, so my Artist knows how to use the tools and knows the rules. More importantly my Artist knows when to break the rules. I need to trust that more moving forward because when I do, my Artist truly shines.


How about you? When do you struggle between your Analyst and your Artist. Who usually wins? How do you overcome your Analyst? Share in the comment below.