August 15, 2021

 

Photography Blog Notes

 

In the spur of the moment a potential image forms in your mind, what a blessing, and it can’t be resisted, you see the potential light getting better and you must act immediately for this beauty is greater than your original intuition, you always have to be prepared to move, anticipate a more startling beauty in mother nature and switch gears from your original focused attention to your new subject lighting up like a christmas tree.

 

The excitement of pushing down on the shutter, your creation captured for we are hunters not looking for an animal to kill but looking for those moments that bring you closer to your own revelations of life and your purpose. 

 

Once an image had been taken we used to worry about our exposure, light, composition, lens used, shutter speed, etc…

 

There was always a nervous energy dropping off your film to a lab and waiting a few hours to pick up your film.

 

It was exciting to open the film box and begin to lay your images on the light table. This was the moment of truth and you had no one else to blame for color, details and exposure but yourself. Sometimes you missed the mark but the majority of the time you hit a home run!

 

Fast forward, now a click and you can see your image make exposure changes, shutter speed changes, filter changes and you are ready to make another image now with the right exposure.

 

In the past as one got better and better dealing with the cameras controls one relied on instinct, your experiences in the past made you a better photographer and once you past the test of knowing your light then it was just a matter of composition and timing.

 

Vision is just being aware of surroundings and what your intuition is saying to you. To be a good photographer you must have patience and a desire to be part of mother nature, immersing yourself in the landscape seeking that one and only image creation that will make your journey worthwhile.

 

But now there is a laziness to image taking. Partly because it seems that everything has already been photographed but in reality it isn’t the over abundance of look alike images that is the culprit it is whether you have a unique perspective that changes a simple image into a great image.

 

Because of digital cameras everything is fast paced, the ease in which one can allow the camera to correct exposure, shutter and then take the photo for you. 

 

A good question would be to ask why does the camera need a photographer. Drones are beginning to fill that bill.

 

Now so easy, so fast, so false, without a subject that you can connect with you will not be able to bring to life a stagnant landscape. Just having a camera does

not mean that you won’t have to think and be present in your vision, looking over your potential subject as if it was a friend.

 

Composition is the framework of a great image. If you don’t dig deeper into the subject before you find the flaws and the angles that will maximize the beauty in the scene whether it is still life, a portrait or landscape.

 

We all can shoot the exterior of places, people and things but without connecting visually with your subject you are just going through the motions.

 

What we see, what we feel can be a mind game, the truth is just being present with an open vision in your reality you will create, your thoughts move the external into your visual existence allowing you an original version of the scene in front of you.

 

Timing is everything when you are photographing, being there in the beauty of nature whether it is fog, rain, sun, lightning, snow you name it being present anticipating the composition of the image forming in your mind because you are intensely aware of your surroundings and are there to make great images.

 

First you must travel to parts of this beautiful country that have the potential to allow you to be creative in your composition and exposure by finding unique subjects through openness and respect of mother earth.

 

Mother nature is your friend and enemy. If you go with a preconceived notion of how and where you want to make an image you will more times than not miss the intuitive image trying to speak to your narrow vision.

 

You must open your heart to nature, open your mind, open your unique talent, by waiting for those moments of intense beauty by exploring your landscape, your details formulating into a composition of beauty. 

 

Your inner openness to allow the subject to dictate to you where the best light is, what lens to use, open your mind and allow the external reality to support your efforts as you set up your tripod and with patience marvel at the scene before you and her beauty as you press the shutter and know that the image taken was worth the time to just be present within the beauty of landscape, you are intensely aware of respecting the beauty of the scene given to you with great light and you will leave with no deliberate destruction of mother earth.