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I read a lot about photography. I also listen to photography podcasts while driving for work. This provides quite a bit of information to take in and as you can imagine, a lot of it is repetitive, some contradictory, some garbage, some really useful. In a small portion I pick up some gems.
I was reminded of one of the gems recently, while going through my images selecting candidates for this year's Christmas card ... and then again a short wile after while I was reading an online article. It has slight variations, basically the suggestion is to go through your images some time after they were made. Some say not to look at your images for a few days, weeks or even months because the emotional attachment from the experience, holiday, event, etc. will fade and you will be able to look at the images more objectively. Others suggest that you should not bee too quick to purge those unfocused, slightly off, badly composed or exposed disappointments, that you should return to the photos sometime later. The thought here being that your processing skills or creative vision could change or improve and alter your opinion of a previously discounted image.
This was somewhat the case for me as I was reviewing images for the card. Here's the background from the time as I recall it today.
Almost a year ago, heading to the cottage with a couple of friends for a few days of winter photography, we were driving on Grey Rd 3 approaching Hwy 21. It had been dull and heavily overcast for our morning drive until the sun broke through and kissed the ice covered branches of the trees out across the field ... we stopped the car and scrambled to get our shots before the magic disappeared.
As luck would have it, I wasn't able to get into a position to compose and "hide" the utility lines running through the image. These kinds of visual disturbances in an image bother me. The light lasted only a minutes at best and the magic was gone. On my initial review of the files I was very unhappy that the lines were there and discounted the image as a candidate for any further consideration.
Roll the clock forward almost a year, and as I was scrolling through the image catalog I stopped and looked again. With different emotion, I decided that I could and would do something with it. Some quick Photoshop to touch up the upper wire (now gone) and a distant communications tower and I'm OK with this. One lower line is still there but not so much of a distracting intrusion as I once felt it was.
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| sun kissed |
DJE
Recently, after sharing a video lamenting the loss of many farms and the associated barns that dot the rural landscape, Alan suggested an outing to a couple of local abandoned barns to capture them before they too are gone. As long as I have known him, Alan has been drawn to abandoned farm locations and has many images depicting such scenes.
One our earliest outings together took place over 6 years ago at the then abandoned McWilliams farm near my home. Over the next couple of years, we enjoyed a few visits there and watched as the barn deteriorated further until ... after vandals torched the house, equipment moved in and demolished all structures. The site is now a vacant lot in a new industrial subdivision, the image of the barn lives on in memory and some of our photographs..
With pangs of regret for not having visited McWilliams more, our planned visit to other structures still standing, perhaps not for long, had stirred something in me. We, three, managed to visit only one of the intended locations on this outing, a place known to some as "Studio 32". We spent time leisurely sketching, walking, photographing and capturing the scene, each in our own way. Initially, I moved off to a spot to get a different view and after completing a couple of sketches, stopped to analyze precisely what it what was that had drawn me to that spot. A small area of the scene I had just sketched included the remnants of an old fence, it's line leading away and eventually to the side of the barn.
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| fence to the barn |
I see myself getting back to making time for sketching when I go on my photography outings.
DJE
Everyone loves a sunset.
As a photographer, my challenge is not only to capture the mood of a sunset but also to present it in a way that brings something different to the viewing experience. Sunsets can be very cliché and can too easily appear "snapshot"(ish). To avoid this and bring some interest to my sunset images, I start off applying the guidelines of good composition and modify using my experience to deliver my artistic vision of the scene.
This week's image is a good example to illustrate what I mean. Sunsets over Lake Huron and on the Bruce Peninsula are spectacular. It's one reason (of many) Lynn and I chose our cottage location. We see stunning sunset after sunset here. Our drive up after work on Thursday for the Easter long weekend had us north of Wiarton as sun was setting. I pointed out the colour through the trees to Lynn as we drove along Hwy 6. When we reached Ferndale Flats, the sky was aglow in fantastic fuchsia pink but it was just another spectacular sunset until ...
... until I saw the reflections. The farm fields of the flats were flooded with spring meltwaters and still in the calm evening air. Their mirrored surface reflecting the colours of the sky flashed as we flew by. Then as we passed one field in particular I noticed a gate that would provide a nice foreground element for an image and that was my signal to stop.
I approached the gate and surveyed the scene preparing to make some images. In my mind, composition guidelines; rule of thirds, leading lines, diagonals, "S" curves, foreground, mid-ground, background, depth of focus ...
... the fence, open gate, horizon, pink splash in the sky and reflection, edges of the water.
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| fuchsia fields |
It all came together to create more than just another sunset image. How many composition guidelines do you think I used ... or broke?
DJE
The Fences of Scotsdale
A return trip to Scotsdale Farm during some recent severe weather provided great opportunities for images.
This time I dragged Alan, another photographer, along to hike some of the trails and fields. The wind was gusting like I haven't seen in years. It sounded like thunder as it ripped through the barren forest trees whipping them around, bending them to the point of breaking branches on many and trunks for some . We needed to lean into the wind as we made our way off the Bruce Trail, across an open field. In the middle of the field I turned to look back and saw this scene. I stopped to make several compositions, some capturing the fences, some the blowing dormant field grass.
Near the end of the outing, I was called away to deal other matters and I just dropped the camera at home, forgetting leaving the images on the card. Several days later I formatted the card thinking they had been downloaded to my Lightroom library. When I eventually went looking for them to evaluate what I had captured I was surprised not to find them. My usual routine of removing the memory card, importing the images and reformatting the card for next use had given way to urgent personal matters. I learned a bit of an important lesson hear.
Thanks to a bit of recovery software I was able to retrieve all but a couple of files from the formatted card. There are a few keepers in the bunch.
DJE
tree & broken fence
On the hottest day of the year so far, the sun was intense and blazing down on the landscape as I made my way across the flat farmland of Southwestern Ontario. The day started with an absolutely clear sky, but clouds had formed and would provide some interest for the background in a scenic image.
A lone bare tree standing in a field caught my eye and I made a number of infrared (IR) exposures before noticing a broken section of fence to use as a foreground element. Knowing the bare tree and fence boards would render as dark, almost black in IR to contrast against the white grass and clouds, I moved to find a suitable composition including the fence and creating some depth to the image.
While setting up, I noticed the shadows from the clouds sweeping over the field and waited for a moment when their shadows were approaching the tree and sunlit fields were visible on the horizon.
DJE
across spring fields
I was out for a drive this weekend in search of something ... a sign that winter is gone? ... a break from the stress o the day-job? ... a distraction? ... something.
The morning was overcast and sun had risen behind a curtain of thick grey cloud. Lighting was flat and dull, the wind carried a bitter chill. The morning was not looking promising, but eventually the clouds started to break up and we stopped beside the road to see if a patch of sunlight would reach the adjacent field or the distant farm. No such dramatic light for me to capture on this day, but a subtle, diffused glow began to warm the corn stalk stubble of this spring field.
Against the cold grey sky, the contour of the fields were mirrored in the clouds.
... from "The Horizontal Element" collection.
DJE
