Photo of the Week 2022-08-22

' Cathedral from Church Lane Bridge '

Scotland Day 11 - We decided to visit Glasgow Cathedral on a day where the weather forecast was favourable before rejoining our tour group the following day.

 

The weather was warm, very warm in fact, and sunny. Great weather for Scotland and maybe a little too good. The trees and flowers decided contribute to a pollen storm and fire up my allergies to get my eyes watering and nose running. Between blows and wipes, I managed to grab some shots in and around the cathedral and adjacent necropolis.

 

We arrived here just before the cathedral was closing for the lunch hour so we decided to explore the exterior and walk over to the necropolis. This image was made on our way back after I had explored various vantage points looking back at the cathedral from the east side of Wishart St. I was looking for something unique, using a foreground element to enhance the composition. I found several location and I liked this one very much.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-02-18

One evening a short while ago, the sky filled with the colours of a sensational Huron sunset ...

... but was it enough to make a compelling image?

Struggling recently, I've been questioning what was missing from some of my images. Feeling that I'd fallen into a rut, lost my 'photo mojo' so to speak, I began looking at images from other photographers doing similar work. Analyzing what it was about theirs that moved me, what caught my attention and ultimately was missing in my own, I set out to get some 'mojo' back.

In particular, while scouting photo opportunities in advance of a trip to Florida, I encountered images of Doug Blunt (click link to see Doug's galleries), a photographer shooting on Anna Maria Island where we would be staying. What struck me about his landscape work was his inclusion of interesting foreground, a fundamental in composition for landscape images perhaps, but very well executed by Doug in my opinion (see any of the images in his gallery showing the beach at Anna Maria Island for examples).

I realized that this fundamental of including something of foreground interest was often missing from my recent captures, making them plain, lacking interest and without depth. Was my enthusiasm for creating images waning? Had I begun to simply 'go through the motions' more often? Was I getting lazy and shooting from the easy position? I think to some degree, yes on all counts.

With renewed commitment to better my efforts and improve my craft, for this week's image I slowed my pace, scrutinized the scene, moved to evaluate different points of view, lay down on my stomach in the snow, and purposefully included the highlights of the windswept shore ice such that they mimic the colours painted in the Huron sky.

Always learning, relearning, discovering and rediscovering ...

DJE