Choice or freedom of choice is just an existential concern. But for photographers, it's a lifetime's preoccupation.
Marc Riboud
This week I managed to get out with my camera a little more and relished the opportunity for some personal creativity. I had a workshop free day on Wednesday so headed out to Woodbridge for sunrise, my choice of destination was based on the location of one small boat (more about that later). I also went out one evening to explore the heath and take in a sunset - although I didn’t study the forecast closely enough and missed the most colourful sunset of the week by one day!
Photography is all about choices - when to go out, what location to visit, what to point our camera at when we get there and what settings to use. Sometimes we make inspired choices and we end up with stunning images, other times our choices are less good and as a result our images don’t live up to our expectations. But if we slip up (because we choose the wrong day to go out or the wrong location for the weather conditions) it doesn’t mean we have to settle for poor results.
One of the most important things I have learned, in life as well as in photography, is to make the best of a bad choice. To get good results it’s important to learn to adapt and make the most of any situation.
I think photography is about enjoying the moment just as much as it is about getting good images, and it this enjoyment and connection that is the catalyst for good image making. If you live in the moment, react to what is happening and be open to the possibilities that present themselves then you will have a much better chance of getting good images. There is nothing wrong with image planning as long as you adapt if your plans don’t work out the way you had envisaged.
This is what happened on Wednesday with my sunrise shoot. I went with the intention of capturing a little wooden sailing boat in front of the Tidemill - I had seen it outside the day before and guessed it would still be there in the morning. I was hoping that I could get some sunrise colours over the Tidemill at high water with the boat moored outside. But conditions didn’t fall right for the image I had in mind, the clouds remained stubbornly to the left of my composition and as a result all the dawn colour remained outside of my frame (as you can see from the image at the start of this blog). In the end I gave up and ran down the river with my camera still on its tripod in order to grab a shot of the colours which had by now lit up the sky with a vibrant display of reds and oranges.
As with any other photography session my morning was all about choices. Should I stay in one place and see what happens to the light, should I move down river and shoot towards the rising sun, what composition should I select, should I zoom in or show the whole scene? Depending upon the choices we make we can alter the reality that surrounds us.
This image is a version of the first one above, except this time I zoomed in and cut out the blue sky. Instead of shooting the whole scene I have focused my view and in doing so altered my reality. Personally I prefer the first image, but I would be interested to know what you all think.
The photographic choices I had that morning were numerous and the time in which I had to make them was small. I came away with the three images I have show you in this blog all depicting a version of reality, but all very different.
We are faced with these choices every time we go out to shoot and it is our response and reaction to what is unfolding in front of us that makes landscape photography exciting.
But our decision making doesn’t stop when we press the shutter button. Our choices in post processing are just as important as those in the field.
This week I have spend a lot of my time on the heaths, running a workshop, doing some photography for the AONB and taking some pictures for myself. The weather this year has been much kinder to the landscape and the plants and flowers are looking lovely at the moment. If you would like to get out and photograph the heathlands this August I have produced a little guide to help you get started which includes some post processing advice and techniques and choices for heathland photography. You can download the guide for free here.
Whilst I captured some landscape heathland images this week, it has been my floral images that have captured my imagination and I will leave you with a couple below. The first shot is a straight view from the camera with some adjustments in post processing. The second shot is a composite image created from two photos that I took on the heath and I discuss how I did this in my free download.
How we represent the world around us in our photography comes down to choice. There is no right way or wrong way just different choices and the key is to recognise this. Being open to choice, capitalising on the good choices and making the most of the bad ones, is one of the most important ways we can grow as photographers.
Thank you all for reading and have a good week out with your cameras.
Hi Gill, I love the near symmetry of the first sunrise image - both side to side and top to bottom - but on balance I think I prefer the second one. It's the mirror flat water with the 3 buoys leading the eye towards the mill that really stands out. I can imagine how lovely it would be to just be there - definitely worth getting out of bed at silly o'clock!!
Great photos Gill hope alls well, have you been to see nightjars this year?