Solitary Photography

A friend of mine told me that he feels most photographers are solitary people, who like to carry out their craft alone. I think there may be some truth to that in certain cases, and I do like to go out at times by myself and do my photography by myself. But there are times I really like to go with a group of like minded photographers. We may each have our own vision of a scene in mind, and that is good. We don't want our photographs to look like someone else's photographs, and that actually rarely happens. Its amazing how 10 people all taking the same shot will get their own representation of an image, different from the rest. Once or twice a year I go with several other photographers on day trips or even for a week at a time. We can learn from one another, not just the technical stuff, but the artistic side of photography, which is my favorite topic of discussion. Too many focus on the technical issues associated with photography, rather than the artistic side of it. One can focus all he wants on the type of camera, how many pixels, what speed of film, etc., but all that does not result in good art.  I believe that a person can make a good work of art whether its a painting or a photograph. Becoming a good photographer takes a long time, just like it takes a painter a long time to develop his or her craft. It isn't the camera that makes good photography, just like it isn't the brush that a painter uses that makes him or her a good painter. Getting back to the solitary side of photography, I do feel that this solitary side of  an artist does contribute more to development as an artist, because what we portray in the image is a statement of who we are, which can only come from within.

What the Camera Sees

When we take a photograph with a digital camera (as in this case), does the camera reproduce what we see, or what is actually in the scene? One element of photography that is always of concern is the dynamic range of the camera, and the scene we are photographing. The eye can see an equivalent of about 24 "stops", while the camera can see only 14 to 16 "stops". So the camera does not reproduce the actual scene as it is, in most cases. If the scene does have a very narrow dynamic range then the camera does come closer to doing that. Because the eye is so much more capable of seeing such a wide dynamic range, we can become disappointed when we see the final outcome of a photograph that we have taken. I used to believe that I needed to have a "better camera" because my pictures were so awful. Not only did I not understand the aspect of dynamic range, I also did not know how to actually expose a picture properly, and I always chose the "auto" mode, believing that the camera would know how to expose the shot properly. In some cases a good exposure can result, especially with today's modern cameras, but in situations of high contrast, it is very unlikely that the camera will know how to expose the scene properly. Dynamic range and proper exposure are just a few aspects of this topic.

Twisted Root

This image just fell into my lap. It had almost perfect composition. The central focus, of course is the twisted root, and it is nicely balanced by the green shrub just below it, to the left. The root forms a diagonal line from the top left corner, across the center of the image. There is also a balancing element at the lower right hand corner which is the lower edge of the red sandstone, and the grassy shrub to the right keeps the eye focussed in the middle of the scene. The eye shifts between the green shrub on the lower left and the grassy shrub to the right. The red - green color opposites create a nice color vibration. I find that I am creating less color saturated images than I used to. I toned down the reddish and yellowish colors somewhat. This was shot with my Nikon D700, and the original scene was quite well reproduced.

Needles District: Canyonlands Red-Green Color Contrasts

This was taken during late afternoon when the sun was still high in the sky. Its a good example of shooting in the shade to obtain the optimum color saturation. I'm always amazed how much color is available under these conditions. Had I taken the shot in bright sunlight, the colors would have been washed out. The sun was also behind the large rock to the right, and this can result in a halo effect on the edge of the rock. It takes a little tweaking to eliminate that halo. I love the color contrast, with the greens playing against the warm reds. Its a classic example of opposite colors on the color wheel. The green - red opposites on the secondary color wheel, vibrate against one another. Another example would be orange and blue. I look for these contrasts in nature, and they help to define the image as much as lines and space.

Another Sunrise Navajo Mountain

Navajo Mountain is in the distance as the sun rises at about 6 am. The weather had improved, so we did not have to suffer from the freezing temperatures this day. Motivation to get up at 5 am to go and shoot a sunrise when the weather is bad usually is lacking. This was the case on our first sunrise shoot at Horseshoe Bend a few days earlier. As we drove up to the trail to hike down, it was snowing, and the wind was blowing. No sane person would think of going on a hike in these kind of conditions. But bad weather can result in some beautiful photographs. The light may be fleeting, but all it takes is 5 minutes of sunlight to get a good shot. Usually that means that the rest of the morning may be a fruitless wait for better conditions, but at least you have a few good shots.

Balancing Act

I am always amazed by the natural features that can be found in a place like Arizona. How long will these formations last? The fact is that there is constant erosion taking place in these areas, with the result that the land and topography will eventually be altered, sometimes quite rapidly. Here the erosion taking place is mostly due to the wind, and sand being blown by the wind upon these land features. Flash floods can also be a factor, but in this location I think that the wind is the major influence. These hoodoos are situated on a high mesa like feature, and I remember that it was quite windy here at the time when we were shooting, not to mention very cold. It was difficult to get a decent shot here, since there were at least twenty people with cameras and tripods present. Sometimes other photographers get in your shot, as was the case here.  Actually, one was in the left hand corner of the frame, but all I had to do was crop the shot, which I normally do anyhow, from the standard 35 mm frame to a 4x5 format frame, which I really like.

Sunrise Overlooking Page: Navajo Mountain

In the far background, to the north east of Page is Navajo mountain. Navajo mountain is sacred to the Navajo peoples. It is the predominant landmark in the region, and is located just north of the Arizona border. The mountain "represents the head of the sacred female and pollen figure of Navajoland, of which Black Mountain is the body, and Balukai Mesa the lower extremities."  At one time "the Navajo were afraid to go above the lower elevations of the mountain, and had great fear of the underground rumblings that used to be reported on the western slopes. In ceremonial parlance the whole system (of geographical features) is called Tádídiíín Dzil  (pollen Mountain)."

Sunset Boulder's Area Page

Here is a classic image of near - far composition. The object of interest is place in the foreground, while at the same time having the far background as a complementary part of the scene. The eye travels back and forth between the flowers in the foreground and between the gully in the distance. In this case I centered the flower bush in the image so that the viewer's eye does not travel from left to right. The light from the setting sun casts a warm glow over the ground, while the shadows have a cooler cast over them. This is my favorite lighting condition. The sky was slightly over cast, filtering the light somewhat, as opposed to the previous image where direct sunlight painted the landforms with an orange glow. I shot this with a fairly wide open aperture, f2.8, but still retained a good degree of the far distance in focus.

Sunset near Water Holes Canyon, Arizona

This is a very interesting area near Page, Arizona. The uplifted strata create beautiful formations that reflect the setting sun with warm glowing colors. This area is near a slot canyon called Water Holes Canyon. Not far from the highway, many of these uplifts are evident here. This is what is so unique about Arizona, the variety of rock and sandstone formations all within driving distance of Page. This kind of light does not last very long, maybe 20 minutes max. I would have liked to have photographed this area in the morning at sunrise, but it did not fit into our schedule. I'm sure that the light would have been quite different. The light at sunrise usually is a bit cooler than at sunset.

Watcher

This image is one of my favorites from Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona. It is one of those images that has an ambiguous appearance. Which is the foreground, the lighter colored rock or the darker shape to the right? It seems as if a face is watching from the right hand side of the frame. The warm colors of the background sandstone counterbalances the darker shape nicely. I think it is a well balanced composition. The center of focus is in the center of the image. There is a repetition of shape, line, and color. One can see why the Navajo people have a spiritual relationship with the canyon.

Symmetry

My old art teacher used to preach at us to use repetition of line, form, and color, in order to achieve symmetry in our paintings. I still look for these attributes in potential images. Here we see just that. We see the repetition of line form in the parallel tree trunks and branches. We see at least three sets of parallel line shapes. Sometimes shapes and forms like these end up in my images without having consciously looked for them. Another wise peace of advice is to "keep it simple", or "less is more". The above image meets those requirements, and as a result it becomes an appealing image.

Sedona

This is an image that I always liked, mostly because of the dramatically shaped tree. Still, there was something missing that I could not pin down at first. This was taken in 35 mm format, and as a result the image proportions were in that format: about 7 x 11.5, quite rectangular. So I cropped the image into a 4x5 format, the same proportions as seen in 4 x 5 large format. This makes the image feel much better. The cropping removed some extraneous stuff on the right hand side. It almost looks square, which is another format that I will be exploring. A photographer named Steve Strom, whose work I really like, shoots in the square format. My Hasselblad shoots in this format, but in film. Since I recently purchased my Hasselblad, I will be shooting with it in the near future.

Overlooking the Canyon

Another shot taken at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This spot was near Mather Point, not far from the visitor center. After observing the sunrise, I walked down the path along the rim, and came upon some very nice views. The walking path is asphalt, and easy to walk on. I thought that the good light had faded, but it was still early, and the light was still good. No direct sunlight. Using my M9 rangefinder camera, I can shoot quite often without a tripod. Since a rangefinder camera has no mirror to flip up, there is no vibration when the shutter is tripped. With the Leica, you only need to slowly press the shutter, and it clicks very softly. I can shoot at shutter speed of 1/15 to 1/30 of a second, hand held, while with a DSLR, one needs to usually incorporate a tripod at such slow shutter speeds. The Leica is also a very small camera, compared to my Nikon. It can fit in my pocket very easily, and it doesn't really look like a serious camera. This is a nice feature, since a bigger camera will draw people's attention to you, if you are doing street  photography, for example. The Leica can be unobtrusive, and it looks like a point and shoot to many people. It really is a great camera.

Sunrise at the South Rim

The morning air was very cold at the Grand Canyon when we arrived to photograph sunrise. Many tourists were already set up to witness the sun rising in the east. The temperature was just above freezing. Snow had fallen the previous week on the Colorado plateau, and the last remnants of the snow had almost disappeared. The Grand Canyon is truly one of the great wonders in America. No photo or painting can do it justice.