Tag: landscape

The Surprises in the Camera

Do we always know what we’re going to get when we press the shutter or are we sometimes in for a pleasant surprise?

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.  No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”  Robert Frost

In my workshops I talk about feeling a place before you photograph it.  In fact we do an exercise.  When we arrive at the location I ask the participants to leave their cameras in the car for at least fifteen minutes and just quietly wander around the area until it speaks to them.  Only then can they get their cameras and try to capture what they are feeling.

This is a wonderful way of slowing down and getting in touch with the essence of a place.

But I must confess it doesn’t always work that way for me.

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Dewitt Jones Said It All

I was reading an article by Dewitt Jones in the latest Outdoor Photographer last night.  I always enjoy reading him; he is so positive and full of enthusiasm.  The title of the article was Don’t Prove…Improve!  He was recounting his experience when he got hired on as a National Geographic Photographer.  Dewitt was a little intimidated.  His new boss, Bob Gilka, gave him some advice that applies to us all.  He told Dewitt, “You don’t have to prove yourself, not to me or to the other photographers.  What I do demand that you do is improve yourself.  Every day….”

Dewitt goes on to write,

“[Gilka] understood that when we shoot from our own unique vision, there’s no reason to ‘prove’ ourselves…. There’s only one person on the planet who can do what we do, see as we see.

“Improve ourself?  That’s a different story.  There’s so much for all of us to learn to make our vision clearer, stronger, sharper.  And Gilka knew that the fastest way to learn is to trust and share rather than compete.”

Yep, I always enjoy reading Dewitt’s comments.  He is so positive.  And right on.

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Wandering in the Fog

I worked on two photographs tonight that have been giving me trouble for the last week or so.  Both were shot in Zion NP.  The one I’ve been working the longest on was what I finished up on tonight.  Hopefully I have it.  We’ll know tomorrow morning.

My point in this post is I often get the feeling I’m wandering in the fog.  You can’t see where you’re going very well and you just stumble around.  You take a step, look around and decide where to go from there.  It’s a slow process.  I make a print.  It takes several minutes for it to come off the printer.  Then I look at it.  Often times it’s very disappointing, especially tonight.  Think about what’s wrong with it for a while, make the changes in PS and make another print.  It’s disappointing so think some more, fiddle in PS some more and make another print.  Hours go by.

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