ESTABLISHED 2010 - Beyond The Campfire was created to encourage readers to explore the great outdoors and to observe it close up. Get out and take a hike, go fishing or canoeing, or simply stretch out on a blanket under a summer sky...and take your camera along. We'll talk about combining outdoor activities with photography. We'll look at everything from improving your understanding of the basics of photography to more advanced techniques including things like how to see photographically and capturing the light. We'll explore the night sky, location shoots, using off camera speedlights along with nature and landscape. Grab your camera...strap on your hiking boots...and join me. I think you will enjoy the adventure.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Bonus Moment

I took a hike this morning...along a ridge and through ice storm debris...to the top of a waterfall...because I had never been there before, at least not up that high and just wanted to see what the photo potential was from up there.  Turned out to be rather interesting and hopefully, on one of those later winter early spring foggy mornings, before all the foliage obscures everything, I can return to those heights and catch the shot I really wanted to catch.

Today's photo shoot was highlighted not so much by the attempted top of the falls shots, but by the bonus shots that presented themselves before I even headed down the trail.  Just one of those moments where timing was everything, and had I arrived even just a few minutes before or a few minutes later than I did...I would not have seen what was developing.  When I arrived, the sun was still fifteen or so minutes from official sunrise...the cold air had prevented the previous days snow from melting...and the overcast was at that moment beginning to break apart. I love it when overcast breaks apart especially early or late in the day as that transitional moment offers some of the finest examples of classic photographers light.

When I arrive and started to gather my gear...all I had on my mind was the hike to the top of the falls and exactly how I might accomplish that as I had not done so previously.  All my previous shots were from the base.  I noticed a slight pinkish glow in the clouds that hovered over the lake...there was no wind...so the glow began to reflect off the surface...I was intrigued, so I walked a few yards to a better vantage point just to see what it looked like.  By the time I had stopped...it was clear that the morning light was rapidly evolving into what could be a special moment.

I grabbed the tripod and swapped the lens to a wide angle...setup and waited watching the dim glow in the sky as it progressed.  Within a few minutes, that dim glow became much brighter and filled the area with a lavender hue.  I fired off a number of shots...and then the show subsided as the sun rose a bit higher and the clouds thickened and softened the light.

It was a bonus moment for sure...wasn't planned...but instinct told me that something was about to happen and I adapted my morning to fit the circumstance...and oh yeah...I did make it to the top of the waterfall and captured some pretty good planned shots too...its just that the bonus shots added a unique flavor to the morning...I won't include those shot just yet as they will be used in a video presentation coming up in June...can't give away what might spoil the moment...but I've include a few other bonus shots...just to have something for you to see...

Keith

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Creating Photographs From the Heart

A number of years had passed since I last watched that movie, but recently I sat through another viewing and remembered it being as entertaining and revealing as the first time.  Some of you may have seen it...Mr. Holland's Opus...a story about a musician who temporarily falls back on his teaching degree until he can start composing his great American Symphony full time.  He ends up teaching for 30 years and during that time is transformed and changes the lives of hundreds of students.  One of those students was a young lady who struggled  with learning how to play the clarinet...hard as she tried...she just could not grasp what it took to master that instrument.  Then one day Mr. Holland asked her what she liked best about herself when she looked into a mirror...her answer was her bright red hair as it reminded her dad of the sunset.  Mr. Holland then told her to play the sunset...and removed the sheet music that had become the crutch that held her back.  Within moments, her playing was transformed into something that can only come from the heart.

Too often I fail to capture the photographs I feel in my heart...probably because I too rely too much on crutches that actually hold me back more than help.  Oddly enough, I discovered almost by accident what makes a great photo...and it's probably not what you might think.  The crutches we use result from too much worrying about the mechanics of the camera and not thinking enough about why we are there...what are we looking for...what is that inside of us that we know is there...but struggle to give it meaning...to give it a voice.

You see, photography is so much like music, that we too often fail to recognize it.  Photograph the music in your heart...might be somewhat of an unorthodox way of approaching the craft...but thinking in those terms just might be the catalyst that propels your photography to a new level.  Light is the mood generating notes of photography...but music becomes the melody of that light...and all photographic moments carry with it a silent musical score that photographers can feel from within.

Each photographic moment carries with it a different melody...unique in strength and power.  You know it when you see it...because you don't really see it visually...you experience it internally.  A photographic moment that sings or fills the air with symphonic crescendo's...will  in due course generate a photograph that carries a sense of orchestration...that is where the mood and atmosphere comes from.

Photography, if you stop and think about it, does closely parallel the mood generating effects of a great musical score.  Tapping into that power and searching for light that is filled with a great performance...well...you'll know it when it happens...you just have to give that silent music from within a visual voice.

Keith