It was a bright sunny day, not the best kind of day usually to photograph within a heavily wooded area. The bright sun poked its rays well into the ravine creating a great deal of bright hot spots and dark contrasty shadows. At first I simply surveyed my surroundings and grimaced at what was there and started to reluctantly take photographs at what at first seemed to be rather nice looking compositions. Upon closer examination I realized what I was capturing fell well short of what my eyes were seeing. After several more unsuccessful attempts, I stopped and simply stood motionless, just staring at what was in front of me trying to figure how to visually make sense of what was there. Nothing seemed to work photograpically, then, I remembered an old photographer's trick...when it's not working, turn around... And so I did.
To my amazement what I saw set my photographic juices to flowing as the mid-day sun applied a brilliance of light to the leaves whose incandescence filtered deeper into the ravine to cast a glow across the horseshoe shaped amphitheater. I have often said that a photographer sees with his heart, and my heart was moved when I saw how the ravine was alight with an almost unnatural luminosity. It was amazing light, like none I had ever witnessed before and I instantly understood how here in front of me the natural world was to reveal the best of what I had hoped for. Photographing it proved a challenge because of the heavy contrasts, but I knew the results were going to be exciting. I found this revelation to be fitting because I was there following up on an Ansel Adams Style project where I wanted to capture nature in the same kind of style Ansel Adams might have used.
He once wrote about how the light he encountered in the high Sierra's set him on the path to becoming a photographer. His life changing words were filled with inspiration and insight and revealed a deeper understanding of what his purpose was to become. The light I encountered on this day had a similar effect, maybe not so dramatic as what he became, but the powerful, revealed light within that ravine spoke to me using natural, visual words of insight.
Sometimes photographic moments do have simple solutions. We just need to remind ourselves about the simplicity of doing something like turning around and looking in the other direction. Whether shooting a sunset, a rain squall, or from inside a shaded ravine, looking the other direction often reveals something new and unique.
Too often I find myself locked into a single way of thinking about the results I expect from a photo shoot. In reality, it is only when I let go of preconceived notions does the real opportunity reveal itself. Turning around and looking the other way sounds so obvious, I am amazed at how often I fail to apply such a simple solution to the bigger problem. Light is, as always, what I want to capture, not objects, and by first looking for the light, the purpose of the objects suddenly come to life.
I used a polarizer filter to reduce the glare, and held a graduated neutral density filter to the front of the lens to help balance the brighter upper portion with the darker shadowed areas. After several shots, I knew I had captured a remarkable moment of light and could not wait to download the results. I turned around again and carefully made my way out of the ravine.
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