It's The Simple Things That Count - Look For Those Subtle Small Compositional Elements To Add Punch to Your Nature Photos

 Instinctively, I understood the photographic moment presented itself. Through my peripheral vision I was able to absorb the full spectrum of the scene, but interrupting what my minds eye saw into a workable photograph required a more refined interpretation. 

Using a wide angle lens, I framed the moment all the while looking for that single subtle element that set the scene apart. Then I recognized it; a single, distant tree standing in the morning haze. It was so subtle, one could easily overlook it, but including it within the content of the composition, bottom right corner, defined this Tallgrass prairie dawn.

Seeing those subtle compositional elements that help to define your images can often be overwhelmed by the big things within the scene. It's relatively easy to see those big important elements. It's hard to overlook the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, or the magnificent nature of a rugged coastline, or one of those amazing prairie mornings. But identifying those small things that set the scene apart from the very bigness of the moment, well, that can often be lost without even noticing it.

Take for instance this recently taken fall photo. The colors were amazing, the scene retained its natural flavor, the angle of the light fit the moment, but what sets this image apart from most of the others taken that same day is one subtle, very small thing. Along the center left edge you see the old fence row nestled under the overhanging limbs and between the tree trunks. You may have to click on the image to see a larger version in order to see it, but it's there and it adds to the rustic flavor of this wonder location. It's such a subtle thing easily overwhelmed by the bigness from the rest of the composition, but it is there for a reason.

Another example of how small subtle things add to the impact of an image is this one of a sunrise behind an old barn. Can you see it? It's the small thinly veiled clumps of grass that arch near the base of the old barn door. In this image, they indeed are an intrical part of the image for without them, the image becomes rather ordinary...almost too simple really. This slight arches of grass near the bottom adds depth, provides a clear impact of the rural nature of the scene, and gives the viewer a sense of place, the kind of place we've all seen before, but most of the time look past.

Being able to look past the big things and search for those important yet subtle small elements is something a good nature photographer instinctively recognizes. It comes with practice, it is refined by performing a self analysis of your own images and attempting to remember what your eye saw at the moment.

Those elements can be part of the background or part of the foreground. They can be very small an stand alone or help to define or accent the larger parts of the image.

 

The Storm

 Growing up in Oklahoma I learned to appreciate the power, danger, and beauty of storms. That area is also known as a volatile part of Tornado Alley for the state has the dubious honor of producing more tornadoes, and some of the largest, per square mile than any place in the world. I've lived in Kentucky now for over 20 years and Kentucky, although not known for its tornadic outbreaks, does produce its fair share, and is no stranger to storms that roll in across the state. One day in June 2024, I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture a truly unique and beautiful encounter with a popup storm that rolled across a wheat field.

Sometimes lick and instinct has a roll in photography. As I drove along old highway 240, I came to place where I could go straight or left or right. I chose left for no other reason than I knew of a location a few miles down the road where a wheat field fills the rolling terrain. I also noticed some dark clouds off in that direction and thought just maybe a popup storm might present itself.

I guessed right. and within a few minutes I rolled over a shallow hill and around a bend to see this storm cloud forming just on the other side of the wheat field...and it was rapidly approaching. I hastily ran around setting up a few quick shots and managed to capture several I felt were going to look rather nice. Eventually, the storm overtook me and dropped a deluge of rain whipped about by strong winds.

As I suspected, several of the images turned out rather nicely, but this one seemed to stand out from the others. The color version was pretty good and retained its own flavor, but some images just ask to be converted to black and white. Being heavily influenced by Ansel Adams and still working on my Ansel Adams project, that is exactly what I did, and...well, the rest is history.

There is a random strength to this image only nature could manufacture. The structure of the clouds, the curved appearance of the rain curtain, the distant wheat field, the scattering of wild flowers across the foreground along with the weathered appearance of the fence post and gate, all serve to make this a most enjoyable image. I've selected it as one of my top 10 images of 2024.

Yeah, sometimes luck and instinct has a roll in the capture of a photograph, but, just being there to witness nature in her most raw form as it happens...well, all the rest just seems rather ordinary.

Operation Black Mountain - A Revelation

 For five days, October 28 thru November 1, 2024, a team of eleven people from Lakeview Free Will Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky traveled to western North Carolina to provide and offer assistance to anyone in need who suffered a loss due to Hurricane Helene. This hurricane devastated the communities of Black Mountain and Swannanoa, and many other locations, with flood waters of a biblical nature. Many lost their lives. Many more lost everything; their homes, their jobs, their security. 

Operation Black Mountain became a symbolic gesture of goodwill as the team reached out to several families in the area providing physical labor hopefully to soften the impact of their situation. We learned a great deal during those small but important efforts. Things like grace, courage, hope, encouragement, thankfulness, gratitude, were common virtues exhibited during this token, but important effort of giving of one's time and energy.

One of the locations we served was the Swannanoa Free Will Baptist Church spending half a day there helping another team rip the ruined flooring from the 100 year old building. While there, I took a moment to review the basement area of the church. One room caught my eye for hanging in the window was an American flag. Tattered, stained with a high water mark, it hung in the window as a proud symbol of this communities resolve to recover. Using my cell phone, I snapped its portrait. It is perhaps the single most powerful image from the trip.

Backlit by a bright background, it seemed to glow in the darkness and gloom. In a way, it spoke very loudly, but with a subtle voice, saying, "I'm still here, I'm still strong." Indeed she was and so were the people we grew to know during that short time.

There are many people within in our country who are upset by the recent election results. They have their reasons and I'll leave it at that, for now. I once read a book written by Peter Jenkins...two books actually. The first one was called 'A Walk Across America'. The second one was 'The Walk West.'

Back in the early 1970's, Peter was a disillusioned and disgruntled young college aged man who had grown angry with his country. Too many injustices, the Vietnam War, among other issues created a terrible although misguided view of what his country was and had become. In a way he didn't know what his country stood for. Someone convinced him to get out and see the country. Not just drive through it, but to walk across it and rediscover the heartland values of what we as a nation stood for. He and his dog did just that. It took him several years, but he made it and in the process discovered so much about the people of America. 

He discovered that in spite of her many faults, America's heartland is strong and vibrant filled with good, God fearing people, who work hard and care for their families. He got to know so many of them and they grew to love him, and he them. Doing so changed his life. Doing so changed his understanding of what America is all about.

Operation Black Mountain, in a smaller way, proved the worth of selflessly doing for others, with what you can give, even if it is simply a small gesture of kindness. Finding that American Flag defiantly hanging in the basement window after a devastating flood, well, I think maybe the Good Lord wanted me to discover that symbolic moment. It spoke to me.

Yes, in spite of her faults, America is still a place of opportunity and resolve. We may seem deeply divided to many from around the world, and maybe we are in some ways. But, when you take time to look more closely, to selflessly give to or encourage others, to see the good that thrives across this land, well...the chasm of divisions may not seem so wide.