What I like About This Shot....

Over the next few weeks, from time to time, I am going to share some ideas about certain pictures I've managed to take and why I like them. Every picture I have ever kept I kept for a reason. Usually there was something unique about it, or circumstances surrounding them were unique. I am all the time trying to explain a picture to someone who may or may not have much reason to care or want to know such details. Guess it is sort of like a car buff who just can't stop talking tech about his hot rod.

Here is a photo I took a few years ago of a farming friend of mine. Always thought he carried himself well,

distinguished, yet down to earth, humble, yet proud of his contributions to...well...the rest of us. We timed the shoot perfectly as the day was covered with low hanging, dark, clouds with lots of texture. I asked him to drive his tractor out to the field so we could use it as a prop. You know, a tractor, the kind I think of anyway is something you can park inside a typical garage. As it turned out he wheeled out this piece of machinery that was the size of my first house...and that was just his mid-sized tractor.

Even so, it added so much to the story, without it, the image would have just been of someone standing in a field. The dark clouds full of texture really added a great deal of drama. The image would not have been the same without those clouds. At the time I only had one speedlight, and it by itself was not going to do the job, so I brought the big gun studio lights with a small softbox attached. I used two lights both powered by a homemade power supply consisting of a lawnmower battery and a power converter. Worked like a charm.

My approach was to take one of those larger than life images. My friend is rather tall at about 6' 4" or so, so I wanted to take advantage of his height. I framed him with the tractor in background with its lights on, against that dark ominous sky. Farmers and weather tend to have this love hate relationship...the weather sometimes makes their life difficult, and sometimes it provides an ideal situation that produces bumper crops. When its good, they love it...when its bad...well, I can only imagine the difficulties they must endure.

Anyway...as far as why I like this picture...simply stated, it captures the symbolic nature of farmer vs weather and how both of them must work together to grow the crops we as a nation depend on. He, standing firm and resolute, maybe even a bit defiant. The weather doing what it always does, friend or foe. The way the clouds appear to be racing across the sky...indeed they were...portrays the volatile nature of the farmer/weather relationship. The overall look of the image, being dark and moody, reflects the struggle farmers must endure every season. Images like these are not always easy to construct...sometimes they just happen, and sometimes you just lucky. For this particular image, well, I knew what I wanted, I just got lucky how the weather cooperated with those desires.

A Morning of Fall Magic

I can believe in nothing more appealing than a morning of fall magic when the fading warmth of the sun arches lower across the sky to awaken a morning mist stirred by dormant breezes.

It is then one experiences a feeling of change in the air, a pleasant change whose stirrings unleash persuasive life connections.

I can find no other time comparable to the gentle emotions induced through the cleansing of the air and the crisp aroma of falling leaves. A morning of fall magic returns us to memories of better times, to remembrances of a youthful hope, and the sweet hypnotic embrace from the best of seasons.

Fall magic not only reminds me of these things, it reminds me of what is most important...the goodness of life.

Stretch Your Imagination - Visualize Your World in Unique Ways

I once heard it said that the main difference between your average shade tree mechanic and Big Daddy Don Garletts is that Big Daddy was not afraid to go against the established ways of doing things. He was constantly questioning why things were done a certain way. Then he would try something different just to see what the results would be. One of his most famous innovations was putting the race engine behind the driver when the trend was that engines were suppose to be in front. Oddly enough, his innovative techniques and constant trying of new things propelled him into drag racing legendary status.

Photographers can  learn a great deal from Big Daddy's approach. We tend to fall into the same ole traps doing the same ole things the same ole way. Often what we end up with is a collection of cliched works. They may be good photographs, but they look just like every other photographers photographs. To truly separate yourself from the trend, you must stretch your imagination by visualizing your world in unique ways.

A few years ago I was attempting to photograph a sundown in front of a friends former home. She and her family had recently moved away and wanted some photos to remember the view from her kitchen window. She had always loved watching the sun go down across the fields in front of their house. Several times I tried to capture that unique sunset, you know, one of those rosey fingered affairs with all the dramatic clouds and sun rays filling the sky. Well it just wasn't happening.

One day as I stood next to the wooden fence waiting for the sunset to materialize, it became apparent it just was not going to work...again. The potential was good with broken clouds but most of them were drifting behind me in the opposite direction of where I needed them. As the sun settled and my hopes of obtaining that legendary photo diminished, I had one of those incredible moment-altering ideas...I turned around...and looked the other direction. Sure enough those broken clouds were being illuminated by the setting sun, but their hue was rather ordinary...sort of soft and creamy instead of dramatic and bold. Then one of those what if Don Garlett ideas popped into my head...What if I pushed the white balance all the way out to 9000K instead of using the standard 5200k. So I tried it just to see what would happen. The results were, how can I say it...Wonderfully Alive.

Those ordinary looking clouds suddenly became vivid with bold color and cast a dramatic atmosphere across the landscape. What I saw in the camera was not what I was seeing visually, but it was what I was seeing emotionally. It was one of the best attempts to visualizing the world in a unique way...not just accepting what was there, but looking beyond the obvious and using the cameras ability to capture light in unique ways. Stretching your imagination is one of the best creative tools you can develop and use.

Make Your Subject Stand Out

The young lady sat on the edge of a low-water bridge, with her feet dangling over the edge, tossing a few stones into the creek. Catch lights were infiltrating through the long strands of her blond hair creating natural highlights photographers love to use. She wore a light pink thin sweater and a lacy skirt that covered off-white tights, all of which tended to blend with the pale surface of the bridge. Although the scene setup was perfect, the lighting was marginal and it required a bit of touchup to make it work. (click on each image to get a closer look)

Using a single speedlight to fill in the shadows on her face, the image was snapped and eventually loaded into Photoshop Elements. Out of the camera it wasn't bad, a bit dull requiring a tweak of brightness and exposure compensation to bring the lighting back to within more normal limits. Doing so helped, but it needed something else. My subject needed to be separated from the background to create a more pleasing composition and dramtic light arrangement.

Although there are numerous ways to accomplish this requirement, some in camera and some post processing, I'm going to describe a simple way to separate your subject just enough to make them stand out.

First thing to do is to go ahead and make all of your normal post processing exposure tweaks. Things like brightness, contrast, color correction, sharpening...you get the idea. Once all of those tweaks are done we begin the process to separate your subject. The primary tool we use is the Lasso tool. You will want to set the feathering setting to around 20 pixels, then gently and loosely draw an outline around your subject. You do not have to be real precise, but try to stay fairly close to the edges of your subject.

After completing the initial outline, you will need to click on the Select drop down and click on INVERSE. This will select everything outside the perimeter of the outline you just drew. Now click on Enhance, Lighting, then Levels and depending on the make up of your image you will need to slide the Middle Tone Slider to the right a few clicks. This will begin to darken the background. Do not overdo it, just darken it enough to allow your subject to stand out.

Once you have completed that step to your satisfaction, click on Select again and Inverse once more. This will return you to the original outline. You can if you need to, boost your subjects brightness just a few points, then move the Lasso cursor off the page and click to turn it off. Your image now takes on a deeper, richer, more dramatic look.  It's that easy.

A Transition of Seasons

Over the years I have spent a great deal of time exploring and photographing natures best offerings through every season. Unfortunately, there are times I allow moments to drift away becoming potential moments of discovery that are allowed to go undiscovered, lost for inexcusable reasons.

There is a campfire-like flame constantly glowing within me seeking to discover what is new photographically and in life. Circumstances and events will at times cause that flame to grown dim almost like the dying embers of a campfire as they cool in the wee hours of the morning. Even so, it is a spark that has never grown completely cold and only requires the gentle puff of encouragment and a fresh feeding of kindling from life to fan itself into a burning flame again.

Some of my finest photographic moments have played out after a rekindling of that flame. Maybe that is why I love it so much when a change is in the air as it seems to regenerate a yearning to get out again. The most enduring opportunities seem to always materialize during those transitional moments when the old tapers away to blend into the new. Life is also full of transitional seasons, seasons where change engulfs us, molds us, and offers to lift and carry us a bit farther down an uncertain road. Uncertainty, the catalyst driving so many decisions, yet somehow we manage. Photography in so many ways parallels life in negative and positive ways. Photography is not like life where mechanics and well established settings and techniques render good results. Photography is like life where constant adjustments to fit the ever changing situations that face us are required and applied. Unfortunantly, life does not have an AUTO setting which is probably a good thing, but it does have PRIORITY settings. Once we learn how to apply Priorities, well things tend to fall into place most of the time, at least until the next crisis arrives. But, having gone through it before tends to moderate the negative effects.

Even so, there are times I need to walk into a field near sundown to simply stand and absorb the sky, the breeze, the warmth of the sun, and most of all, the feeling of belonging as natures grandest canvas is painted in slow motion around me. Doing so tends to create a rejuvenated measure of anticipation and excitement. As I walk away from those moments I am compelled to wonder how often it is when everyday the veil of a changing daily seasons unfold, and we simply let it happen without ever noticing. Too often I would imagine.

Maybe too, that is why I so often point my camera in the direction of those approaching and ending seasons, to capture how the impact of their arrival and exit affects my vision of natures beauty and lifes challenges. New seasons arrive full of bluster and bravado. It is a change where at first it feels great, yet somehow as the last days of the previous one struggle to transition into the next, we're ready to move on tempered with anticipation for something new. The Good Lord understood exactly why we need to experience a change of daily and yearly seasons and he provided ample merging opportunities to add variety and enchantment to our lives.

I am encouraged even by the decline and death of a previous season for I know what follows is the renewal and birth of a new one. Photographing those transitional times through the year is like capturing random moments of a life with all its hopes and dreams intact, still to be fullfilled, still to find a path toward another new yet to be discovered revelation.

The One Day Adventure Shoot

Walter Mitty and I are closely related. You remember Walter. He's that cartoon character from many years
ago who in real life is rather timid and meek, but in his daydreams he is this swashbuckling adventuresome heroic character. Well, maybe we're not all that closely related, but I can certainly relate to the character.

Too often I tend to approach my photography with a timid approach, more like the real Walter Mitty style, and fail to live up to the adventuresome daydreaming character approach. I suppose there are moments when I've been a bit more aggressive chasing down a photographic moment to subdue it with a feeble attempt to be...should I say heroic? Most of us find it difficult to merge time and resources at the same moment to pursue those adventure outings. Sure I'd love to hike the Grand Canyon from Rim to Rim, or spend a week or two paddling the Boundary Waters area. I'd even settle to travel around to some of the other national parks and take snap shots. Problem is, when I have the time to do such things, I rarely have the resources, and when I do have the resources I inevitably do not have the time or even worse, those resources must be resourced toward something more urgent like paying the mortgage. Well, that is where the One Day Adventure idea comes into play. Most of us can find one single day every now and then to pursue an adventure.

The trick is to recognize where the opportunities lie near your home and then plan ahead to take advantage of the limited available time. I live in Kentucky and fortunately there are a lot of One Day Adventure opportunities nearby. Within an hour maybe two, I can drive to multiple locations and spend an entire day adventuring and photographing. I tend to do this quite a lot, sometimes more successfully than others.

There are extended times when I find myself locked in and unable to get out much. When the confinment continues on for an extended length of time I feel like I start to lose my identity and those old desires to be adventurous start to wither. What is bad is I often do not even realize how withered they have become until I happen to watch a program or read about another person's adventure. Sometimes jsut sitting on the porch in a rocking chair watching the summer rain will trigger some distant memory and I will once again begin to long to feel the wind and see the sky. That is when the old Walter Mitty in me begins to kick in.  Eventually, those daydreams stir me to action and I will rediscover who I am by getting out and about.

You know, ole Walter has been a good friend in a way. Without his influence I dare say my life would be rather mundane and dull. Those Walter Mitty-like daydreams can often become a reality even if just for a single day, and that sure beats sitting around listening to the pee frogs chirp.

Mid-Day Blues - Think Classic Black and White

Trying to create a great photograph in the middle of the day with a bright blue sky and lots of sun is often like trying to drink from a firehose, too much of a potentially good thing. This is especially true for color photographs. The harsh light and shadows creates strong contrasts that are just not condusive to asthetically pleasing photographs. Color images require moody light which most often occurs early and late in the day. But, all is not hopeless for shooting in the middle of the day...if you think in Black and White.

Black and white photography is all about contrast, shape, and form. A blue sky day with bright sun is the perfect setting for black and white. Throw in some of those white puffy summer clouds and you have an Ansel Adams formula for great artistic expression.

There are many times I will shoot scenics in the middle of the day and when I do I am almost always thinking in terms of Black and White. I have in my book collection several Ansel Adams books and I am regularly browsing through them. Not only are his photographs incredible works of art, they are great instructional resources as well. A high percentage of his photographs were taken in the middle of the day. Most of them include those dramtic cloud formations against a black or almost black sky. I often wondered how he achieved that black sky look. Of course he accomplished this by using filters and various kinds of films and print paper along with darkroom techniques that enhanced that look. However, I discovered how relatively easy it is to duplicate this look in the modern digital world.

When shooting those big sky scenics I almost always use a polarizer filter. By itself it will reduce glare and darken a blue sky. When converting the image to black and white ( I use Silver Effects ) that blue sky will become very dark and when adding a bit of red filter processing and toning the blue values down, the sky begins to look a lot like Ansel's creations.

Point is, do not dispair about having to shoot in the middle of a bright blue day. Begin to think in terms of black and white and you will discover that you can shoot all day long and achieve amazing results along the way.

Creating Extraordinary Visions Part 6 - Photographing People

Photographing people is probably one of the best ways to boost your overall photographic abilities. The main reason for this is because it teaches you as a photographer to use Light and Exposure in every way you can imagine.

Photographing people can be one of the most enjoyable and yet difficult forms of photography to get right. There are so many variations to it one can get lost in all of confusion. Yet because there are so many variations is one of the reason it is such a powerful teaching tool. When you first try to capture people it becomes quite obvious right away just how difficult it is because not only are you dealing with the mechanics of exposure and light, you are dealing with a personality and character. To capture them successfully there must be a blending of both in such a way as to create that special moment.

One concept that helps is called Dynamic Engagement (DE). Simply stated this is finding a balance between your subject's character, personality, mannerisms, available / artificial light, and environmental conditions. DE is not a built in function for most people. It is developed over time. It is where you learn to engage with your subject in such a way they feel relaxed and natural. By doing so the capture process takes care of itself.

Although posing your subject is a viable way to photograph them, doing it in such a way that it does not look posed is difficult. Allowing your subject to be themselves sometimes is much easier because they will feel more at ease with just a little instruction so they know the angle you are trying to capture and then let them place their own flare to it. When doing this it is important to anticipate the defining moment. That is the moment in every photograph where action and light come together to create that perfect blend.

Not enough room inside this post to fully cover such a complex and varied form of photography so the idea I want to portray is to remember that photographing people requires as much or more thought process as any form of photography especially how to use light. Light is more important with people photography than with any other type. Without the proper mood being generated, your people photos will more often than not begin to look rather clicheish and ordinary. What is so exciting about capturing people is that ther are so many ways to do it and the opportunity to get creative is so great and that is why it is such a great teaching tool..

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This will be the last installment of the Creating Extraordinary Visions series. I've enjoyed putting it together for you. We've talked generally about a variety of subjects. The purpose of this series was to be less instructional and more inspirational where I hope you will take the ideas and encouragment to try new things. You are only limited by your imagination in what you can accomplish and it is entirely up to you how far you want to go.

Always remember, the most important thing about creating extraordinary visions is to always be willing to place yourself at that point of greatest petential. This is a concept I learned a number of years ago and has remained a constant encourager to me to always push myself to greater heights and to never be satisfied with the ordinary. Remember too, to never give up on Light, for Light is the driving force behind every great photograph.

Creating Extraordinary Visions Part 5 - Xross Training

In part 5 of our series we will take a look at how you can generate an overall improvement in your photography by Xross Training.

Xross Training (Cross Training) is a technique used by athletes to enhance their overall performance. Athletes have learned that by getting involved in various kinds of fitness activities their baseline fitness level is elevated over time. It also helps to prevent burnout and plateauing where your body no longer responds to the demands placed upon it. It can even prevent becoming stale and bored. Photographers are subject to the same kind of issues and can find benefit by Photographic xross training.

I tend to do a lot of different types of photography. During any given period of time I may concentrate more on one type than another, but overall the variety of photography challenges I've carried over the years has greatly improved my understanding of the photographic process. Whether it be landscape, wildlife, or nature, or portrait in a studio or location shooting, macro, night sky, low light, and yes even timelapse photography, I find a great deal of pleasure in pursueing all types.

At first I simply wanted to do something different so I began looking at other ways to use my camera. But, over time I began to realize the benefits of having done this. For example, shooting the night sky requires you to understand the exposure process in more detail and forces you to shoot in manual mode. It teaches you about the light gathering ability of the digital camera which can be applied to other forms of photography.

Shooting the night sky forces you to look at the exposure from a different perspective. Low Light photography does a similar thing by forcing you to look at how your camera reacts to the different light tempertures, or white balance.

One of the best ways to cross train your photography is to photograph people in general or more specifically to get involved in location portrait shooting.

The reason for this is because when photographing people you are constantly looking at every form of light; soft light, harsh light, directional light, backlight, filtered light, colored light and how to apply white balance effectively, artificial light and all the possibilities it opens. You also look at expression and how light captures mood. You learn to work through the exposure process to capture challenging moments (we'll talk more about photographing people in part 6). And, those are just a few of the examples.

It is easy to fall into a photographic rut often caused by doing the same ole thing the same ole way all the time. By Xross Training you break up the monotony, you challenge yourself in new ways, new opportunites suddenly appear and old opportunites become fresh and exciting again.

The bottom line is this. Don't be afraid to try something new even if you have no clue how to do it. You might be surprised at what you can learn and discover about yourself. Let me give you an example of how trying something new literally changed the direction of my photography.

About three years ago or so I knew literally nothing about how to use a speed light or flash. My point of reference about using them went way back to the old flash cube days with their harsh light and red eye effects. I owned a single flash back then but rarely used it because in reality I was afraid to. I didn't want to look foolish because of my ignorance of how to use them. I just kept saying, "I prefer to shoot portraits in natural light." But, I kept seeing all of these amazing images others were making using speed lights and I knew I was missing something. There was more to this form of photography than I understood, so I began to read and watch YouTube videos by Joe McNally, Joe Brady, and others. One day while watching one such video Joe Brady explained in very simple terms the relationship between the flash and the camera and all of a sudden that little light bulb went off in my mind and I said, "Oh...so that's the way it works. Now I understand...this is actually quite simple."

The concept was simple, putting it into practice required, well, a lot of practice. But that is exactly what I did
and today I absolutley love using them for location portrait shoots. I am still learning how to put them into play, but each time I do a shoot, I learn something else. Three years ago I had no clue what I was doing, yet today because I tried something new, some of the most compelling portraits I've ever made were created using off camera flash. That is the kind of lesson one learns from Xross Training and not being afraid to try something new.

From location portraits I've learned the importance of expression, light, and timing. Landscapes and scenics have taught me about how to simplify...to identify what is really important. From nature and wildlife I've learned to be more patient and exacting. Night photography has helped me read drama and story into a composition. From astrophotography I've learned to anticipate the extraordinary and to look for what is not always seen. From working events I've learned how to operate at a fast pace and make quick instinctive adjustments. Black and white has shown me the importance of shape, form, and texture. Floral's have helped me discover subtle details and how to apply light to enhance those details. Video has taught me about angles, steadiness of hand, and continuity. Xross training your photography will in time generate a stronger overall performance that will show up in all forms of your photographic pursuits.

Creating Extraordinary Visions - Part 4 - Simplicity of Purpose

In part 4 of this series let's look at a concept that is so obvious, we sometimes completely overlook it: Simplicity of Purpose (SoP). Simply stated SoP means that everything in the photograph is there for a reason. Nothing is there that detracts from the story the image is trying to portray. It follows the old adage, keep it simple.

The most compelling images are almost always the ones with the simplest composition. Understand please that an image can contain a great deal of complexity to it. However, the images creating the most impact are the ones where the general theme of the message is carried all the way through. In other words, a great photograph almost always tells a single story. If you have multiple stories going on in your image they tend to confuse the viewer making it difficult for them to lock in on what you were attempting to show. Some examples of this include things like having a cluttered background, or powerlines showing up that are not needed, or no real theme to your image...what Ansel Adams called 'Confused Seeing'.

When trying to simplify your conpositions look for those slivers of visual opportunity. You may indeed be looking at a grand vista, but look at the vista and identify what is actually capturing your imagination. Is it the clouds, how the shadows flow across the landscape, or, what about the barn or the random rolls of hay scattered across the field? Maybe it is none of those. Maybe it is something smaller, more subtle like how the barn is reflected in the pond. Focus in on what is most important to your story and capture those moments.

Closely related to SoP is a concept known as Finding Order Amongst the Chaos (FOAC). Sometimes I will be at a location and I know there is something there working toward a great photo, but, my images just do not seem to capture the mood. They just seem cluttered and confused. What I do then is to narrow down the options...look for the order, or that one thing that stands apart from the overall scene yet still defines the bigger story. Indeed, defining the bigger story by using the smaller portions is a fantastic way to create something extraordinary when nothing else seems to be working. FOAC is a great technique to help you create simplicity.

Simplicity of Purpose, Find Order Amongst the Chaos, two extremely useful ideas to help you discover the extraordinary images your heart knows is there.

Creating Extraordinary Visions Part 3 - Find a Purpose for Your Photography

Great Photography demands the photographer to find a purpose for his photography. What I mean by this is, if you approach photography by always relying on random chance to capture great images, you will seriously handicap your ability to capture extraordinary images. By focusing on a purposeful direction you will greatly enhance your chances of discovering extraordinary opportunities.

Purposeful photography eliminates much of the guess work. It provides a reason for your efforts. These efforts can be pointed in multiple directions at the same time. I start and complete projects all the time. sometimes I will have several projects going at the same time. Projects can run for just about any length of time, from a single day, weekend, a month or longer. My longest running project was a year long effort to photograph one of my favorite locations, Shanty Hollow Lake. It was a difficult challenge but at the same time provided me with some spectacular opportunities and it ran concurrently with other shorter duration projects. All of these provided a measure of focus for what I wanted to accomplish both artisitically and personally.

One of the elements I was able to employ was the concept of always photographing to inspire. Random shooting rarely helps you create or find inspiration. However, random shooting does have its merits in that it might help you discover a purpose. I've actually done this by simply heading out with no real agenda to run across an opportunity that jump started an idea. Once I defined the project purpose, I was able to focus in on specific elements I wanted to accomplish. By doing so, instead of capturing simple snap shots of things I began to look for those moments that creatively defined the intent of the project.

Creating a purpose for your photography will in time stimulate your creative instincts and elevate your photography to higher level.

Creating Extraordinary Visions Pt2 - Change The Way You See the World

In part two of our series of Creating Extraordinary Visions let's take a look at some of the concepts of how we turn what we see visually into the vision we want to create.

Believe you Can Create Extraordinary Visions is an absolute necessity because before you can consistently create visions with extraordinary quality, you must first believe you can. Approaching photography from the perspective of I hope I can...or Let's see what happens...or How does he do that...will erode your confidence. The most successful photographers are the ones who approach their craft with an air of confidence. Without it, you are simply crossing your fingers hoping the conditions will provide an amazing opportunity. With confidence, you can create a vision no matter what the conditions and confidense comes with practice and application of knowledge. Simple knowledge of how to do something does not always equate quality...you must put it to practice and develope it. Sometimes it means you must ask yourself another question; What must I do to change the way I see the world?

Changing the way we visually see the world means letting go of some preconceived notions. One of the biggest is to let go of one thing; You do not have to capture a scene exactly the way you see it. Many beginner and even advanced photographers cling to the idea they have to capture what they see exactly the way they see it when in reality, your camera gives you a tremendous advantage in capturing what you see the way you emotionally visualize it. In other words, concentrate less on defining your image the way you see it and concentrate more on defining a feeling or mood.

Capturing a mood or feeling requires that you understand how light changes the dynamics of a photo opportunity. Many novice photographers tend to believe that the object in and of itself is what creates that great image. When we change how we perceive the world and base that perception on light the whole dynamics of what we do and how we do it changes. No longer do we simply see a pretty flower and photograph it. We begin to look at that flower from the perspective of how light can transform it. We begin to visualize how we want our finished image to look and take steps to capture that visualized perception. Every photo opportunity is different and each one requires a slightly different approach, but one trait all great photographers have is they begin with the end product in mind before they ever snap the shutter.

This requires the photographer to look at the elements of quality light...direction, quantity, and visual impact. Simply changing your position can have a profound impact on the quality of the light. Time of day and the direction of the light can turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Always remember, Composition becomes the building blocks of your image, but it is the light that gives it drama. Ordinary light creates ordinary images. Dramatic light can turn transform your composition into a work of art. Your in camera settings combined with a few limited post processing tweaks can drastically alter what you see visually into a compelling story filled with drama.

Creating Extraordinary Visions

Recently I was asked to give a condensed version of a photography workshop (How to See Photographically) I presented several times a few years ago. The new version turned out to be  a new presentation reworked from the original and was called Creating Extraordinary Visions. Its focus was to simply touch on the concept of what it takes to consistently create extraordinary photographs. It was more inspirational than instructional in nature although a few ideas did find their way into the program. Over the next several blog posts in a multi-part presentation I want to share bits and pieces about Creating Extraordinary Visions with you the readers. Hopefully, you will find some inspiration along the way.

It All Begins With Light

Creating extraordinary visions begins with light, for you see Light in all of its moods is what transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. As photographers, that is what we do...We Transform Light! We also see what others do not see. We develop an uncanny ability to look beyond what is visually in front of us and see into the potential of the moment, because photography is indeed 90% seeing and 10% photographing. 

The 10% is important no doubt. It is the instinctive part of photography where we grasp the difference between what makes a great exposure and simply capturing a visual xerox image of what we see. It is where we understand all of the mechanics of photography; shutter speed, aperture, ISO, White Balance, depth of field, composition, and so on...and the relationships between all of those components. It is where we understand how the camera is going to react to a given lighting condition and then have the ability to use that understanding to capture a scene the way we want it to look as opposed to always simply capturing what we see. But, photography is 90% seeing and this is one of the most difficult aspects of the art for most to fully grasp.

The art of seeing begins with light. Some years ago I read a statement by a world class photographer, Jack Dykinga, that altered my understanding of who I was as a photographer. What he said was, "Cameras and lenses are simply tools we use to capture our unique vision....Concentrate on equipment, and you will take technically good photographs. But, concentrate on seeing lights magic colors and your images will stir the soul."

Think about those words for a moment. Lights magic colors....Images that stir the soul....Unique vision. After reading Jacks statement all those years ago, I for the first time began to realize what photography was all about. It isn't about the object or the equipment...It is about creating a vision based on light. What you photograph is less important than how you photograph it. When you look at the potential photographic solution from the context of light, your whole perspective of what you do is changed. Light then becomes the driving force behind all of your images. From the dynamic grandeur of the Grand Canyon to the simple beauty of a single blade of grass...light is what defines how the image is received visually and the way you approach taking the image is dictated by the quality of the light.

There will come a point in time if you continue to pursue photography toward a high level of accomplishment, you will need to ask yourself two questions.

1.  Am I a picture taker of things?

2.  Do I consider myself to be an artist?

You see, the Picture Taker captures images believing it is the camera and/or the object itself being photographed that creates the great image. Rarely does the picture taker take into consideration the quality of the light and is usually satisfied with a photo as long as it is technically good. His motto is; I have a good camera therefore I take good pictures.

On the other hand, The Artist uses Light to bring his images to life and approaches his craft from the context

of light from the very beginning. He can take the most simple of objects using basic equipment and turn it into a work of art that will indeed stir the soul. He spends less time trying to define the object as he visually sees it, and instead attempts to create a feeling or mood. He begins the process by visualizing what the end result will be before he ever points the camera.

Creating Extraordinary Visions begins with understanding this basic concept about photography. 

Point of Greatest Potential

Some years ago I heard Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer say something that proved to become a life altering moment for me as a photographer. He simply said, "...be willing to place yourself at that point of greatest potential..." What he meant was, as a photographer in order to capture those iconic moments, you must be willing to do what you must do to place yourself in the best possible position to capture the most meaningful moments of light. We do not always know when those iconic moments will occur. We can only make a guess and see what happens, like what happened during this seasons wheat harvest.

Not a cloud broke the pale blue hue of the June sky. For a photographer, not so good. The sky needs clouds to add texture and interest. I kept hoping some would develop come sundown to create one of those legendary Kentucky sunsets, but as luck would have it what greated me was a bright, pale, flat pallet.

I had connected once again with my farmer friends James and Mark to photograph the wheat harvest. The idea was to shoot late in the day and into the early evening hoping to frame against the sunset the giant mechanical wonder they used to harvest the wheat. It was a large field and as the monster combine growled across the field clouds of dust and chaff filled the space behind it. As the sun settled behind the tree line I tried to make something happened, but there just wasn't any texture to the sky, just a bright glow that made it difficult to capture anything that looked interesting. Did manage to catch a few interesting shots with their running lights on, but what I wanted most just did not happen.

I have learned over the years that sometimes you need to turn around and look the other direction, just to see what is behind you. Doing so will often reveal an entirely new perspective. As luck would have it, from instinct I did turn around for a moment and noticed that a magnificent full moon was about to drift clear of the horizon. It was the first day of summer, and as I discovered later, this was to be the last full moon in our lifetime to occur on this day. No sunset worth capturing, so I adapted and began shooting in the other direction and concentrated on framing their operation against this amazing natural moment. It proved more difficult than I expected.

First of all I knew if I exposed for the combine and their lights, the moon would become a bright spot in the sky showing no texture at all, but if I exposed for the moon, the combine and fields would turn into a dark mass indistinguishable from the background. What I had to do was take two shots. The first was to capture the working equipment as it passed in front of the moon while it hovered low in the sky. The second was to expose for the moon. This second moon exposure was then cut and superimposed over the blown out moon from the first shot. Adding a bit of guasian blur to just the moon helped to blend it more evenly into the dark blue of the evening sky. Simple enough one might think, but it turned out to be an iconic photograph that could only occur on this first day of summer where the harvest coincided with the full moon.

Being there at that moment meant I was able to capture something that will not happen again in my lifetime.