Shooting Close to Home

The other day I pumped almost $30.00 worth of gas into my Jeep...for a half tank.  Every time my fuel bill arrives I choke and cough when I see the total...I could buy a new digital camera...just about every month...for what I'm forking over to the gas companies.  I remember and still long for the good old days when you could fill up you car for around $5.00 and have three uniformed attendants come out to check your oil, clean your windshield, and pump the gas.  When I first went off to college back in the dark ages my weekly spending money amounted to the huge sum of $10.00...from which I had to buy gas to get there and back...and use whatever was left for snacks and goodies or maybe even a movie.  But alas those days are long gone, and the cost of fuel now days sure puts a crimp in my ability to get out and about.  I must now plan carefully and the first thing I consider before making any kind of a photo trip is how much gas will it take and how much is it going to cost?  As a result I spend a lot more time photographing closer to home.

A few years ago I began a long term and continuing project called the Alvaton Collection...which consists of a series of photographs featuring the area around my home in Alvaton, Kentucky.  Most of the images in that collection were taken within a 15 to 20 minute drive from my home.

Shooting closer to home I've discovered has certain advantages. Travel costs are an obvious one but they also include things like getting to know the area more closely.  Doing so allows for quick travel to those special places.  Often I've left at daybreak and shot a series of images, then returned home before the rest of the family even knew I was gone.  One of the best reasons for shooting close to home is being able to return to a location over and over to take advantage of the changing light and seasons.

Over the years I've identified a number of locations that offer great photo potential all through the seasons.  They include places like old barns, fence rows, rustic farm country, abandoned homes, creeks and rivers, country roads, farming activity, small town charms, stately old trees, and beautiful rolling country.  All available within 20 minutes in any direction.  I can also step outside my back door, hike a short distance and be surrounded by cornfields, woods, wildflowers, and great skies.  Even so, I still look for that old country road that I've never driven down before...it's amazing what new discoveries are found by doing such things.  Oddly enough, the country roads around here twist and turn and converge back upon themselves and seem to have no rhyme or reason to where and why they were laid out that way.  I've never been completely lost...but I have been a might turned around a time or two.

I suppose it is human nature to want to get away from home thinking that the photographic opportunity is always better someplace else.  My take on it...it's not necessarily better, just different.  What's funny is on those rare occasions I can still get away and travel some distance and time, seems I end up showing the people I meet many of the photo's I took from home.

Back in 2008, on a lark I sent some proof sheets from the Alvaton Collection, plus a few others, to a number of magazine publishing companies...I promptly forgot about them.  Six months later I received an e-mail invitation to submit around 200 images from south central Kentucky for publishing consideration in the popular magazine 'Country'.  For several months I snapped away and finally compiled enough material to send to them...they were well received by the editor and he asked for a 1500 word essay to describe why this area is such a great place to live.  What materialized from all of this was a 10 page, 20 image spread inside their God's Country featured section published in the April/May issue 2009.

I suppose the moral of the story is this:  Take a closer look at what is nearest to home...explore its intricacies and become intimately familiar with the photographic potential in your home area...who knows, there just might be a treasure trove of opportunity just waiting for you to find.

Keith

Imagine The Extraordinary

If someone were to ask me what is the one thing they could do to improve their ability to see photographically I would tell them, "Take an Art Class".  In the world of art you begin to look at the world differently and learn about color, shape, form, perspective, subject, and how all those things work together to create an effective composition.  Artists by nature tend to have a creative intuition about them...that would also include photographers.  There are a number of reasons for that I would suppose, but there are two distinct characteristics that artists have that separates them from others:  They look at the world from a unique perspective, and they use their ability to 'Imagine The Extraordinary'.

Imagine the Extraordinary...just think about what that means.  Well...I suppose it would mean different things to different people based on their personal experiences and insights, but, to me, to Imagine the Extraordinary means to observe beyond the obvious...and to recognize the photographic potential of a moment of light.  It involves not only understanding the technical aspects of the photographic process, but understanding the effects light has on a subject.  It is being able to combine the two, to create a photograph that stirs the imagination.  How to accomplish this involves certain complexities and is open to individual interpretation.  It is a concept that rarely has an end point, but one that is continually improved upon and refined.

I try strive to make this concept the cornerstone of my photographic endeavors...and oddly enough, one in which I rarely feel successful.  I've heard it said that an artist begins with a blank canvas and adds the elements required to create his vision.  A photographer on the other hand, begins with a full canvas, and must remove those elements that interfere with the vision he has for that moment of light.  To accomplish this, a strong understanding of composition is necessary along with a good sixth sense of what to look for.

The most effective compositions are the ones with a built in simplicity...not necessarily a lack of complexity...but where all the elements work toward telling and showing the story you want to convey.  It moves well beyond simply capturing what you see...to being able to see what you want to capture.  The two are rarely the same.  The former infers a mechanical process where the technical quality may indeed be good, but lacks for aesthetic quality.  The latter stretches the photographic potential into a realm where the subject becomes less important, and light takes on greater importance to where it defines the image.

Take some time to visualize those Wow photographs, or even better those Whoa photographs you've seen.  What makes them so incredible?  Think about that for a moment.  Why is it some images powerfully stir our imaginations...when the vast majority of photographs appear...well...ordinary?  If you truly begin to explore that idea, you will find that incredible photographs are created with the emphasis placed less on location (or equipment) and more on the photographer's ability to capture his vision.

Capturing vision becomes more instinctive the more you practice.  Never settle for the ordinary...always seek out the extraordinary.  Look for ways to capture the ordinary in extraordinary ways.  Think of the camera like it is a sculptor's tool...even the finest and sharpest chisel has limited usefulness until it is placed into the hands of a skilled artist.  It is the skill of the sculptor that counts, not the tools he uses.  The artist must understand the tool's ability to carry out his desires.

Most of all...always look for the extraordinary.

Keith

Photographing the Spring Bloom

One area I've struggled with over the years is to effectively photograph the annual Spring Bloom.  Seems I can manage other seasons more effectively...maybe it's because the Spring bloom only lasts a couple weeks and I just don't have time to get out enough.  Even so...there are a few things I've learned on how to enhance the potential to capture this wonderful transitional time of year.

One of the mistakes I believe many aspiring photographers make is when they attempt to capture the entire blooming tree without taking into account the environment in which it resides.  Spring blooms like anything else in photography lends itself well to the concept of Simplicity.  Our visual senses can often be overwhelmed by the magnificence of the beauty of let's say a large dogwood in bloom.  Our tendency is to want to capture the entire tree...when in reality what we need to do is focus in on the details of why that tree caught our attention.  Most of the time I rarely try to capture an entire blooming tree...what happens when we do that is we get caught with the old...can't see the forest for the trees...cliche.  The tree of itself may indeed be wonderful...but it's difficult to see why. One exception to that rule is when there is an opportunity to capture a series of trees where line, angle, form, and color all come into play.

One thing I try to keep in mind when I'm out photographing the Spring bloom is to always have something from the environment included in the image...or in other words to include something that gives the photograph a sense of place.  Because of that I will often neglect an otherwise gorgeous blooming tree simply because there is not anything near it or around it that I can include as an effective part of the background...or to place the tree in a location.  Almost anything will work, but there are a few things that work really well.

Let me give you an example.  One of the best backgrounds you can have with blooming dogwoods is an old fence row...split rail is best...but any kind of wooden or rustic looking fence row will add a tremendous amount of depth and personality to the image.  Old barns are also wonderful backdrops to include in your photographs.  Here in Kentucky we have an abundance of both...so I am lucky in that regard in that I do not have to look far and wide to find something that I like.

Having said that...it is good to keep in mind that the background is just that...something to add flavor to the overall composition...not to overwhelm it...that is unless that old barn really has a lot of character and then it becomes the main subject with the blooms becoming that added flash of color.  When I photograph the spring blooms I want the emphasis to be on the blooms...with the background adding a subtle sense of place and belonging to the blooms.

Another thing to keep in mind is the time of day.  The best time to capture the Spring Bloom is early on an overcast day.  Early, because the air is fresh and the blooms often will have some dew or moisture on them giving a more appealing appearance...overcast because that soft diffused light is best for capturing blooms and foliage of all types.  On bright sunny days you tend to have very harsh light with bright contrasts making the exposure difficult to get right.  When you encounter bright light...there are ways to use it to your advantage...I call it...Turn around and look the other way.

Blooms by nature are translucent and with a little back lighting and isolating the blooms against a dark background...you can get some wonderful images.  The key here is to isolate...use the light to your advantage...

Depending on the shot I am trying to capture, my choice of aperture is really critical.  In some instances I want to have as much of the scene in focus at the same time as I can...on other occasions I want to isolate a portion...so depth of field becomes a consideration.  For the first situation, I use a small aperture...something like f/16.  This will effectively keep the entire scene within the same focal plane.  On the second issue, I use a small to medium aperture...something like f/5.6 or lower if the exposure and lighting will allow for.  Also...the focal length of my lens is important as well...by zooming out to say something beyond 300 mm, I can more easily isolate and narrow the depth of field at the same time.

The Spring Bloom can be an exciting time for photographers...just being out and about during the transition from the cold winter to the warmer and sometimes stormy weather will often stimulate your creative senses.
Enjoy the moment...it does not last very long.

Keith