Bush Bay boulder, alone along a Lake Huron shoreline...
In a recent post by Seung Kye Lee, he wrote about a recent trip he had taken through Rondane National Park in Norway. Of course, he posted some phenomenal images as usual and offered some thoughts about the inspirations he takes away from this place. I admired this trek and the fact that he was able to photograph for nearly 48 hours straight due to the lack of complete darkness this time of year in Norway. It seems so far away and remote to me over here on the other side of the world. The solitude and isolation of simply being connected to some far off land sounds quite alluring.
In the discussion following the post, the topic of familiar vs. unfamiliar landscapes comes up along with a situation sometimes found in the US. That situation being lines of other photographers showing up at some iconic place, each jockeying for position. Most photographers reading this probably know exactly what he is referring to.
It’s true that in many places, this is the case nearly every day. For such a place as America with our wide open spaces, isn’t it interesting that these spots attract so many? In thinking about this, I began to reflect upon my own experiences here in Michigan. Quite often, I am the only one present in my jaunts along the shorelines and through the woods. While there may be signs of civilization and sprawl just a short walk away, it never changes the fact that that moment, that landscape, that light, is mine alone to experience.
Far off lands and unfamiliar landscapes are always nice to dream about visiting. But if it remoteness we seek, peaceful solitude and connection with a landscape, we must not forget that these can also be found in our own backyards.
Tags: Environment, landscape photography, landscape photography, Michigan, nature photography, wilderness
http://t.co/1xjuh7fT - posted on 22 hours ago
A friend just returned from the east coast, including a trip to Acadia NP. She said the overcrowding was hellish, and they just didn’t enjoy their visit there at all.
Give me Lake Superior any day!
- Jack
..except Whitefish Point on a mid-summer day…
Thanks for the comment Jack.
Ah, I don’t think I made it that far – so many roads were torn up when we were up that way that we had a hard time seeing much of the area past Pictured Rocks… Guess I’ll avoid that spot during tourist season in the future!
:^D
- Jack
Mark, beautiful photo.
It’s true I certainly seldom run into another landscape photographer in my local ‘photographic spots’ and if I happen to meet any non-photographers they often give me a look seeming to say, “what in the heck are you photographing around here.”
As for iconic places I think perhaps our landscape mentality is causing us to miss a photo opportunity. I’m sure a street or portrait photographer would have a field day taking photos of all the photographers jockeying for position taking photos — perhaps we just need to think of it as wildlife photography. Famine or feast…depends on your point of view.
Personally, I do tend to make trips to well know photographic areas as “off-season” as possible.
Thanks Earl. I have a feeling we all have those isolated spots we cherish. I don’t see anything wrong with going to the more well known areas – they do get so well known from being so beautiful I guess.
(I do have such a photo of photographers going after warblers at Magee Marsh!
)
It’s much the same out here in the west in places like Yellowstone, especially this time of year. Go to some iconic spot like Old Faithful or the Falls and you almost need to take a number to wait in line to make a picture, yet move a quarter mile or so away and you have it all to yourself.
It’s almost like we’ve grown so accustomed to waiting in line that we’ll even do it for a chance to all take the same picture. Good grief.
PJ – you may be alone for only a short while until that animal decides to walk in front of you – then you all of the sudden have quite an audience.
Be careful Mark, if you keep making photographs as fine as this one, people will be waiting in line to take their turn in your tripod holes. I have just discovered the quality landscape photography of Seung Kye Lee. It probably was through your blog that I found him. I was the one who made that comment about his photographs on his blog:
“Your work is refreshing and would be unique anyway, but it is nice to see subjects that have not been beaten to death by photographer after photographer trekking there and framing up the same shot. However, I am sure when some of them see your blog, they will be on a plane to Norway. I doubt they could duplicate what you are doing, but they may try.”
I must say this is one of the best aspects of the internet and blogging, being able to see photographs from far away that are nothing like the iconic Western landscapes that launched landscape photography, but that have now been flogged to death. As Carr Clifton put it, “There is a group of photographers in the Southwest who all go around in a circle copying each other, copying the copiers.”
Certainly photographing in your backyard is one antidote to the poison of running around to the famous landmarks and snapping off copies. In the old days the camera clubbers and tourists couldn’t make decent photographs. Now with technology they often can. So poor taste can spread fast and pretty pictures that don’t share anything new flood the market as the magazines, also tasteless, want what they know will sell. The other antidote is to have a unique vision and purpose for your photography. This helps you discard or just not show the images that everybody has already done, even if they are the prettiest and most salable, in favor of the photographs that are different and exhibit your own individuality. Mark, I feel you excel in sharing a unique vision and that is why photographers with taste, maybe even some without it, come here and like what you are doing. And yes, Edward Weston said he could look at his shoe and find a fine photograph.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments David. Yes, it was your conversation I launched off of for this post. I thought it was an interesting exchange between you two.
I also enjoy the networking aspect of seeing and experiencing other photographer’s work, especially on the other side of the world. It is something only possible through books and magazines not too long ago. I like that Carr Clifton quote, thanks for sharing it.
“… we must not forget that these can also be found in our own backyards.” Amen to that. I’ve been away from my own backyard oasis for a while, and I can’t wait to get back into it.
I’m glad most photographers are content lining up for famous icon images – makes it far more likely that all the other amazing places around this world will remain less crowded!
here here to you both Ron and Heather…
That’s precisely why I moved back out to the country after Hurricane Katrina. I need to be surrounded by nature, which fills my soul and lifts my spirits.
Great post Mark. Even here in So Cal, most of the time I’m the only photographer around the places I go. I think photographers only flock to two things:
1. iconic landmarks
2. sunsets at some scenic vista
That’s fine by me!
Love the boulder sunset shot.The turquoise colour in the boulder against sunset looks great.
Thanks Richard and Lee.
Mark,
I agree – I think almost every serious photographer has had to consciously seek those hidden gem far away from the masses. I am constantly struggling to find unique landscapes in the crowded San Francisco Bay Area. And our closest National Park? Yosemite – yep, more than a little crowded with photogs! One way I’ve been able to escape the over-photographed scenic spots is backpacking. It is truly amazing how the crowds vanish once you hike out of Yosemite Valley!
However, even those over-photographed vistas become vistas for a reason. I wrote a recent post about this exact subject of crowded vistas, featuring two well-known Yosemite vista spots.
Great shooting and great blog!
Sorry for not keeping up to snuff on my blog reading. I need to cull them down so I don’t have as many to read.
One aspect to add to this post is the idea of ever changing nature. No matter where we find our spots if we return to them we will find they have changed. The famous image of the Snake River winding along the base of The Tetons by Ansel Adams can never really be duplicated as nature has changed that scene.
I too have experienced the crowds of Yellowstone in Fall, or the bugling elks in Rocky Mountain National Park, or being elbow to elbow at Oxbow Bend, or the crowd of photographers from a workshop working on sunrise images atop Clingmans Dome . Not my cup of tea. But the quiet and solitude found from a morning sunrise at the Arapahoe Bend natural Area, 2 miles from town, is all mine. Heck, sometimes I don’t need to even take a photo.
Knockout colors in a beautiful combination.
I like running into people when I’m out in fields and the woods, but solitude suits me. It’s not solitude, really, because I’m making contact with the nonhuman part of the natural world. It’s a nourishing contact, something I feel deep down.
Crowds at an iconic location? Almost as bad as being at the mall.