Deer in messy woods
The woods behind my house are quite chaotic. There are all sorts of vines, twigs, fallen limbs, and probably the center of the world’s collection on thorny plants. I have often wondered why I don’t see the deer with a thousand scratches on their sides. They obviously have mastered navigation through this mess.
Now as a photographer, striving to create simplicity in my work, I look at this and think – what a mess! What am I going to do with this? I find myself quite challenged to make some type of simple, harmonious image of this place. Just walking through it can be quite an effort, let alone composing some type of organized photograph from it.
It is interesting to think about the reaction of the human mind to clutter versus harmony. We are naturally attracted to visual stimuli that seems to be in balance. Conversely, clutter tends to lead to visual tension and stress. Then again, many people see simplicity and harmony in a Jackson Pollock painting! With that, it chaos really in the eye of the beholder? These woods actually resemble many of Pollock’s works.
All sorts of questions, not many answers, but they are fun to think about. I thought this image communicated the environment pretty well. While not an image that I would hang on my wall, it still reminds me of this day when I was just sitting after a fresh rain watching a herd of about 8 deer navigate effortlessly through these woods. Sometimes maybe that is enough.
Lovely image. I tend to try to portray nature as it is, although I don’t mind pretty-ing SOME things up in post.
Thanks Lana. Nothing wrong with that, everyone defines how they want others to see what they see.
This is a lovely image, Mark! To me, the strong vertical lines of the tree trunks seem to wash out the smaller distractions in between and makes the composition cleaner. I’m always amazed too at how just having the eye of an animal clear can trick the brain into ignoring the mess around it. I have some shots of a bobcat strolling through the undergrowth and even though there are plenty of sticks in front of the cat, the few frames where the eye came through clean look so much less cluttered.
Thanks Pat, I am glad you like it. I tried to make the best of it, and agree that having sharp eyes and a direct stare is definitely an attention grabber. Maybe it is a hunter/prey primal instinct kicking in?
I’m with Ken. I would gladly hang this on my wall. And, I love the editorial commentary in your title for the image. Well, thorny issues and all, this makes for a lovely image that, in my mind comes together beautifully.
While you have focused here on the chaos in nature, I stuggle with what I think is the same basic issue when faced with many scenes. All too often, I know that the scene before me is rich with possibilities, but I sometimes feel that I will never get a handle on how to make a coherent story out of it. If I allow myself to get stuck in that struggle, what began as an encounter with rich promise becomes a thoroughly depressing internal squabble and no photos that I am willing to download. Personally, I blame my problems on wanting quick answers with immediate success.
Anita, I feel I could have written that second paragraph in talking about myself.
I love the chaotic lushness of the natural environment. I’d keep the grooming to a minimum but i would try to eradicate any poisonous plants.
I think I would hang this on my wall.
Thanks Ken, I try to embrace what is in front of me, but in being truly honest, it doesn’t always click.
Well, as my wife often tells me about chaos in my life, especially my office…clean it up! With just a few hours a day and you’d have those woods behind your house all simplified and “un-chaosed” in no time. 😉
Of course, the deer would move elsewhere…hummm, there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
This photo looks “real”…and that’s not bad!
Ha! Not with all the poison ivy and thorny stuff Earl. I think it would take a few lifetimes.
We can say the same thing for any meadow or praire, where we also find chaos. Yet I’ve found far more chaos in the business world than in nature. When I venture away from the asphalt and concrete world I enter into natures true world. It sure is not organized as some want but what beauty there is. When I spend time looking at the details in nature I then find real beauty. I guess that’s the challenge for me as photographer. On this mornings walk I saw a large field of flowers and saw not chaos. When I ventured into the field I was so amazed to see all the variety. There must have been 20 or 30 different plants all in harmony creating one gorgeous scene.
For certain Monte, humans are the masters of creating chaos! 🙂 I have witnessed similar scenes to what you describe, and I agree, there seems to be a overall harmony when looked at as a whole. But it is hard for me in these woods. I try to see those connections, and probably let my own inner judge keep overruling me.
I have a similar problem with the woods around home – though we don’t have many thorny plants. Just a lot of bush and deadfall without direction and symmetry. I often think my inability to create attractive photos there is less a result of the disorganization than it is my own feelings towards the forest.
I think that is probably very true for me as well Roberta. I see this and see a mess, where as other have commented, they see a certain cohesion.