My last post wrote a little bit about how I find it difficult to photograph larger landscapes in the woods near my home. It is a complex environment that is hard to get in sync with. By “being in sync” I mean you are in a place where ideas and creativity seem to flow from one minute to the next. I also referred to it as being “in the zone.” It is hard to cover much physical area because from one step to the next you see another photograph waiting to happen. Subject seem to appear everywhere. I have noticed that some places do this for me, and others not so much.
Feature rich environments
I have begun to question whether it is the place being a feature rich environment that suits itself to so many different photographs, or is it my state of mind and mood at the time that allows me to take it in? I have been in places where I just seem to wander aimlessly, trying to conjure up an image. The light may be just right, I am feeling OK, but nothing flows. I may spend hours upon hours and either come home completely empty handed, or end up deleting everything I did shoot.
On the opposite end, I may arrive somewhere to photograph something specific, and end up making little progress on the intended subject because I end up seeing so many other images. For example, I went to a spot about an hour north of where I live known for red trillium. I visit it every year despite having many, many red trillium pictures. Yet every year I seem to return with a different view, different approach. It is worth going back because the flowers emerge in different spots, different clusters that allow for a lot of different compositions. They grow over such a large area, it is hard to cover it all. On top of that, you are usually working with a light-imposed time constraint. It is like a photographic currency – good light, wind, weather conditions, subjects, time, creativity – spend them wisely. As the light becomes more harsh, it is more difficult to work scenics or large groups of flowers. Same for wind and the other variables – each ultimately limiting the opportunities.
Maple and Pine
Although I started the morning photographing red trillium, as I worked the area, I seemed to find other subjects that fought for my attention. The entire area is a pretty rich environment – from dense hardwood areas to towering pine forest. A very steep hillside plunges downward towards the Black River. So I got lost in capturing that aspect with framing between two trees – a composition that I have become fond of. Soon after that, I found a wet maple leaf that was stuck to a piece of red pine bark. Soon after that I found another thing…
I think the red trilliums were whispering about feeling neglected. “Hey bub, exactly what did you come here for? To photograph that leaf? Is that what you are going to spend your currency on?” I think I may have even said it once or twice to myself. However, when you recognize that you are finding subjects and becoming in sync with the place you are in – you don’t want to disrupt the flow. I knew the trilliums were there – but I didn’t know about the leaf and bark, or the view between the trees. I believe those surprise finds keep your motivation and energy up. It helps fuel your creative momentum.
Red Trillium & Spring Beauty
I did eventually return to the trillium. By then, the light was intermittently harsh and the wind picked up quite a bit. I had spent my photographic currency on other subjects. I still felt the momentum however, and was willing to wait it out for the clouds to roll in, the wind to die down – and I still paid homage to what I came for. It was like showing up to a casino for blackjack – diverting yourself to a poker table, winning big, and then return to blackjack with a bigger pot to draw from. Being in sync may have added photographic currency to my wallet.
I ended up coming home with not only red trillium images unique to what I already had, but many more that serve as reminders of being further connected to this place. It felt good to be in sync – and I think I am a little richer for it.
Read MoreHappy First Day of Spring folks – at least for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere.
Red Trillium in bark
This is one of the wildflower prints that is hanging at Henry Ford West Bloomfield hospital. I originally had this as a horizontal in my gallery (rotated clockwise from here), but the designers asked for it in a vertical. It doesn’t happen for me very often that an image works equally as well in both orientations – but once I printed it as a vertical – it really grew on me that way.
This image is representative of my “symbiotic compositions” series I am accumulating as a theme. My original post about it is here. I particularly liked how the cut outs in the bark resembled petals or leaves – almost as if they were part of the flower itself.
Let’s hope the energy of spring continues to fill the air – this winter has been one to say good riddance to!
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Rock pillars
As Paul Burwell writes about in a recent post on things annoying to a wildlife photographer – weddings can be much scarier to photograph than some of the largest predators around. I happen to agree with him. 
But wedding and portrait photographers certainly have an arsenal of processing tips and tricks to provide some unique images for their clients that we don’t need to be afraid of. Just because a series of processing steps were designed for a wedding portraiture, it doesn’t mean they cannot be helpful for processing photographs of different subject matter.
Such is the case recently when I downloaded a Lightroom preset called “Alice’s Less Bright Dress” from Presets Heaven. I applied this preset to some landscape images from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and really liked the initial tonality the settings created. Quite often the preset defaults don’t get you to the end result right away – but they at least point you in a direction. A direction in which you might not have
Mineral stains
considered before. For these couple of images, I started with the ALBD preset in Lightroom – then in Photoshop applied some luminosity masks, and did some small tweaks in a selective color adjustment layer. The final images have a bit of a different look to them that I thought looked nice.
Not so scary afterall. A reminder to myself that the huge bucket of photography tools, whether it is a lens, composition strategy, or processing techniques have broad reaching applications beyond their original intention.
EDIT: A before / after shot of the first image is below per request. …
Before only using LR adjustments / After with LR Preset + PS Adjustments
I am just back from a quick trip “Up North”, and one of the stops was of course at my favorite place in Michigan – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. . (link is to NPS map) Sometimes photographers talk about how there are no ‘grand landscapes’ (aka. “out west” style) in Michigan, and I certainly think this place is one of the many that proves them wrong. . There is no place in the world quite like it and I feel fortunate to live within a day’s drive of the region. For those not familiar with it, Pictured Rocks is located near Munising in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along the southern shores of Lake Superior It was designated by Congress as the first national lakeshore in 1966.
Although certain spots of it are popular tourist spots, the 17 miles of coastline that have the dramatic cliffs generally have pretty limited access. Road access is only possible to spots like Miner’s Castle. Hiking is possible via the Lakeshore North Country trail, but you are mostly on top of the ridges, and it is one heck of a long hike – so my personal preference is to explore it via the water. . That represents its own challenges as Lake Superior conditions change rapidly and the water is quite cold most of the year. . This particular trip, our boat rental was canceled twice due to rough water.
On this particular trip, a particular boulder (ie. large hunk of fallen sandstone) caught my eye from the boat and I wanted to get closer to it to use it as a foreground element This particular boulder was just begging to be used in a photograph. Its jagged lines and alternating colors made for something quite interesting.
There aren’t many places to beach a boat along Pictured Rocks because of the sheer cliffs and rocky shores of Lake Superior . Many ginormous boulders lie in shallow waters along the shore. But fortunately a small pebble beach wasn’t too far away with a single opening to make a landing. I was able to climb over the rocks to get to “my rock” that I wanted, and ultimately had to wade into the water as you see here. My wife Lisa decided to snap a pic of me in “action.”
Ideas for images are one thing, but the logistics of making them happen can sometimes be tricky. . The end result was worth it for me, although looking back I think I should have spent more time here working even more compositions than I did do Perhaps this particular rock. (the one in the foreground far right) will wait for the next time I come back, or be consumed into the sometimes violent conditions that Lake Superior is known for.
More of my Pictured Rocks photographs will show up in my gallery as I make my way through keywording and post-processing. . Just click the link to see what’s new.
Read MoreSpring wildflowers are popping up everywhere in Southeast Michigan finally. . With all the snow we had this winter, hopefully it will be a great year. . Through the rest of the season, I will be posting new images in my wildflower photography gallery. . Latest editions include Hepatica and Bloodroot.
Read More http://t.co/1xjuh7fT - posted on 23 hours ago
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