One area of photography I've never given nearly as much effort toward as I should is Woodlands photography. It is perhaps one of the most challenging of photographic genre's in that it requires the photographer to be able to see through all the chaos and clutter and focus in on what makes up a cohesive and interesting photograph. That is not so easy to do when confronted with a seemingly unending jumble of trees, vines, weeds, limbs, light (either too much or too little) creating hot spots and dark areas of contrast, and monotone colors. And that doesn't include contending with mosquitos and other creepy crawly things that tend to invade your personal space. However, as challenging as Woodlands photography can become, it also presents a photographer with an abundance of opportunity.
In recent weeks I embarked on a long term project that includes Woodland photography. "How hard could that be?" I thought to myself, that is until I actually began to focus in on the attempt. Needless to say, my first results were rather mediocre at best. I simply was not seeing the Forest for the Trees to use an old worn out cliché. My photo's were cluttered with no discernable subject, no real story to reveal. I also realized my post processing skills required an upgrade...what worked for ordinary landscape and wildlife shots simply was not adequate for Woodlands photography.
One of my favorite locations I go to when I feel a need to recharge is Shanty Hollow, a beautiful small lake surrounded by thick woods, ancient bluffs, and meandering streams along with a 60 foot waterfall tipping over the edge at the apex of an amphitheater gorge at the end of the hiking trail. Along that trail one will discover many wonderful natural locations ripe for photographers. Capturing that scenic wonder in a way that does justice to what is there is another story all together and provides an ideal training ground for Woodland style photography.
Once I began the Woodlands project, I began to focus in more closely on what was actually there and to, in my minds eye, visualize what would make a good subject for this style of photography. In short, I saw the woods differently than I had ever seen it before. Shades of light and shadows, shapes and forms suddenly began to materialize from the jumble. I began to see beyond the easy visual to identify a wooded scene in a more complex depth from the foreground thru the darkened haze of the background. A woodlands image becomes more than a one dimensional image. It requires the blending of the depths of the woods into a single homogenous structure where all the elements work together to create a finished image. Where light and color plays off the various elements and what appears to be a complex blob of entangled woods, suddenly becomes a structured and measured three dimensional subject where every facet of the woods leads the eye into, across, and through the scene.
Let's take a closer look at the image on the left, and discover why I personally like this photograph as a complete woodlands image.
This photo was taken near the waterfall arena where the amphitheater bluffs wrap themselves around in a giant horseshoe engulfing a boulder filled ravine with an outlet stream cutting through the center. On the eastern wall runs a long, jagged bluff that harbors at least one other waterfall that flows after a prolonged rainy spell. I have attempted numerous times to photograph this magnificent bluff. I have failed numerous if not every time, to capture the feeling one experiences while standing along and slightly beneath its overhanging walls. It wasn't until I began to see and photograph the bluff as a three dimensional entity that I finally captured this image that I believe at least in some way conveys what this location has to reveal. Why does this image work while so many others never did? Let's break it down.
The bluff is more than a rocky outcropping. It is the anchor that sustains and holds in place this part of the larger woodland arena that surrounds it. The woodlands are part of the appeal of the bluff. Previous photo's I attempted focused on the bluff alone, this one includes members of the larger woodlands story. The bluff on the right angles down and back towards the center of the image taking the viewers eye into the image story. In front of it lies a flattened earthy area pockmarked with various sizes of boulders that have fallen off the bluff and is covered with leafy flotsam. These boulders anchored the foreground and provided a sense of ruggedness to the scene. The left side of the image is anchored by the large beech tree along with a series of smaller tree trunks and their associated limbs and green leafy cover. On the bluff and near the base of it grows some small weedy understory that helps to accent the broken harshness of the limestone rocky outcropping.
Lighting is the key to this photograph as it was an overcast morning which allowed soft filtered light to infiltrate through the green leafy canopy and cast soft highlights across the lighter colored portions of the bluff, trees, and bare ground along its base. The image required a great deal of post processing as the soft hazy light picked up a greenish glow as it filtered through the canopy. This green glow was captured by the camera's sensor. No amount of white balance adjusting in camera can or will remove this greenish cast as it is part of the light's structure. It must be done in post processing. Fortunately, Photoshop makes it easy to do (but this technique falls outside the scope of this article). Various adjustment layers were applied to different parts of the image to bring out the color, the light, and the structure of what was captured. Highlights were applied to provide depth. Dark areas were lightened and light areas were darkened. The image was shot at f/16 with a 4 second exposure at 50mm and ISO 200. F/16 provided a great deal of depth of field to keep the image in focus from front to back. Also shot on a tripod at eye level. That's another thing. Woodland photography tends to require eye level captures and in some cases higher than eye level and rarely from a low perspective.
I like this image as a Woodlands style of photograph because it encompasses all the elements that satisfies what makes a good photo: light, structure, story, and personal appeal.
Woodlands Photography can be a challenging yet rewarding form of photography. If nothing else, it forces the photographer to look at the subject from a different perspective. I hope you will give this amazing style a try.
thnx,
Keith
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