The Woodlands: An Evaluation

 

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

Expectations vs Passion

 

An early rise that morning left me with blurry eyes and a foggy mind. About an hours drive was ahead of me as I headed out expecting to reconnect with and rediscover the wonders of Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie. That morning was not to disappoint. It was a morning where expectations and passion combined to generate an iconic capture of a prairie sunrise...an image that captures not only the what and where, but the passionate why I was there.

The sky was mostly still dark when I arrived, yet on the horizon the glow of the coming morning was already filling the void of the night. Gathering my gear, I trudged the half mile or so to a familiar rocky outcropping that overlooked a deep expansive arroyo that was filled with a light misty haze. The air was mostly calm, with just a hint of a breeze that wafted the prairie scent into my senses. The camera set and ready, I waited. The blurry eyes, and foggy mind left me as I anticipated what was about to happen. 

This prairie sunrise seemed to take its time to develop and mesmerized  me into a false sense of being ready. Building to a climax, the sky seemed to suddenly explode, and at that precise moment, I captured the shot of the day. Everything else I made on that trip was secondary to that one single photograph for it exemplified what passion in photography is all about, and it's about the experience of being there.

My expectations that day were that the prairie would present herself in all of her magnificent adornment. My passion is to photograph the Tallgrass Prairie. I enjoy all types of photography, but this single passion is reserved for that one location. It is difficult to express why. Passion is what drives me to return over and over to the same place and still see it as a new experience each time. Expectations are what supports the passion for I understand the potential of what might happen.

Passion is the baseline of expectations. It matters not what your passion is when it comes to photography. The important thing is that you develop one toward which you can pursue this amazing form of art. Without the passion, you possess a simple hobby. With a passion, you possess an emotional outlet for the creative instincts within you.  It pushes you to achieve greater expectations, to experiment with creative ideas, and to refine your instincts beyond what is ordinary to see and observe the world, then capture the essence of what it means to you.

I hope you have enjoyed this short series about Expectations vs Creativity, Instinct, and Passion. Just maybe it will jump start something deeper within your photographic desires.

Expectations vs Instinct

Submitted by Keith Bridgman 

Many times I travel up to Shanty Hollow Lake just to get away. Most of the time my camera travels with me because Shanty Hollow is one of my most favorite places to explore nature. The hike up to the waterfall is filled with all kinds of scenic values regardless of the season, but fall is probably the best Shanty Hollow season. By late October and into November, the colors explode across the landscape offering a photographer a myriad of opportunities to pursue their artistic nature. In spite of the fall colors, sometimes, it is a good idea to turn off your expectations, and use your photographic instinct to see in black and white.

Expectations vs Instinct is a two edged sword for a photographer. Expectations are what drives photographers to pursue an opportunity, but Instinct is what helps the photographer capture the purest photograph that presents itself. In fact, I believe Instinct may very well be the more powerful of the two.

Instinct is that sixth sense developed over time that helps a photographer to visually see a photograph before he ever takes the photo. It involves several elements. The first element is having an intimate knowledge of your camera and the photographic process. Knowing how the camera will react to specific lighting situations is vital to shooting instinctively. Being able to see the final result in your mind triggers that instinctive understanding of raising the camera, framing the image, and capturing the moment while in complete control of what you are doing.

Framing the image could very well be the most instinctive part of photography. Your eye automatically wants to generate a pleasing composition. Removing all the clutter to focus in on the best composition comes with practice. I've always said to become a better photographer, take an art class, for with the study of art, you begin to understand composition, color, texture, shape and form and your eye develops the ability to extract from the world, those elements that will create a finished photograph. 

We see the world in color, but instinct will help you discern when black and white may very well render the better result for a given situation. Sometimes I get impatient with photographer friends who are very good photographers, but who for the most part refuse to explore Black and White. Understandably, everyone has their own personal preferences. Photography is such a diverse art form, the possibilities Black and White brings to the table opens a whole new avenue of expression. It does so by reducing the image into shape and form by removing the distraction of color. Being able to see shape and form along with texture is what instinctive shooting is all about.

Expectations vs Instinct. Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer once said, (and I'm paraphrasing), "Most people follow the idea of 'I'll believe it when I see it.'  As a photographer, I take a different approach, 'I believe that I will see it, and when I do, it suddenly appears.' His expectations were that he would see the moment, the photograph, his instinct allowed him to capture it when it appeared to him.

Expectations vs Creativity

Submitted by Keith Bridgman 

There were few expectations that day a few years ago. Hopeful but unsure. Just a sixth sense that maybe the light was going be there. Other than hoping what could happen would actually play out, I was not sure if nature was going to present herself in a spectacular way or as so often is the case, in a ho-hum way. As it turned out, she decided to explode across the sky with a play of light so powerful, I was barely able to comprehend how important this moment of light was to become. 

When the light reached it's crescendo, my creative resolve kicked in and I captured perhaps one of the most iconic photographs I've ever made. The Burning Tree still moves my soul when I find time to relive that day. The perfect nature of the timing of that event taught me a powerful lesson about creativity vs expectations as a photographer. 

Over the next few weeks, we are going to take a journey and explore the nature of those two not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts. We will look at Expectations vs Creativity in this article. Expectations vs Instinct in the next one and finish up looking at Expectations vs Passion. I hope you will take this journey with me as we dive into some of the finer points of the artistic nature of Photography.

So what does Expectation have to do with photography and how does it influence Creativity? I would suppose that most photographers possess a certain amount of expectations every time they pick up their camera and venture out to capture something. There is probably always an element of that concept floating around in the back of conscious efforts. There are many times I head out with an idea of what I want to accomplish. Most of the time the moment fails to live up to those expectations. That in itself can create a sense of...well...failure. I didn't accomplish what I set out to do. However, without an element of expectation, it would be quite easy to fall into the trap of haphazard mediocracy. Simple random shooting can result in a lot of random photographs most of which fall well outside the realm of quality we all want to accomplish. 

Even so, recognizing what makes a great photograph should be the criteria used to develop your expectations before you head out. Knowing what to look for, knowing potential places to find it, then having the technical skill to capture the moment are the driving elements of Expectations. There should be a focus to your efforts in that what presents itself may indeed be a random event, but when you are looking for a specific kind of event, your expectations become more locked in to what is actually there. Being flexible enough to adapt to the changing situation is another key to allowing your original expectations to guide you through a moment that just might turn out to be iconic. 

All artists possess a creative instinct and that includes photographers. Creativity includes personal distinctions such as style. I can recognize a photograph taken by most of my photographer friends simply because I recognize their style and subject matter upon which they tend to focus.  A photographer's style is their own unique way of expression. Style is the personification of Creativity and creativity is boundless where as expectations are limited to a particular moment. A creative mind will find a way to see what is there when others fail to see. They have a unique ability to look beyond the ordinary to capture the extraordinary. They are not afraid to step away from the normal expectations to discover something new. One of the most destructive traits a photographer can have is to lock themselves into believing they must capture the world photographically exactly the way they see it visually. Instead, see the visual world as a giant pallet of color, texture, form, and movement then use your creative desires to create an image that moves the soul.

So you see, expectations sets the stage, creativity then explores and captures the possibilities. Never rely simply on one or the other exclusively, they both tend help the photographer align themselves with the powerful inner drive that propels us on our daily photographic journeys.