Great things happen when you least expect them. Like tonight on my way home I saw this gorgeous sunset. I just had to stop and take some photographs.
Category: photo
Better late than never
The goal on my last trip to Yosemite was to wake up before sunrise every day and be at a point of interest early before sunrise. First day I woke up at four in the morning before alarm even went off. I guess I was refreshed and eager to photograph.
Next day I missed it. The alarm probably went off but I did not hear it. (This type of things happen when there is a load river rushing down just outside your tent. I’ve learnt the lesson and put alarm next to my ear the next night.) So, what do you do in this case? Stay in a sleeping bag for a bit more and let yourself relax? Or do you get packed quickly and move to capture whatever is left of early morning?
At first I wanted to be lazy but then I thought that I came there to photograph and I would photograph. We packed quickly and went to Tunnel View again. And I was so glad we did! When we got to the Tunnel View (for the third time during the trip), we saw fog flowing into the Yosemite Valley and clouds falling down from El Capitan like waterfalls.
Tunnel View in Rain
During my last trip to Yosemite the valley was both unbelievably beautiful and crowded. On the second day when we went to Tunnel View during midday, it was packed, we could not find a parking spot. Then the rain started and washed away all the tourists and photographers. But the rain is one of the best weather to photograph. Clouds create drama, light is constantly changing, rain adds depth and mist starts rising from ground heat up by the sun earlier. Just watching the scene changing continuously right in front of your eyes is awe-inspiring.
Tunnel View at Sunset
I was on a trip to Yosemite last week. Now I’m back home and started working thru the photographs that I took on the trip.We were very lucky – the sky was gorgeous three out of four days we spent in Yosemite.
Here is a classic "Tunnel View" of Yosemite valley. This photograph was taken at sunset on the first day of our trip.
I find myself constantly drawn to black-and-white photography. This image is a great example of where black-and-white look great (and better than color one) for my taste.
Waterfall Weather
It is amazing how waterfalls create their own weather. On a recent trip we hiked to Elowah Falls (Oregon) to take photos. The weather was hot and sunny until we got up closer to this waterfall. Near the waterfall it was dark, cold, windy and rainy. It was dark from the shadow the rock formation cast; it was cold because a lot of cold water was coming down cooling down the air around; it was windy because falling water was making the air move; and it was rainy because of all the water mist surrounding the falls.
I could explain all that logically but as I was getting closer it felt like we were traveling into another world. After a while the world outside became less real and I had some surreal feeling returning back to sunny and hot world.
Random Stops
When we go on a photo trip we typically set for ourselves a final destination – a place we plan to spend the most time photographing on a trip. While driving there it is easy to get into “get to the destination” mode. Landscapes pass by largely ignored. They don’t seem to be important or interesting comparing to what waits for us at a destination. It is like I’m in a tunnel with a light at the end being destination of my trip.
On my last trip I decided to break out of the tunnel. As we were passing some hills that appeared to be empty – there were no subject to stop an eye on – we just turned from a highway to a random dirt road just to stop and look around. And it is just amazing how much interesting we found. Hills were covered in tiny flowers and occasionally some large flowers. The dirt road was nicely zigzagging to the top of the hill. There was a tree on the top of the hill. And great view opened up from the top of the hill. We’ve spent quite a while photographing there.
Now I’m wondering if I could do great photographs at any random points along the way? In some sense it is not a great place that I’m going to that helps me to do photography, it is the state of mind that opens up the possibilities. I’m sure going to try to do more random stops on my trips and see what’s around me along my way.
Here is one of the picture made at one of such random stops:
Long Trip for Dandelion
Dandelions are everywhere. I even have them in my backyard and yet I have not taken a single photo of them where I live. At the same time on my last photo trip to central Washington and Oregon thousands of kilometers from home I was stuck around a dandelion parachute ball for an hour taking photo after photo – searching for best angle and experimenting with different depth of field. I found it to be extremely interesting. Why is that?
I have two states of mind – daily routine and photographic creativity. While in the first state I’m completely consumed by the daily errands, not having time for anything beyond that. On a photo trip on the other hand I start seeing interesting photos in even simple and widespread things. Driving or flying away from home is my trigger that opens my vision to a different perception of the world around me. I need to put a significant time and distance between me and home to isolate myself from daily routine and start thinking photographically.
Being able to isolate and focus on photography is very important to me and I suggest you try to find your own trigger that will help you with that.
Getting Out There
The best thing you can do for your photography – get out there and start photographing. Don’t wait for the right weather, don’t wait for the right light, don’t wait for the right mood. Just pick up camera, drive or work or ride somewhere, and start shooting. Photographs will come only to those looking.
My son has grown up quite a bit and does not need as much continues care – he can play by himself and with other kids. Which means I can get out there and start photographing again. So I did last weekend with a fellow photographer. And what a joy was that!
We’ve planned for this trip for a week. Saturday morning though looked miserable. The weather forecast did not promise anything good – rain for weekend for central Washington and Oregon, where we planned to go. We were ready to call it off. Then my wife said that I must go, if I did not go, I would regret later. She was right – we went and it was great. The weather was nice and I brought back a lot of photographs to work with.
I think Jay Maisel put it best once when he said “Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid to stop trying.”
Here is one of the first photos I’ve made on the trip:
Subject, Texture and Color
When I go to botanical garden with a camera I feel like an explorer looking for specimens. I don’t take picture of flowers and leaves – there are enough of those already. I’m collecting subjects, textures and colors to work with later at home.
Here are three photos (subject, texture and color):
 subject |
 texture |
 color |
I turned those into this image:
This image might be a beginning of a new project. I even have a name for it: “Primary Colors”.
vitali prokopenko | fine art 