Why was I compelled to shoot landscapes today? Two words. Great clouds. A bland blue sky kills an otherwise brilliant landscape photograph. That is a natural fact Jack.
So…….I drove a few hundred miles today doing things that had nothing to do with photography. As I drove along I looked up and saw the most beautiful sky I had seen in a long time. After driving all day I walked into my house and thought about going out to shoot some landscape/seascapes. I was too tired. I check my email. I twittered a little. I then mustered the energy to drive down to my go to landscape shooting spot. It’s Avery Point in Groton Connecticut.
I loaded up my gear on my superb thinkTANK belt and jumped in the car. I’m not one of those folks who goes loaded for bear on every shoot. I travel as light as humanly possible. Thus the belt.
I arrived at the location. The gorgeous clouds were gone. I figured I was there so I had to produce something. I scouted the area and found that there were still a few nice areas of sky that could be exploited for some pictures. I would just have to be ultra-creative. Not always an easy task.
The following 4 pictures represent what I have processed thus far. It gives a fairly good representation of what I could grind out of a situation which I thought was going to be amazing. The dissipation of those gorgeous clouds from earlier in the day were mostly gone now. I had to make due.
Click on the photos to see them larger.
Of the 4 shots my favorite is the first one. It’s not a typical landscape photo. It’s unlike anything most people would even think to shoot. That’s why I like it.
I have stated in the recent past that I despise taking landscape photos because they bore me to tears. I need an angle where I can throw something crazy in the picture to give it some uniqueness. The one with the cinder blocks won the day. Easily.
Good photography is more about thinking than the technical ability to take good exposures. I have to remind myself to slow down…..look around……and think. Do that and you will succeed.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, Tom Kaszuba. First is my fave, too. There’s something almost absurd about it. Great geometry, but what are those cinder block doing there? The best photos are those we stumble upon, those we couldn’t find if we were looking.
Mindy | f-stopMarin’s last blog post..Motivated Reader, San Rafael
Mindy said, “The best photos are those we stumble upon, those we couldn’t find if we were looking”.
Now that’s the kind of thinking I’m talking about.
I like them all, but the last one is my favorite…there’s something strange about that ring of cement and a tuft of grass in the middle that gives the impression that no matter how hard we try as humans to manipulate and shape our land, nature eventually always wins. It’s like the grass on the outside and inside are working together to close that ring of cement…and fwiw, the 1st get’s second in my book
Great post…while landscapes right now also bore me to tears, if I’m in a photo-taking rut, shooting landscape always helps to get me over that hump…
Shot #1 steals the show for me as well Tom. Nature juxtaposed with man’s creation. The light is casted so beautifully and naturally on the stone and the geometric shapes in it almost possesses a human-like quality…
Good to see you shooting some of your beloved landscapes! Even though you have been steering much more towards the street photography side of things…
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