I’ve largely been a proponent of photographing with your feelings first and refining composition later. Within the last 5-6 years of photographing primarily landscapes, I tend to point my camera at scenes or light that stir an emotion within me. I’ve found that the photos I tend to enjoy the most are the unplanned images that I stumble into as I am off hiking or sitting down and enjoying my surroundings.
The usual methods in which I photographed began as formulaic early on in my photography journey. I would research locations, icons at these locations, photographs that had been made at such locations, and refer to the photographer’s ephemeris before actually visiting a location. I found that this strategy was fine but was very focused on results. Innately, this method was results driven. At the point I am now, I feel that this strips photography of the creation and creativeness in photography. It is boiling down a photograph to a formula or a system which I don’t feel is what I am aiming to do with the camera. I now allow the landscapes to present me scenes and light without any predetermined image in my mind. All I research before I visit my locations are the sunset and that is it. Very little planning actually goes into my trips. I just quickly look into what hikes look interesting and I’m off. Nature will do the rest.
I’ve learned in the last couple of years I’ve begun to understand much more clearly compositional ideas and techniques that I had originally thought were intuitive. For me, finding what was interesting to me and photographing just THAT was what I strived for. Now I know that when I fill my frame with a sole tree, it is known as just that - filling the frame. I had always removed any obstructions or anything that was distracting at the edge of my corners which is a valuable composition tip of being wary of your corners. Now that I have a greater understanding of these composition ideas, I’ll be a bit more cognizant once I do find that subject or light or pattern that has caught my attention.
I think the next step would be to figure out the “why” something sparks an interest in me. To have a deeper understanding of the things I photograph and why I connect with them. It is a rush to think I have hardly scratched the surface in my work and what discoveries I will make as I continue down this path.
An image made in the Redwood state parks I visited in July of this year. I really enjoy the form this branch takes up in the frame. The bokeh in the background adds interesting character to the shot. I do wish the blue bokeh balls were a bit more balanced and took up some of the left side of the frame as well.