Break through photography.

This image was made in the Alabama Hills behind Lone Pine California. The process leading up to its creation was kind of interesting. I hadnt envisioned it prior to actually seeing the shadow myself. I was just climbing around the boulders when it hit me like a bludgeon. Heres "the" image.

As a rule, I dont normally expect to make no more than one good picture a day when out in the field. A full days work, hundreds of images made, and only one worthy of being labeled good. If Ford Motor Co. was making one good car a day, theyd go out of business in no time. Fortunately, the metrics photographers live by are entirely different than other institutions. I suspect what photographers live by is much more aggressive than traditional artists. Throughput has to be the reason. Still, Im happy if I can call one image a day as good after a full days work. Its a successful day

Theres no planning where that image will be. Ive found distinctive images happen as much by happenstance as well as diligent planning. Pre-planning is no guarantee of success. These kinds of efforts may reduce the variables so success is slightly more predictable. But, students of lightphotographersare entirely at the mercy of an incredibly variable factorthe Sun. Most master photographers believe light quality is 90% of the battle with respect to making memorable images. Working with awesome light makes our jobs especially easier. Thats why theres a term "the magic hour". Its the time an hour before and after sunrise or sunset when the sun is particularly less harsh. Its when the clouds develop those purple and red tones. Its a time when conditions are changing so fast that one moment the light is memorable the next, its gone. The whole point to master photographers is if you find the right light success will follow. I think problem is this; what do you do with the light?

Finding the conjunction of great light with an interesting subject is the challenge in my book. Ive been known to run around searching for anything to photograph when the light looked awesome. Running around examining a subject for its qualities then jumping to the next hoping to find something that merits the light looks to the external observer a bit like a "fire drill"lots of energy being expended and not much being accomplished. As I said before, pre-planning can reduce the variables but it doesnt guarantee success. It only maximizes your chances.

Many times Ive planted my tripod at a spot scouted the day prior imagining the next morning. This kind of fantasizing drives the day prior scouting effort. Variables such as weather forecasts, predicted sunrise direction, relativeness of the compositional elements all guide the selection process. Once the spot is chosen and all the gear is set up, the work isnt done. The unanticipated variables began to take over. The circumstances a photographer has little control over begin to overcome the assessments made during his day prior scouting choices. This is when flexibility starts to become more important than anticipating the future. When best-laid plans are thrown away is when you see photographers doing the "fire drill" act. Thats where youll find me most of the time. Okay, maybe not most of the time but it sure feels like it.

Back to the image.

I hadnt a chance to do any pre-day scouting. I arrived so late the previous night, I hadnt even driven through the location to get a few ideas. I had no idea what the area looked like and was going to "wing it". Instead of disciplined planning and setup I was going to start the "fire drill" right from the beginning.

After a few false starts exploring shapes, shadows, and colors in the dawn light, I decided to drive further through the Hills. The morning color change was long gone. The sun still hung low over the White Mountains to the east. The "Magic Hour" was quickly ending. I wasnt expecting much because I figured the light was on its way out. Right next to the road was a large pile of round boulders stacked as if a giant kid had collected his marbles. The light was making some very interesting shadows across the desert. I climbed the pile with my wide-angle lens hoping to get some sort of distorted perspective with the shadows, rock, and sun as subjects. Im in an extreme perspective phase these days so Im always prone to look at images with that view. To ease the scamper among the boulders, I didnt bring a tripod and planned all my shots handheld. While contrary to most landscape photographers, I purposely had been leaving my tripod behind to remove the inconveniences of tripods as deterrents from exploring a scenemaximize flexibility. So, off I climb and crawled among the boulders looking for my image.

Despite my initial attraction to the area nothing was coming together. Nothing seemed to take advantage of the light, boulder, or contrast. I was disappointed because the initial feelings seemed so positive. I turned to leave when I caught my shadow on a larger boulder behind me. The most obvious feature was my hat and its brim shooting out from my head. All I did was assess the potential compositions and fired a couple of shots. One shot with the camera obviously up to my eyemy elbows sticking outthe other two shot with my camera at my hip to avoid the tale-tell signs of the self-portrait. Now this was an interesting image.

The last two images were the keepers. Both were unexpected gems because nothing foreshadowed the eventual success. I guess after all of this there are only a couple of lessons to learn. First, you have to be persistent. If you dont have the drive to just keep going no matter what, youll miss all those special moments. It seems in photography, as Ive written before, at the moment of ultimate frustration the answer will present itself. If you arent persistent, you wouldve given up early and missed the whole event. And second lesson, open vision is required. While the concepts of open vision are worthy of their own articles the idea here is being able to soak in a view, assess its potential and then take risks with the possibilities. Its not the muscle that will get you to cut your losses early and abandon a situation. Oh no, thats something else. Open vision is the tool that guides you to results no one else wouldve thought about.

The road I traveled to make this image was quite interesting. In most respects the road traveled to make any quality image will yield an interesting story. While there are times when images just fall into your lap, persistence and an open mind are necessary for any hope for success.

Cheers

Tom

25 Nov 01