Serendipity

I made an image about two weeks ago that made me smile. I smiled not only because I was on vacation, not only because I was happy with the decision to get up before sunrise and do some photographing while everyone else was still asleep, and not only because I was outside in the midst of an unbelievable sunrise. Sure, all those things played a role, but what really intrigued me was the role serendipity can have while photographing.

There I was on the beach at dawn with a most amazing sunrise unfolding. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, a Great Blue Heron flew up to me and landed a very short distance away. This in itself fascinated me because near my home in Pennsylvania there are some areas where an occasional heron can be seen, but they are very skittish and hard to approach closely. In Florida, where the birds seem much more accustomed to human presence, close approaches are not uncommon.....but, in this instance, it was the bird's choice to land right nearby.

After he landed, we sort of looked at each other, and then the heron seemed to look out at the sunrise as well. I know that is anthropomorphizing, but that is just what it seemed like despite the fact that, in reality, it was probably looking for fish in the water.

I had my 24-70 mm lens on my camera, and quickly racked it out to 70mm. The heron was still a bit small in the frame, so I slowly moved in a little closer while swinging the camera around towards the heron. He let me get a bit closer before I felt like I better stop the approach. Once he knew where I had stopped he didn't seem to pay much attention and let me shoot away. I tried to isolate his dark silhouette against the reflected colors of sunrise which seemed to emanate from the water.

'Sanibel Sunrise'
Sanibel Island, Florida
Copyright Howard Grill

He ultimately flew away, but it was an experience that really ingrained that unbelievably beautiful morning into my memory. When I returned back to our condo everyone was still asleep and I very contentedly crawled back into bed to catch a few more z's myself.

It was a particularly fun experience that day because I wasn't the only one out at that 'crazy hour'. There were three types of people up for sunrise that morning: the serious photographers, the serious shellers, and the serious fisherman. As I have frequently told my wife, I never feel more alive than when I am out photographing sunrise and have the opportunity to watch the world wake up.

The B Side

One of the things that I have been thinking about lately is how to deal with the idea of making photographs that I know ahead of time are not likely to be among those that I consider to be my best, or even likely to make it into print. I found myself wondering about the importance of making images under these circumstances and, in my mind, ended up comparing this situation to other fields of artistic endeavor, particularly music.

I found myself realizing that this situation surely occurred with even the best of the best. Didn't The Beatles and The Rolling Stones know that the songs they put on the “B Side” of their singles were not their strongest work. (For those too young to remember, ‘back in the day’ bands would release their hit singles on 45rpm vinyl records which had a song on both sides. Typically the ‘A Side’ had the hit single that was played on the radio and the ‘B Side’ had a lesser known work.) Even on full album releases it seemed, at least at the time, pretty clear what the ‘weakest’ songs were. So why put those on the album? Why not wait until a few more ‘good’ songs were written? If it were as simple as this, however, there would be no album that contained ‘filler’.

I think the answer goes far beyond the obvious issue of it being difficult to predict what will become a hit. And I think the answers are directly applicable to photography as well. It just somehow seemed clearer to me when I thought about the issues in the realm of music, perhaps because I am an ‘outsider’ to the field.

Surely there must be times when a musician is pleased with a piece they have written, only to find that most listeners would not categorize it as being among their best work. Similarly, I recently posted about how difficult it can be to predict what images people will find most appealing.

I am sure there are times that a musician feels a need to change something about their style: to experiment a bit, as it were. For me, this immediately brings to mind The Talking Heads and Joni Mitchell. From a photography standpoint, even though landscapes, for example, might be your strongest point, when you are feeling in a creative rut you might well want to do macro or street photography. Does that mean that this 'experimental' work should not be shown? Of course not.

What about the creative process in general? Maybe it simply isn’t possible to collect 14 ‘A Side’ songs at once. What if to generate that many hits you simply have to work through all the other tunes going through your mind first? What if you have to keep ‘practicing’ in order to make hits?

As I have been working through these issues and ideas in my mind a few things have become clear to me:

If you don’t keep practicing photography with vigor, then when the opportunity to take that ‘killer shot’ comes along the results will surely not be as good as they could have been.

If you don’t change your style, at least transiently, in order to climb out of a creative rut, you are doing yourself a creative injustice. Try macro, landscape, street…try playing with a Holga or pinhole camera. And don't hide the work.

Sometimes, to tell a story, not every image will be a ‘Best Of’ shot. (Not every song on The Who’s “Tommy” was a hit.) But each image may well play an important role, acting as a chapter, in delivering a complete and autonomous tale.

Even though you may not be going to a beautiful location, you can never tell when something will catch your eye and the subsequent photographic exploration may turn up something unanticipated.

It may well be that a passing texture or pattern that you make an image of might not stand on its own, but, at a later time, that image might well play an important role in a montage, as a texture blend, or other use.

I am not advocating showing your photographic ‘outtakes’ or what you consider to not be your best work, but surely there are many images that might merit that ‘B Side’; work that might not be one’s “Best Of” but still occupies an important spot in your creative history!

Quick Quotes: Albert Einstein II

"Creativity is more powerful than knowledge"
Albert Einstein

Unquestionably one of the greatest physicists and thinkers the world has ever known, I have always been fascinated by what Einstein has written and said outside the world of physics. It initially seemed unusual to me that a man as steeped in knowledge as he was would have deemed the value of pure creativity to be so high. After thinking about it some more, however, it became clear to me that those that truly bring a new level of understanding to any field generally do so by thinking 'outside the box', an endeavor which often requires the rejection of commonly accepted knowledge and the application of creative thinking.

Lightroom Presets II

I have previously written about the use of presets in Adobe Lightroom. With presets, you can just scroll your mouse over the name of the preset in the Develop Module and get an immediate idea of how the image might look if treated in a certain fashion, such as black and white, cyanotype, sepia toned etc.. The preview one gets is not necessarily how the finished product would look, as the application of a preset serves only as a starting point, but it does give a very good idea of whether it is going to be worthwhile following a particular creative route.

With the winter being quite dreary where I live , I recently bought some lilies to photograph, and the results, I think, give another nice demonstration of how presets can really guide one down a path. Here was my original image of a yellow lilly, which I thought was somehow lacking, but yet seemed to have some promise:

Copyright Howard Grill

I felt that it just needed 'something else', and so brought it into the Develop Module of Lightroom and quickly scrolled through a number of my presets. I became intrigued by the look of the image both sepia toned and done in a cyanotype appearance. I ultimately decided to go with sepia toning and after applying the preset and tweaking a few of the settings ended up with this image, which I personally like quite a bit more than the original:

Copyright Howard Grill

Just another nice example of the benefits of Lightroom, which I use in conjunction with Photoshop. Need to get some presets? Try here and here.

Beth Moon

Recently, I have seen Beth Moon's black and white photographs of the world's most ancient and unusual trees in at least two fine art magazines, with LensWork being the most recent. While the trees themselves have inherent interest because of their history and how unusual they look, her images really bring out their character and, depending on the image, really makes them look either spooky, wise, aged, solemn, powerful etc.

As is usually the case with great photography, these images speak for themselves. Nonetheless, in the magazines there have been captions associated with the images that tell where the image was taken and the significance of the trees. Unfortunately, the individual images on her website don't provide this interesting information about the trees that her magazine portfolios have had.

Have a look at her amazing portfolio of ancient trees here, as well as her other fascinating work here.

Fakery

Several months ago I wrote a short post entitled “Photography And Truth”, which can be read here (Pt. I) and here (Pt. II). “Photography And Truth” was ultimately published on Uwe Steinmueller’s Outback Photo as an essay which contained more photographs than the original post, with the added images being used to illustrate the points that were being made. If there is an interest, that version of the essay can be read here.

The reason I bring up the essay, is that I ran across an interesting article on the Photopreneur blog entitled “The World's Most Famous Photoshop Fakes“, which I thought served as an interesting follow up to it. In “The World's Most Famous Photoshop Fakes“ , the Photopreneur authors present some of the most notable historic ‘news’ images that were ‘doctored’ in some way, many through the use of Photoshop. Several of the fakes were images taken on film and subsequently altered without the use of Photoshop. Oh my, you mean analog photographs can also lie?

It is an in interesting article and well worth having a look!

Textures III

If you haven't read at my first two posts about textures, they can be found here and here.

Having been intrigued by seeing what others have done with blending textures into their images, I was interested in seeing what I might be able to do. I am certainly no expert, as this is the first image that I am attempting to apply the technique to. Here we go.......first, the image with no texture applied:

'Days Of Yore'
Copyright Howard Grill

Now, the image of the texture itself that was used:

Copyright Michael Smith

And, finally, the image with the texture applied to it:

'Days Of Yore'
Copyright Howard Grill

The effect doesn't overwhelm the image, but, nonetheless, I think effects it in a positive way. What do you think?

Without question, too much of a good thing can be bad. I do not mean to imply that all, most, or even many of one’s images should be treated in this way. But, I personally find this an interesting technique, the intensity of which can be easily controlled, that can really enhance creativity and put a certain feel into images that would be hard to do any other way. It can’t make a bad image good, but it certainly holds the possibility, in some instances, of making a good image better.

In closing, I should address how one gets textures to try out. You can make your own by shooting things like concrete, canvas backdrops, old wood, sand….anything where the texture is the main subject. There are also some sites where textures can be downloaded for free, such as from Texture King .

I purchased a series of textures from Michael Smith, as I found the ones that he offered to be particularly interesting and well done. They can be seen and, if desired, purchased here (I myself have no connection with Mr. Smith, except as a satisfied customer).

I would also like, once again, to thank Cate for her willingness to share her post-processing technique with me and subsequently with anyone that might be reading this!

Textures II

In my last post, I presented some of Cate's images that I found mysterious and ethereal and which motivated me to contact her in order to find out about her post-processing. I mentioned that I don’t usually write about Photoshop techniques in this blog, but, every so often, I do find something that is directly Photoshop related that I would like to share. Needless to say, this is one of those times.

As it turns out, the post-processing is done with textures. What are textures? Any image that consists mainly of abstract color and shape can serve as an underlying texture to blend with another 'real' image. So how is it done?

Texture By Michael Smith
More On Michael's Textures In My Next Post

Open the 'real' image that you want to apply the texture to as well as the image of the actual texture itself (an example of a texture is posted above). Change the name of the texture image layer (it should consist of a single layer) from ‘Background’ to anything else (so that it can be dragged out to the other image). I just rename the layer ‘Texture’.

Next, resize the texture image to the same size and resolution as the image to which it is to be applied. It is just a background texture so one need not worry about maintaining image detail in it when upsizing. Then, while holding down the shift key (to make sure the texture is centered over the entire image) drag the renamed texture layer onto the image to which you want to apply the effect.

Whoa…..now that the texture layer is the top layer of the 'real' image, all you see is the texture. That is because the blending mode of the layer is set to ‘Normal’ by default. Now comes the fun. Change the blending mode and experiment. Once you change the blending mode, the texture blends with the underlying image in different ways. Start with ‘Overlay’ or ‘Soft Light’, but, by all means, try them all to see what effects can be had. Change the opacity of the layer to control the amount of the effect. Use a layer mask to localize the effect. Apply a clipping layer so that the texture layer, and only that layer, can be manipulated by changing its tonality or color with an additional curves or hue/saturation adjustment layer respectively. Go wild if you like.

I am just learning how to work with textures myself, and, so far, find that I lean towards their ‘gentler’ use. In my next post I will show an example of an image I have been working on along with the separate texture image that I have 'gently' applied for a subtle but, I think, important improvement in the image. I will also mention some places and people from whom one can obtain texture images, in addition to shooting your own.

Textures I

Having read about the positive and negative aspects of participating in Flickr in several blogs, I decided to join and see what it was all about. My principle reason for doing so was that I thought it would make it easy for me to see what type of interesting work was being done by others. I was looking forward to finding other photographers whose worked I enjoyed, as well as finding new ideas that might inspire me.

One of the first people whose work I found myself drawn to was “Cate”. Let me first say that I have never been one to go for Photoshop ‘tricks’ or gaudy Photoshop manipulation, but, despite being manipulated, there was something I found enchanting about her images. I found them to be full of emotion; eerie and mystical. I really wanted to know how she achieved this look and to at least have the opportunity to try whatever the technique was on a few of my own images.

So I e-mailed Cate and asked if she would be willing to share with me how she had post-processed her images. She was gracious and kind enough to do so, and, despite the fact that I write very little about using Photoshop (there are many others that could do so far better than myself), I would like to take the opportunity to share the technique, which I will do in my next post.

But, first, let me share with you a few of Cate’s images that had motivated me to contact her. I reproduce them here with her permission:

Emerald
Copyright "Cate" On Flickr
Used With Her Permission




Goldspun
Copyright "Cate" On Flickr
Used With Her Permission

Enchanting

Copyright "Cate" On Flickr
Used With Her Permission

A Matter Of Taste

I know which of my prints I like the best. I know which ones I feel have subtle tones, richness of detail and composition that draws me in. Funny thing though, when I show my prints to others, they don’t always ‘pick’ the ones that I think are my best work.

Case in point. In my last post, I wrote about two images of mine that were published. I had sent eight or nine images to the publisher and the two that were chosen were actually my least favorite of the entire group. I have had a few small shows of my work. Some of the images that I have sold have been ones that I liked quite a bit, but I have also sold ones that I did not find as compelling, though to have included them I must have also ‘liked them’ to some degree. In short, I am frequently surprised by what photographs people are drawn to compared to the ones that I think are my best.

Here is one example of this that particularly stands out to me. This image, entitled “Yellow Morning”, is one that I really enjoy. There are smooth and subtle tonal changes in the print and the stark simplicity of it tends to keep me looking for more subtleties within. Perhaps I like it because viewing the image brings me back to that place on that magical morning. But, interestingly, no one else seems to see much in the image. I have never sold one and no one has really even ever given it a second look. When I tell people that I really like it they tend to just shrug their shoulders.

Yellow Morning
Copyright Howard Grill

I find it interesting that it is so difficult to predict what other people will like. On the surface, it seems simply a matter of taste……some people will like some images, subjects etc and others won’t. But it does raise some questions. Let me state at the outset that I am not implying that one should create their art in order to satisfy anyone other than themselves. That said, I think we all have images that we have created that we liked (I am speaking of images that we felt strongly enough about to spend the time and effort to print), but which, as time goes on, we feel are no longer representative of our best work. In situations where one is trying to, say, sell their artwork or submit work for publication, should these types of prints be removed from ones portfolio? What if it is apparent that many people like them? What would have happened had I not included the two prints that were published with the submission?

I don’t know how to answer these questions. I am curious as to how others have dealt with this issue.

Quick Quotes: Dorothea Lange

"While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see"

Dorothea Lange

While this concept has been expressed many times, it has perhaps not been expressed as simply or as succinctly as it was by Dorothea Lange.

Published

In the beginning of the year, having had some small shows of my work, I decided it was time to start submitting images for publication. Truth be told, I ended up putting off the process for some time. But I did ultimately send out some images to two magazines. It was my first attempt and I therefore wasn't going for any of the big names. After my blogging friend Marc Graf had written about Whisper In The Woods Nature Journal, I decided to send them a few photographs.

I am pleased that two of the images were published in this months issue. So, I am motivated to try submitting more and elsewhere. I am not one to toot my own horn, but I am happy with this accomplishment and so thought I would share the images:

Wild Blueberries
Copyright Howard Grill

Last Leaf Of Fall
Copyright Howard Grill

Photographer's Rights In Pittsburgh........Again

I have previously written about a run in I had with a private security guard while taking pictures at Gateway Center, a large skyscraper complex located in Downtown Pittsburgh. I thought this was likely just an isolated event, but I had a similar occurance this weekend. These types of events have been reported in many different places in the country, so I don't at all mean to insinuate that this is an issue isolated to the city of Pittsburgh. Anyway, on to the story.

I was out photographing in downtown Pittsburgh last Sunday, just walking about with my camera handheld without a tripod (not that a tripod should really make a difference on a Sunday morning with almost no people around) at PPG Place, another downtown skyscraper complex. I was looking for and taking pictures of reflections in windows, an idea that I had mentioned in my last post (this building has mirrored glass windows). A private security guard for PPG approached me and said that since 9/11 PPG has a rule that no one can take pictures of the building. I left after politely telling him that this was simply wrong and that PPG can't make such a rule.

I was curious to find out if this has happened to others, and, searching the internet as well as doing some reading on the largest Pittsburgh related flickr group, found that it has, in fact, happened frequently to many other people.

I was quite angry about this and had been thinking about how to approach 'fighting it' or at least making my rights clear to the powers that be. In the interim, I found several other resources about this issue and would like to take the opportunity to share them, which I will do at the end of this post.

Unfortunately, after reading them, it turns out that I can't press the issue based on this occurance as I was in the wrong, at least according to the letter of the law. In this instance, I was standing in the open air plaza between the buildings, which is private property, (though there is full public access including shopfronts, outdoor tables for everyone and a public ice skating rink), when the security guard asked me to stop. According to one of the articles I reference at the end of this post, I have every right to take pictures in this situation, however, since it is private property, I can be asked (or forced) to leave if I don't comply with the request not to take photos. However, what I find interesting is that because the locale is public (even though the property is private), I can't be legally compelled to give up the photos that I have taken prior to leaving or stopping photographing.

Equally interesting is that the security guard seemed to me to be approaching even before I stepped into the plaza and was still on the public street. Additionally, he didn't say that I couldn't take pictures while in the plaza, he stated that I was not 'allowed to take pictures of the building', implying from anywhere. In support of what I thought would have happened, here is a post from someone else regarding an occurance at the very same location where they were told that they could not take photographs of the building despite being on a public thoroughfare. There is also interesting discussion in the comments section as to what he did and the results he got while trying to 'right this wrong'.

I am still wondering if there is something more that I could do on a local level to express my anger about this.

Here is the list of references that I found as well as the one I listed in my original post several months back:

Photographers Rights in .pdf format
A nice article from USA Today, Part I and Part II
Another review of photographer's legal rights
An interesting blog entitled PhotoAttorney


Of course, needless to say,.............please do not construe any of the above post as legal advice as I am not an attorney, nor are the authors of many of the references that I site.

One Idea Begets Another

I think it's interesting that sometimes looking over photographs that one has taken can lead to ideas about making new types of images.

For example, I previously wrote about making abstract urban and skyscraper photographs. I recently decided to print one that utilized a telephoto lens to 'compress distance', leading to an image that, to me, took on an abstract feel. I was happy with the way it came out:

Old And New
Copyright Howard Grill

As I looked at it, I was amazed with the appearance of the reflections in the windows of the building on the left. Initially, looking at the image as a whole, they didn't take on that much importance, though their tone and warmth did add to the overall image. But as I continued to look at the reflections it seemed like they could take on a significance of their own, which led me to the idea that they could almost make a separate project. Such a project could entail making images of window reflections that appeared as abstract colors and shapes, rather than reflections grounded in reality. Here is a crop showing just the abstract color and shapes from one of the windows from the building on the left. Of course, it is unsharp because I have cropped only a small area of the entire image and enlarged it, but you get the idea....I could easily have walked closer to the building and filled the entire frame with the window:

Window Crop
Copyright Howard Grill

I am intrigued that the idea for a whole new set of images can come from looking carefully at a photograph that you have already made.

Louie Palu

One of the many reasons that I enjoy reading LensWork is that the magazine introduces me to photographers that I otherwise would be unaware of. At times this is because the photographer has not been widely published and at other times it may be because I simply have not been exposed to them, despite their having achieved recognition.

This month, I was particularly intrigued by the work of Louie Palu, who spent years on his project photographing coal miners in Canada. Every aspect of this project , from how he managed to get access to the mines themselves (pure persistence in the face of repeated resistance), to the dangers of being in the mine (which makes for a fascinating discussion in the LensWork interview), and the challenges of photographing in a dark and hostile environment (equipment literally blown up, dropped down shafts, makeshift lighting etc.) is truly fascinating. I couldn't stop reading the interview transcript and am looking forward to hearing more in LensWork Extended.

Finally, the images were absolutely superb! My description and opinion are meaningless compared to having a look for yourself. So here is a link to the portion of Mr. Palu's website that contains images from this project, which he entitles "Cage Call". But don't stop there, the rest of the projects and images on his site are wonderful as well.

The project turned into a book, which I plan to buy. Unfortunately, it currently seems to be unavailable at Amazon and I can't seem to find one for sale anywhere else either.

More Image Critique

I am writing this 'mini-post' because I know that many people don't necessarily have the time to read the comments that others have made. A few days ago, I wrote about "Image Critique", and recommended the monthly photo review available on Alain Briot's website. As a response to that post, Chris Sheppard pointed out that Craig Tanner of "The Radiant Vista" posts a daily image review entitled "The Daily Critique" , which is available in multiple formats. I have just started listening to some of these and, like Alain's reviews, they are also extremely worthwhile. I plan to to tune in to them regularly as well. Definitely worth a listen!

Image Critique

Despite the proliferation of social networking and photography related websites, I believe it remains difficult to get well thought out and constructive critiques of one's images. There are probably many reasons for this. Some that immediately come to mind include:

The time needed to critically evaluate and write up one's thoughts about an image.

The expertise and ability to critically evaluate an image beyond the basics.

The desire not to feel like you are insulting the creator of the image (ie, being nice).

And, unfortunately, there is, I suspect, a real issue with wanting to favorably critique an image in order to have the favor returned.

However, the fact is that in order to grow and progress as a photographer and artist one needs critical and constructive evaluations of their work. I would much rather have someone give me thoughtful and carefully considered negative feedback about an image than a quick 'great shot' comment. Certainly, after receiving such feedback I put much more thought and consideration into my own evaluation of the image, even if I had considered it 'done'. After all, how else can one improve?

Obviously, my writing about the issue here is not very likely to bring about any change, so why do so? For one thing, I do think that hearing another person's image well critiqued is also an extremely useful learning experience....which brings me to the main thrust of this post.

Alain Briot, whose workshop I have attended in the past, now has available on his website a monthly image review of a photograph that has been submitted to him. The first review was very recently made available. It is in Quick Time format and lasts about ten minutes. Moreover, in my mind, this is the epitome of what a helpful and constructive review can be. It may not be my image, but I can nonetheless learn from the review. A very worthwhile listen, indeed. I know I plan to check back frequently to hear what Alain has to say. To hear what Alain has to say just follow this link and then click on the blue link on the top of the page to access the review.

Vignettes

Yet another post regarding something new I learned during the Smoky Mountain Fall Workshop I recently attended. Similar to the zoom abstract post I recently made, it involves something that can also be done in Photoshop.....but it is so much more satisfying to do it in-camera.

"Sumac"
Copyright Howard Grill

This type of vignette with a 'color wash' is related to the 'shoot through technique', whereby one focuses on a relatively distant subject through grasses, flowers, or other objects that are closer, and shoots at a relatively wide aperture to ensure that these closer objects appear as an out of focus color that imparts an ethereal quality to the image.

To make this particular image, all that had to be done was to first compose and focus on the sumac. Then I took a leaf, tore a hole in its center, and held the leaf close to the lens. By then looking through the viewfinder, I could get a sense of how the subject was centered within the hole in the leaf. Since the leaf is extremely out of focus, the edges of the hole are very soft. Because of the edge softness, it really doesn't matter if you can't hold the leaf perfectly still. As a matter of fact, you could even play with purposefully moving the leaf. Take a bunch of shots, as they will all look different and it may take some trial and error in the placement of the leaf to get exactly what you want.

Sure, it can be done in Photoshop, but this is infinitely more satisfying and a lot more fun. It is one of those things that, once shown how, makes you say "Duh, why didn't I think of that!" Give it a whirl and see what you get. Thanks to the "Photography With Heart" workshop folks for showing me how!

Before You Leave.....Turn Around

When it comes to photography, I have always found turning around to be good advice. It sounds quite trite, but, nonetheless, it is often helpful.

When concentrating on trying to photograph one particular scene, we often have blinders on and don't keep our minds open to other possibilities. It can be hard, and perhaps even detrimental, to try and break one's focus in the middle of photographing and, therefore, I do like to finish what I am concentrating on before moving. Once finished, my mind can then be receptive to new possibilities....and so I force myself to turn around and look behind me at what else there is that I might have missed or overlooked.

It sounds quite simple, after all, once you are done photographing at a particular site you pack up and can't help but see what's around you before leaving. Sure, but are you receptive to what is around you, or is your mind already in the 'I'm done and leaving' mode? It is one thing to look at what is around you when packing up and another to see what is around you with the idea of making images.

It really is amazing to me how often what I find behind me ends up making a more interesting photograph than what I had been concentrating on. This might be because once my attention has been caught by something I am unable to give ample consideration to other possibilities or because some aspect of the scene behind me, such as the lighting, might have changed. Either way, I am often glad that I took the opportunity to turn around while keeping an open mind.

This occurred during the recent workshop I attended in the Smoky Mountains. I had been photographing a field of tall grasses in front of colorful fall foliage, but wasn't really happy with the compositions I was coming up with. I was planning to move on but 'turned around' before I left and was treated to this magnificent dew covered tree in a bit of fog that looked gem covered, sparkling while it was being backlit by the sun. I underexposed a bit to make the glistening stand out against a darker background.

'Sparkle'
Copyright Howard Grill

This image was far more satisfying and interesting than anything I had been concentrating on before making the turn!

Waiting For The Sun

It has been said that one of the biggest mistakes that can be made in photographing sunrises and sunsets is leaving too soon. Often, there is beautiful color to be seen and photographed for twenty or thirty minutes after the sun sets. Likewise, when waiting to photograph sunrise, things can change rapidly and unexpectedly. Such was the case when we were photographing sunrise during the recent Smoky Mountain Fall Workshop that I attended with Nancy Rotenberg, Don McGowan, and Les Saucier.

And what a glorious sunrise it was:

Sunrise Over The Smokies

Copyright Howard Grill

But it didn't start out that way. When our group arrived at the overlook that had been chosen for that morning's shoot, the sky seemed quite densely 'fogged in'. It didn't appear that we were likely to be able to make good images from that location and there was talk of trying to move to a different spot, perhaps one at a different elevation in the hopes of getting better conditions for photographing. By that time, however, it was getting late and it was a bit questionable that we would be able to find a new locale and be able to get set up in time for sunrise. So, with a tiny sliver of clearing in the distance, we decided to stick it out in the hopes that the dense fog would lift as the sun came up.

What developed was unexpected and truly exhilarating. Over the next few minutes, the little sliver of clearing continued to open and we were treated to a truly moving experience. The cloud cover was such that there was a number of 'God Rays' that emerged and, one by one, they swept across the valley below in a spectacle that was akin to a natural laser light show, only better. As I rapidly 'play back' the many images I took that morning by quickly viewing them one after another in Lightroom, they seem like a movie that allows one to relive the entire experience, complete with the rays sweeping and dancing rhythmically along one side of the mountain, into the valley, and back up the other side.

Rather than frenetically chasing after the perfect shot, sometimes it is better to stay put and let the shot come to you.