One With Nature

Last year during fall I traveled with a friend to a place called Cliffside Lake. I found several compositions I wanted to use, but this was a composition I worked out quickly in the moment. A friend walking out over the lake on a fallen log, surrounded by the fall colors and fading glow, a little backlight on his face and head. These small moments in time don’t afford us a lot of wiggle room most of the time. I was shooting a 10-24mm lens for a different composition, and just went with it here. I sat on this photo for a year, and earlier today I pulled it out and went to work on the edit. Sometimes it’s worth the wait.

Often in photography we throw out our bad shots, or the shots we don’t have any use for in the moment. I would caution you against this practice. Yes, storage space comes at a premium, but you never know when you may look back and see something new in a old photo that compels you to work on it. This shot I thought was ruined form the slight motion blur on the foot. I see it now and realize it had potential I just didn’t see at the time. So, sit on those photos, and periodically look back on them as you learn more about photography.

In my case, the new thing I learned was new editing techniques. Discovering new ways to process my images and give them new life. Working with didge and burn, or layer masks, creating whole scenes around a simple idea. It’s honestly not even that difficult to wrap your head around. I would ask you all to go out and try something new with your photography today. Try a new lens, a new subject, any little thing. Try it, you may not be happy with the results today… but you never know, you might find a whole new avenue of photographic adventure unfolding before you.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f7.1
ISO: 160
SS: 1/15th
Focal: 24mm

Fujinon 10-24mm