How could I not? The clouds were picturesque over the farmland. I’m a photographer; a picture needed to be taken. Unfortunately this sentiment creeps into my thoughts quite often and I end up with many pictures that are just so so and nothing special. I don’t share them because I try not to show anything that I’m not proud of or at least trying something new. Refinement is an art form that can be painful. I have many pictures that I wish were fabulous but have some flaw in them. A photograph could be just a bit out of focus, too noisy, too dark, too bright, too...whatever and it’s something I have to part with. No matter what my vision was at the time I clicked the shutter, I failed to capture it accurately, and it is now gone forever. It breaks my heart sometimes. I also have the opposite problem. I take fifty pictures of a scene (think sunset) and I think they are all wonderful in their own way, how do I choose just one to share? Worse still, what if I took fifty pictures of something I felt was beautiful at the time, but the magic isn’t there when I look at them later? They pass by my eyes and sleep on a back up hard drive, never to see the light of day again.
My plan:
I’ll still have to stop and take pictures, but I’ll need to step back and ask why. What is it about the landscape in front of me that caught my eye? How can I convey that magic to someone who wasn’t there to see it? Is what I saw really wonderful or just another generic moment, a snapshot? How can I setup my camera to soak in the scene and really drink its beauty? The future looks challenging, but I’m optimistic.
Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm f/13 ISO 100 5 image HDR