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Friday, October 30, 2015

Luck or diligence?

My friend Sonia recently wrote: "I love your photos. How lucky (or is it diligent?) you are to find such subjects." I've been pondering Sonia's compliments the last few days. Then, this morning I looked out the window to see a thick blanket of fog covering the neighborhood. What to do? I had several options: get in the car and drive to the river where the fog is usually thicker to capture the city's  bridges; walk to nearby Laurelhurst park; or simply stay snuggled in my warm bed? I chose the middle option and jumped out of bed, got dressed, and grabbed my camera - not even stopping for a cup of coffee. Maybe that's diligence?

I quickly discovered another element: experimentation. I noticed the interesting effects of car's headlights shining through the fog and tried to remember techniques I learned in class to capture movement. I experimented with the camera's controls, adjusting aperture and shutter speed to achieve effects such as this.

That also took patience! I decided I wanted a pretty "frame" for my image. So I found an angle and background that I liked and then waited for someone or something to enter my canvas. One thing I've learned is that a static landscape immediately becomes more interesting with a person or an animal to give it movement and dramatic tension.

Photography is also about paying attention: learning to notice small things such as spiders' webs or droplets of dew.

And finally, there is the element of luck! You've seen these photos before, but I treasure them because I got lucky and caught something unexpected.

A cat on a leash?

1 comment:

  1. I think I've been right all along...luck, diligence, and great eye, joined with better and better equipment and above all, creative desire and inspiration. Keep it up.

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