I’m posting this mainly because I like it, and because it’s the opposite end of the day from the first set. There’s just the barest hint of pink in the subdued gold that lights this little country church. Shot this 12/30/12, so it’s fresh as a daisy. I like the simplicity of color, line, and form in this shot. Hope you do too.
Nature photographers and landscape artists need the patience of Job – and a reliable almanac. We really only have a couple of hours a day (if that much) when the light is just right — the hour around dawn and the hour around sunset. And that can reduce to a few moments if the right light is critical to your shot.
So, find out what those times will be for the date and place you’re in. The Weather Bug app on your Android phone will tell you (for today, at least) and you can easily extrapolate out for the next few days if you need to.
The rest of the time — go buy your wife a dress or something.
These two pairs of pictures illustrate the point.
Three minutes separated the first and second shot in each set. The light goes from flat to golden and textured in just those three minutes.
In the second set, you can actually read the clock on the church tower. 6:34 was the magic moment! 6:29 was too early.
Smart landscape and scenic photographers (even portrait photographers, too) know that their actual working window is very brief – and they’d better be ready to rock and roll when that magic moment is at hand.
Ironies are everywhere, and they make for really interesting pictures because they invite the viewer to laugh, or wince, or to explain the contradiction.
Learn to look for those times when something seems out of whack, at odds with what you expect. Then get your camera up and use it. Cellphone cameras, though I hate ‘em, are good for this sort of thing, but any camera will do – provided you have it with you!
The two shots below illustrate the point.
In the first, Christmas wreathes and ribbons bedeck a pair of “Road Closed” signs. The merriment, good-natured decorations on these strictly utilitarian (and negative) objects must surely raise a chuckle.
In the second, a nun is looking at her watch. The contradiction here is that we think of nuns as living out of time, somehow not on the clock like every other worker. POP goes our preconception!
