Landscape, Nature and Travel Photography

One thing I’ve trained myself to do over the years while out in the field is to look in the exact opposite direction of what I’m focused on photographing. I call this creative exercise “The Law of Opposites“. If I’m looking in front of me, I’ll check behind me. If I’m looking up, I’ll look down. If I’m looking left, I’ll look right. You get the idea.  The reason for this exercise is to break free of tunnel vision. With almost absolute certainty I’ll find myself focused to the point of distraction on something widely recognizable such as an iconic landscape subject. When looking in the opposite direction you view the world with a blank slate so to speak; all your visual preconceptions are cleared from your mind and you thrust yourself into something new that your brain has to reprocess.

Almost always I’ll photograph my primary focus, but as I wait for lighting conditions to improve or after I’m done I’ll conduct this exercise. Not only does this keep my mind working, it also helps me become hyper aware of my surroundings. Granted this exercise doesn’t guarantee that you’ll capture an image more impressive than your primary subject, but it will certainly exercise your minds eye.

An example of the “Law of Opposites” creative exercise in action…
After locking in on fog clearing to reveal the Grand Teton mountains, I broke my focus to look at what was underfoot and under-tripod. Dew had collected on lupine leafs in the field I was standing and if you looked close enough you could see other lupine leaves in the dew drops. I swapped lenses and began photographing the lupine. Upon review later I found that my macro photos had turned out far better than my landscape images. A perfect example of the “Law of Opposites” helping me see something I’d likely have otherwise missed.

Technorati Tags: photography, macro, law of opposites, lupine, leaf, dew, stock photo

Soft lighting filtering through pre-dawn fog provided some interesting photographic opportunities during my last day at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming back in July. This hike was particularly refreshing as numerous photographic subjects seemed to pop out of the landscape. The layering and juxtaposition of foliage caught my eye. This photo has since become one of my favorites from this trip.

Technorati Tags: nature, photography, fine art, stock photo, landscape, Grand Teton, National Park

One of the more exhillerating aspects of being in the field is when you’re traveling at just the right pace to stay ahead of an approaching storm. Such was the case as I traveled through Utah and Wyoming last week. By the time I arrived at the Grand Teton National Park the storm that was on my tail had started to roll through. Once I settled on a location to photograph the Tetons I was able to enjoy the show.

It’s one thing to snap a photo of a dramatic landscape such as this, but it is another to see and feel the wrath of Mother Nature in the process. Gusts of wind, rain and varying intensity of light made for a great show and a challenging capture. Although the light was rather muted at this particular moment later in the evening there was quite a light show. Photos of that will follow in the coming days.

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This was the second largest panoramic I created on my short trip. The original size is 16,000 x 7000px, enough resolution to produce a 300 DPI print at 4 1/2 x 2 feet. Photos like this remind me it is time to upgrade my printer. Fear not the large version linked above is only 1400px wide. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Grand Teton National Park, mountain, NPS, landscape, photography, panoramic