Why I shoot at Dawn
I've heard it said that landscape photography is all about contrast. One of my favorite landscape photographers is Adam Gibbs. He says that while searching for compositions, he is drawn specifically toward contrasting colors, textures, or subjects or contrast between light and shadow. It's one of the things I obsessively hunt for in my own landscape photos.
Two images of the same subject at the same location taken seconds apart can have a completely different "feel." One image sets the mushroom against the backdrop of a similar color and tone; it lacks contrast between elements. The other image has a more striking composition as the mushroom is set against the sky creating, you guessed it, contrast!
These two images here are probably the least contrasted images I've ever taken. One photo is a long exposure pointing down toward a lake at dawn, and the other photo is of a kayaker on pond during a snowstorm. I like them both well enough (otherwise I wouldn't be highlighting them in my "Journal") but they lack that "bam!" discussed in my previous journal entry. These are what you might call minimalist or, perhaps, impressionist images, and they're honestly not done very well. I'm about to get up on my soap box here for a second, so bear with me...
LOW-CONTRAST IMAGES
"Hang on, Jude," you might be thinking, "are you saying that all great landscape photography images include some kind of contrast?" to which I might answer, "not quite... but yeah, kinda."
In college, I studied music composition as my major (I actually have a degree in it - big ol' BM - which is not as bad as my sister who has a bachelor in science - BS!) and there were quite a few students in the same program who attempted minimalist styles of composing. JUST BECAUSE YOU KEEP REPEATING THE SAME NOTES A WHOLE BUNCH OF TIMES IN A ROW DOESN'T MAKE IT MINIMALISM! Too many people tried to hit a song length requirement by just copy and pasting a musical phrase and calling it minimalism! Minimalism is not just "not using a lot of notes," it's about gradual evolution in your music to create atmosphere and space. It resembles the micro changes in life that result in noticeable ones! Express that in your music composition, and you'll actually achieve something instead of just repeating the same thing over and over again to pass a class.
Minimalism in photography requires a deeper understanding of the art form and how minimalism is expressed within it, a depth of knowledge and skill that I will freely admit I do not possess... yet.
HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGES
The direct opposite of underly contrasted images is overly contrasted images (duh!), and they generally occur when we take our photos in midday during very clear skies.
My wife took both of these photos. They are great examples of high contrast images. Taken during midday, a photo will have a lot of color and light to work with, but there is a danger to overexpose the lights and underexpose the darks because there is just such a range in brightness. Your best way to ensure the exposure is spot on is to take two photos, one exposed to the sky, the other exposed to the ground, and blend them together.
In high contrast lighting conditions, you can find other types of contrast - texture, color, subjects. In the first image, there is contrast happening between the green plant life and the gray granite hills. In the second image, the contrasting colors of red cliffs and blue sky helps our subject pop.
The drama that is missing from both images is due to a lack of contrast in light and shadow. It's something that cannot be re-created through editing or post-processing (unless you digital fabricate it on a computer.) It's something that is completely "in the moment" which leads us to the second thing I am obsessed with in my landscape photos.
DRAMA
I think maybe this is an under-appreciated aspect of landscape photography and really deserves a journal entry of its own. Drama does not just refer to stage performances of Shakespeare. It is a way of capturing the attention of your viewer through evocative storytelling and the emotions or excitement of the performance. From the flower blooming in a forest destroyed by fire to the ocean wave crashing against the eroding cliff, lucky for us, the natural world is chock-full of drama! As you are out more, observing it, appreciating it, you realize the most dramatic story is being told right before your eyes.
The nature photographer is a war correspondent to the unfolding drama experienced in the natural world. Whether you are a landscape, wildlife, astro, storm, etc. photographer, tell that story through your images. Remind people of the raw power nature possesses with your photographs, and then capture subtle or peaceful moments in nature that contrast them and show that despite the unpredictable world, there is always hope.
PHOTOGRAPHY AT DAWN
Why do I wake up at 5am to photograph landscapes at dawn whether I'm getting good light or not? It all comes down to contrast and drama.
Two completely different stories, both images taken at dawn, the first one is an explosion of drama while the second one is solemn and reserved. The first image has the contrasting lights and vibrant colors while the second one has lower contrasting lights and colors, but it has contrast in those hillsides and clouds above. The drama is still there; it's just a different expression of it. I get a sense of foreboding from the second image that does not exist in the first image.
This is a subject, I feel, we will revisit from time to time. It's not a technical skill or a camera setting to learn. It exists completely within the mindset and artistic expression of the photographer. Being subjective to your artistic preference and where you are in your creative journey means it will evolve over time and mature. The adventure is never ended.
Keep learning, my friend!
-Jude