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Subtle Variations – The Calling

I posted a landscape shot of a local park covered in fog titled Weeping Dream a few days ago. It’s those subtle variations in camera location that can drastically change a photograph; I mean, I must have moved my tripod three to four inches to the right to get this starburst light. It doesn’t sound like much, but it really does create a different mood by moving just one step over.

Ok so this example is relatively far away from our subject matter and four inches makes a pretty substantial difference – imagine getting close up to something and moving four inches… chances are, you wouldn’t even be photographing the same subject anymore! So, a general rule is that the closer you get to your subject (think macro photography), the more your composition will change by making subtle variations in camera location.

The Calling

These two photographs are similar in so many ways, but to me, they’re also very different. I honestly cannot even choose between the two and pick a winner so The Calling deserves its place in my portfolio as well.

I love how the light starbursts through the tree limbs and calls out for attention. It’s dreamy and euphoric almost as if you’ve sniffed some fairy dust and drifted to this dreamscape. Everything flows and you feel The Calling from a higher power…

A dimly lit park with weeping willow trees and dense fog.  A starburst of light emits through the tree limbs.  The Calling is from a higher power...

Fog Blankets – Weeping Dream

The weather has been unusually erratic the past few days and its drastic changes have helped shape my creativity and really let my imagination run wild. First it’s ice, now fog blankets. I love fog – it’s like natures natural light diffusor. Now, try to say that five times fast.

Lately, it’s almost as if I have a sixth sense for these weather shifts and will know before it changes – only by an hour or two; that little bit of time is still more than enough to shape my vision so as long as this keeps up, we’re in for an epic year of landscape shots.

Weeping Dream

105mm focal length compression, check. Tripod, check. It’s dark outside, of course. Mirror up, yes. Remote trigger…definitely. I scouted this quiet park with my trusty Mag Light for at least an hour and got acquainted with my favorite vantage points. Subtle nuances in location can make for an extremely different photograph so I’m working every angle.

Did I mention it’s pretty much black outside and I can’t see but a few feet in front of me at any given moment; I’m lost in the fog, but I can see Weeping Willow branches in a dream like state dangling in the not-too-far-out distance collecting moisture from this dense blanket of fog. Diffused light sweeps through the trees and makes it as if they’re glowing. I’ve got it. It’s a Weeping Dream.

A dense fog hangs in a rural park with weeping willow branches in the distance helping set the mood. A wet park bench is also prominent in the frame flanked between trees that show a burst of diffuse light coming from between their branches.