Newsletter No. 17: November, 2006

Disappointment or Opportunity

© Chris Harris; Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Focal length: 105mm; ISO: 800;
Shutter speed: 1/30 sec
Aperture: 22; Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1/3

Last week I had an 8 a.m. appointment to photograph the Holms ranching family at the Empire Ranch in the heart of the Chilcotin grasslands. I was driving the winding dirt road high above the Fraser River Canyon in total darkness during a torrential rainstorm, (a rare event in this dry country) when the road suddenly turned to gumbo. After barely making it up a hill I knew I had to stop. There is a reason why a graveyard of automobiles can be seen far below the entire stretch of this road. I could go no further as gumbo is more slippery than sheer ice.

So there I was. I had a snooze in my camper until the rain stopped, and when I got out to survey where I was, it was cloudy but still. I looked over the bank and saw nothing but green sage and rabbit-brush, aspen trees in yellow, and a smattering of red rose. The sage and rabbit-brush had gone to seed and their branch tops seem to droop over creating a sense of flowing lace. The interspersed yellow and red added a dimension that made my heart soar with excitement. I suddenly realized that the conditions of the day were perfect – cloudy for saturated colour and little wind for maximum depth of focus. I grabbed my gear and headed over the bank. For the rest of that short autumn day, I hiked amidst grassland splendour while shooting close to 2 gigabytes of imagery. The disappointment of missing my Ranch shoot was quickly forgotten. I’ll be able to get my Ranch shots later, but the opportunity to create images like the ones above and below was a one-time blessing. As always, I gave thanks.

© Chris Harris; Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Focal length: 75mm; ISO: 800;
Shutter speed: 1/25 sec
Aperture: 22; Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1/3

3. What I See and How I Photograph

In response to continued requests for my photo seminars, I am now bringing them online as an ongoing feature in my Newsletter. They are designed to give you techniques and insights gained from my experience in the field in the hope that they inspire you in your own image making.

Part IV: Creative Techniques

It’s time to leave the computer side of photography (interesting but not my favorite aspect of photography) and head out into the field. Let’s take a deep breath of country air and try and look at the wonderful world around us with new eyes and new vision. This is where photography gets exciting! It’s easy to just snap a photograph, (and that’s fine for some people or certain situations) but why don’t we try and take our photography to a new, a different, or a higher level. Let’s experiment and try new techniques. Ever jump up and down while you press the shutter button?? I know, we were always told to keep the camera steady while photographing, but why not try? You may be surprised with the result!

This is what I do. I carry a small piece of paper (plasticized for rain) in my photo vest pocket with a list of possible creative techniques. After I have photographed a subject and I think to myself "I’ve got it", I reach for my ‘creative techniques’ sheet and study it while looking at the subject. These are reminders of some of the different ways in which I can express my subject and myself. I’ll study my subject more closely and I’ll try to evaluate how I am responding to it. When I take the time to do this, I almost always discover that I have only scratched the surface in how I have photographed my subject thus far. With digital photography there is no cost to experimentation. Sorry, no excuses!

Here is my list. It changes as I learn and grow as a photographer. They may not all make sense to you right now, but I will go through them all and give examples from images I’ve taken in the past. Try making up your own list. You’ll find that your list will grow too. It’s exciting!

Creative Techniques

1. Wide, medium & long lenses
2. Macro
3. Pan, zoom or rotate lens
4. Lie down – shoot up
5. Climb high – shoot down
6. Turn day into night
7. Long exposures
8. Multiple exposures
9. Filter combinations
10. Misty images
11. Abstract or impressionistic
12. Paint with light
13. Silhouettes
14. Framing
15. Big sky, little sky
16. Photo montage
17. Panoramas
18. Mosaics

Purely coincidentally, as I was writing this section, an email arrived from Pat, a Newsletter subscriber. She said, ". . . you’re artsy musings have inspired me to try new things . . . the technique I used on the attached image was inspired by a photo in one of your newsletters. I’ve been wanting to try this and I’ll be doing it more!" WOW! That’s FANTASTIC . . . and so is her image below! I love to see enthusiasts being creative and it’s a pleasure to share her image with all of you (with permission).

New Bowron Lake Book