Making of 40 Photographs #7
This is #7 in my series ‘Making of 40 Photographs’.
I love Torres del Paine national Park. There’s something very surreal about it and barren. Perhaps its the barren aspect of it which makes it surreal for me. I’m not sure.
So I thought I’d discuss two images in one post. I’d like to see which one you prefer, because for me, I’ve always thought that quality of light wins over subject matter. But in this instance, my preference is for the more ‘natural’ day-lit image you see here:
As opposed to this shot (see below).
Yet the thing is, I love early dawn light and had always hoped to get a nice sunrise shot of the Cuernos (horns) of Paine from the edge of Lago Grey.
Which is exactly what I managed to do one morning this past March while back in Torres.
But I think the top image wins for me, because I feel shape wins over light. That curve in the shoreline pulls me into the shot. Admittedly, the light is still rather nice too – very soft overcast light – just after breakfast in fact – helped the image.
We were leaving the little island in lago Pehoe on our way back to the van when I saw the curve shape of the black sand beach. I showed this location to another member of the workshop and tried to illustrate how often, all you’re trying to do with photography, is make converging lines and shapes fit in a very simplistic way. Of course great light helps as well and the top image would have been spoiled if I’d taken it even half an hour later….. I know this because I hand held this shot, and was so worried that I’d messed it up, I went back 30 minutes later to take it again, only to be greeted with an unpleasing scene. The light by this time was now harsh and the stillness of the water that is often evident (more so) in the morning than at night (due to the earth having cooled down and therefore no wind).
I rarely shoot hand-held, but the top image was really a case of that. I do remember working out the hyperfocal DOF for it, and realising that it would happily fit into f5 on my 50mm wide angle lens. The shutter speed was just about OK too, but what I forgot to do was re-set the focus on the lens (It’s a rangefinder, so I can’t see through the lens) before I shot it. Hence why I wanted to go back to shoot it again.
I did use a grad too – a 3 stop hard grad and it was easy to place because there is a definite line on the horizon (waters edge). I didn’t have my light meter with me, so I simply pointed the camera around the scene until I felt I got what might be a mid tone and took it from there.
They’re both beautiful, and I really appreciate the time you’re taking to talk about composition, it’s a nice break from most camera websites that are all about gear and nothing about what to actually do with it. :)
For me, I prefer the first one, but not because of the shapes in the foreground. The curve may be a little bit more interesting, but they’re both effective. What I like better about the first image is the mountains. I think the clouds in the second photo, because of the light, steal some of the drama of the mountains. There’s a little more contrast between the mountains and the sky in the first shot, and it outlines them more and gives them more impact.
Comment by Max — 17 September, 2009 @ 12:47 pm
I agree with Max, but I must admit it’s a close call as to which one I like more. Instead of putting the two up for competition, I’d rather enjoy them both separately; the light difference is enough to make them unique and I think they’re both grand.
Comment by morgangray — 18 September, 2009 @ 1:23 am
I prefer the first image.
Definitely the second one has some great light and it would have been lovely to be there for that moment. I think it’s the kind of image that would remind me of what it felt like being there.
But I think the first image is a bit more unusual. I like the different tonalities of blue in the photo – almost everything is a shade of blue, including the grey, slate blue of the shore and the mountains themselves. There’s just a hint of green in the water. In that way, the picture becomes almost monochrome, and you get the feeling of all the changes in tone between surfaces.
Not sure I would have thought to make an image like the first one at the time and moment if I was in the same place, whereas I definitely would have seen the potential for the second. So I guess that’s why it’s a bit more unusual for me.
Comment by Niall Connaughton — 18 September, 2009 @ 2:54 pm