Simplicity

Sunset Horizons from Rabbit Mnt. Boulder County, Colorado, 2012

I continually relearn this lesson: simplicity will often result in a stronger image. My first shutter actuations often include too much of the scene. I can often see that later when I review my images, one after the other, on the computer monitor. With each successive photograph, I can see that slow transition I make from the big view on down to progressively narrower views until I have finally zeroed in on the key area of interest. (Of course, many times, I never actually get there!)

Take the image above, for instance. I was first enthralled with the glorious sunset-lit clouds filling the entire sky, the long black horizon extending for 30 miles to the south and the interaction of the weird lenticular clouds all along the entire horizon–so I tried to capture all of it with several wide-angle and super-wide angle images. Not too bad. But, then it occurred to me what really caught my eye was that small section of the horizon that had the one lone red cloud hovering above it and the white ribbon clouds to the side for contrast. So, once I finally realized what really interested me, off went the wide angle and on went the telephoto. The result? A much stronger image, at least IMHO.

So, try this the next time you are out shooting: Keep narrowing the field of view of your chosen scene little by little until there is almost nothing left but some abstract lines and shapes. You can do this by switching to lenses with larger focal lengths, or with a zoom lens (or two), or simply by zooming in with your feet. Chances are, your strongest images will be some of the last in the sequence.

Curve to the Moon. RMNP, Colorado, 2012