Workin’ the Scene

So, you are out and about (or, oot an’ aboot as the northern hockey fans say) and you run across a handful of elements that grab your instinctual attention, but you aren’t exactly sure why. It’s not an obvious scene, but there is definitely something there to explore.

Say, for example, a wheat field, a distant horizon, and a massive irrigation system with Stegosaurus-like characteristics.

Possible next step: stop the car safely off of the road and start workin’ the scene.

Try different angles…into the sun (contre-jour)…various angles to the sun…shoot from high, shoot from low…walk up and down the road experimenting with different compositions…try mostly earth and a smidgen of heaven…try lots of sky and just a bit of ground…try close and far…wide angle, telephoto…try everything. Contemplate what it is you are trying to communicate to the future viewer of the final print. What story are you telling? What mood are you capturing?

Once you are home and looking at the large images on the computer screen, look carefully at the scene once again. You may very well discover that what you initially liked as you composed in the field is different than what you like as you click through the images on your computer screen. Maybe there was a perspective you didn’t think much of during the shoot, but once home, it looks much, much more attractive.

The insurance, then, at least when the landscape in the viewfinder isn’t an obvious David Muench postcard, might be to work the scene to exhaustion in the field so that you maximize your possibility of recognizing a gem once you get home.