Two “near misses”
So, June 13 was quite an interesting morning and I’ve been meaning to do a little writeup about it because the experience was such a great reminder that having patience and keeping an open mind (aka a soft eye) are keys to taking great photos in nature. This kind of thing has happened to me so many times since I started going out for early morning shoots.
That particular morning I put nearly 100% of my energy into shooting this cool-looking lone pine tree living at the edge of a neat cliff, which I thought was sure to look amazing as the sun rose behind it in the distance. I’d walked to this spot a couple times before, during the winter, and remembered the little guy because it just seemed super unique.
The tree had this bonsai quality to the curve of its trunk, and a wonderful wind-blown crown that reminded of a small cliff-dwelling bonsai in one of the Karate Kid movies. Of course I was going to come back to it!
So I went through the motions before the sun came up: used my phone to determine the best camera position; attached a grad filter to balance out the exposure as the horizon grew brighter; decided on a somewhat wide lens (24mm) to get as much foreground interest in frame as possible.
Here are a few photos from that morning to show how poorly the attempt went. LOL!
Here comes the sun. GET READY!
Oh shit LENS FLARE! Quick - shield your camera with your hat Kenny!
WOW! Lovely branches entering the shot from literally everywhere above the sun.
These photos did not stack well together in Photoshop, in order to get the best exposure. There were artifacts and weird looking shapes here and there, and those branches coming in from the top looked super distracting. By the time I realized this error, the best light had already passed.
In my hurried state that morning, I just really failed to do this little tree justice. I really should have arrived earlier so I could have selected a different lens and found a better position - probably lower to get those branches out of the shot, and separate the tree from the green mountain in the background. I was flustered, and quite grumpy as I packed up to leave.
Well, as I was doing that and grumbling to myself, the sun had risen high enough to make incredible shadows on the landscape below the cliff I was standing on. I was THIS close to hiking back to my car when one of my favorite photos of the year caught my attention. I stopped in my tracks, set my bag down, and framed up this shot as a mere ‘maybe' or ‘why not’ photo.
Falling Water Baptist Church, taken about 30 minutes after sunrise. f/5 1/250s, 241mm ISO100
This photo has become one of my favorites that I’ve ever taken, and it’s all because I screwed up my solitary bonsai tree ‘goal’ shot. I’ve even sold a few prints of it. Had I never attempted the tree, I never would have seen this misty morning sunrise scene. So, thank you, tree.
As a bonus, as I was hiking back to the car I stopped again when the sun, now fairly high in the morning sky, blasted through the trees toward this creek running off the edge of the cliff. I didn’t know what to make of it, whether the scene offered any potential, but I set my bag down again just in case.
I took Falling Water Falls handheld with a faster shutter, 1/250, while straddling the creek in order to get some of the rocky cliff on the left in frame to balance with the sun coming in from the right hand side of the shot. I love this shot too, and it was the second ‘hold up, let’s take a look’ moments from that morning.
Falling Water Falls, shot handheld 6/13/21, f/10 1/250 24mm ISO100
So the big takeaway, I suppose, is it’s always good to keep an open mind and watch for potentially great shots after you’ve thrown in the towel. My solo bonsai tree idea was a good one - I don’t think it wasn’t worth an attempt and I may even go back sometime. With so many variables and gear choices, nature / landscape photography can get frustrating pretty fast during an early morning shoot. Know that it may not go to plan, but don’t pack it all in too early. The hike out can end up being pretty magical.
Eat pizza and stay well.
