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Nature's Chaos
Reading through the text by James Gleick and looking through photographs by Eliot Porter in the Nature's Chaos book was a pleasure on multiple levels.
When you look through online photo sharing sites, photo contests, photo magazines, chances are you will find a lot of wide angle photographs with strong foreground interest, a lake or a pond, and a mountain range in the back, topped with a great sky at sunrise or sunset. There is nothing wrong with these grand vistas shot in David Muench's style. Despite how prevalent this style became I still like them too, and try to capture them any time given a chance.
But that is not all there is to nature, is it? Eliot Porter's photographs in this book show the details missed by a lot of us every day. They show the seemingly random arrangement of natural elements forming the chaos. Yet, this random chaos seems to create patters and at times may not see random at all.
Timing was right for me to go through this book too, as I was just exploring a local park and its then only thin layer of snow. I've had the book in the link on the left from a local library but later editions still seem to be available for purchase. The mathematical theory by James Gleick is kept at a fairly understandable high level and is also fairly short, most of the book consisting of Eliot Porter's beautiful photographs.
On the right, I am linking to a newer paperback edition.
On this day in the Chestnut Ridge Park (Orchard Park, NY just south of Buffalo) I was exploring the interaction of snow with different surfaces. The partially snowed in ground peeking out at spots showing grass, tree roots, and other objects, rocks with nice snow caps, or water in puddles or open sections of a tiny stream..
In the first two photos, I really enjoyed how the roots created different curves and patterns and showed through the snow while the pine needles added a splash of warm color. They brought my mind back to Eliot Porter's photographs and thoughts of random or not so random natural chaos. Does the first photo appear more random that the second, with the second forming some kind of a pattern, or is it just my imagination going wild?
In the final photo, I liked the arrangement of the wet spots on an almost frozen and snowed in Shale Creek. That also seemed to cross into the minimalist area, which I have been exploring over the last year or so too.
Have fun, whether shooting the arranged or the random!
Shoot when the Opportunity is There
Reading Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography, i just came across what Galen Rowell called his cardinal rule of outdoor photography: "If it looks good, shoot it; if it looks better, shoot it again."
I wanted to share that right away since it is such a great rule that I have been trying to follow myself for a while even if I did not have these words for it. I refer to those shots as the establishing shots for the location. I can come back if I am still around and conditions improve but I already have something to improve upon. I try to do the same with equipment. A handheld exploration of the scene with no filters or just the polarizer first, tripod, ND filters, grads, and other equipment later.
Don't let opportunities pass you by and have fun!
This water spewing snow volcano on the shore of Lake Erie was captured as an establishing shot, with sand and water filling the air. It also turned out to be the only shot I captured as weather deteriorated quickly making me and the camera head for cover.
In this photo, the snow volcano is presented in a better weather, but lacking the water spewing action.
Winter Coming to Buffalo after All - Chestnut Ridge Park
- Adapt, aka Plan but Welcome the Random
- Nature's Call, Another Unplanned and Unexpected Fun with the Camera
- Plan but Welcome the Random
- The Great Unexpected
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, have fun, ... Dan.
Warm vs. Cold, Atlantic Sunrise vs. Buffalo Winter
Today and the last night, we have finally gotten some measurable snowfall here in Buffalo. Its the least amount of snow for December I remember. While I am glad we did and am hoping for more, I also like the warmth of places like southern Florida, California, Hawaii, or others.
I did not manage to capture too many winter landscapes last year, there was too little snow, and Lake Erie never fully froze. I hope that will be different this year but we sure have a late start. As of December 22, 2012, Lake Erie is still at 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Lake Ontario is at 44. Long way to go!
The theory has it that warm lake will bring in lots of lake effect snow. That did not happen last year. Let's see what happens this year!
So while I await more snow to pile up on tip of the couple inches we got last night I go through my photos from a week in Florida and enjoy their warmth. It was a good week, a got week, an unusually hot week even for Florida with temperatures in the 80s. I was very surprised to see that they had 49 degrees there this morning (yes, my Accu Weather app was still set to Palm Beach Shores).
During the whole week, skies were cloudy and quite a few storms rolled through. However, it was never too far to sunny weather and we enjoyed our time thoroughly. And I had skies like this almost every morning and evening to enjoy! We thought the ocean was rather wild even on the first day but it got wilder every day yet. A wonderful treat!
Enjoy the Holidays and have a wonderful New Year!
Sailboats in Buffalo
When I came across this image I took this past summer while enjoying the inner harbor and Erie Basin Marina in downtown Buffalo, New York, a question came to my mind? Who'd guess this is a scene from Buffalo? Seriously, ask anyone what comes to their minds when they hear Buffalo. See how many say anything about sailboats!
Enjoy showing the obvious and not so obvious faces of your photo places.