A few weeks ago, I wrote about the four rules I was going to implement to improve my photography: enjoy the trip, no pressure, slow down, and, when things don’t go as planned, remember the first rule. Well, I recently started putting these rules into action, although it wasn’t easy.
My wife, dog, and I made the short drive to Two Rivers Park, which lies along the Little Maumelle River in Little Rock. Because it was relatively close to my house, I did something I have rarely done before – I left all of my camera equipment at home. All I carried with me was my new Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II.
I have to admit the idea of carrying nothing but a small point-and-shoot camera that could fit in my pocket made me particularly nervous. But, I realized this little jaunt was meant to get me outside to simply enjoy the time outdoors, and carrying all of my equipment would invariably lead me to break all of my rules. And, on the first venture of the year no less. I decided to ignore my uneasiness and headed out.
Reaching the park, I was struck by another brilliant idea, at least for me. I would use our walk as an opportunity to scout the area for photographic subjects. If I saw something interesting, I would use my little camera to grab some quick shots that I could study later to find the best photographic subjects and perhaps try to previsualize some possible compositions. Then, I could go back with all of my equipment and create those images.
It was that stroke of genius that ultimately led to the creation of this image. About a third of the way through our walk, I noticed these trees standing on the hillside across the river from where we were walking. What caught my attention was the contrast of the lighter trunks and branches against the darker hillside. I framed the shot, pressed the shutter button, and continued on my way.
Getting back home, I downloaded the files to my computer and began looking through them. When I got to the predecessor to the above image, I decided to process it to see what I could get out of it.
That’s when I noticed the sun lighting the upper branches while the lower branches and trunks were still in shade. I hadn’t seen this when I had snapped the shot, but I liked the look. So, I decided that I would go back to that same spot the next morning with my main camera and tripod and rephotograph the scene.
To create the image I wanted in which only the upper branches were lit by sunlight, timing was extremely important. If I arrived too late in the morning, the sun would be too high in the sky bathing the entire hillside in light. But, arrive too early, and I would be spending a lot of time just sitting and waiting for the right moment. And waiting is not something I do patiently.
I reached the location about 45 minutes before what I projected would be the optimum shooting time. With essentially all the time in the world, I set up my tripod and camera, framed the composition I wanted, and then waited…and waited…and waited.
Finally, almost as if someone had flipped a switch, the tops of the trees began to glow, and everything came together. I began photographing the scene waiting roughly one minute between shots to capture the different light patterns as the sun rose higher and higher.
After about 15 minutes, the quality of the light diminished, and I began packing up to go home. But, not before I captured this image.