Month: July 2013

Two Stories … In And Behind the Photo

Published on by tbeckerphotos7 Comments

The early morning started with a sunrise shoot atop Cadillac Mountain, the first place in the U.S. to see the sunrise.  However, on this morning Cadillac Mountain was enveloped with heavy fog.  Acadia Blog-0965This was a different sea than what was expected.  Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean had been visualized.

Knowing the pre-dawn hour up on Cadillac would be chilly, I was dressed in layers, thankful that my top layer was my rain gear.  Not because it was raining, but due to the wind.  Hoods, hats and gloves were worn by all who had gotten up basically in the middle of the night to watch the sun rise.  As I sat on the cold pink granite waiting to see if the sun would be able to break through, I watched the fog blow by.  We had a brief moment when the sun tried to break through and the pink granite had a touch of warmth.  Fog is rare in the desert where I live, so the opportunity to shoot on this foggy morning was gratifying.

Upon descent of Cadillac Mountain the fog had lifted, the sky still overcast.  Stopping along the road to continue the morning shoot, was a meadow with ox-eye daisies, lupine and aspen.   The light was perfect for macro photography.  Acadia Blog-0984I started with my macro lens and the ox-eye daisies.  This particular daisy immediately reminded me of the song “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” from “The Wizard of Oz”.

I then moved on to broad shots of the meadow. The green and purple so vibrant.  Acadia Blog-0988 After shooting a broad scene I walked down the road to get closer to the lupine.  The lupine in this field were taller than any I had ever seen.  They were between waist and chest  high, and I’m just above average height.  There were lupine just starting to bloom, in full bloom and some were already spent.  This was the story I wanted to tell.  My first composition there was a merge of two lupine.  The camera cannot see what the human eye can.  We see the world in 3D, but the camera only sees in 2D.  Being careful not to damage any lupine, I moved further into the meadow.  All the while keeping my eye on the lupine that first caught my attention.

Life of a Lupine
Life of a Lupine

Do you see the story in this photo?  Maybe the title will help. A lupine not yet in bloom near one just starting to bloom.  Then several lupine that had started to fade and one that had gone to seed.  Hindsight being 20/20, I would have continued to work on the shot with the merge and made it abstract, telling the story in a different way.

Over the years I have been complimented on being able to see the light.  Seeing the light is very important, but is there a story to tell?

©Tamara Becker and Different Isn’t Wrong, It’s Just Different, 2013.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Tamara Becker and Different Isn’t Wrong, It’s Just Different with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Bring the Ocean to the Desert?

Published on by tbeckerphotos2 Comments

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In my post “What would the Title Be?”, I wrote about a photo that had been critiqued and it being different from the classic shot.

During my time in Acadia National Park last summer, our instructor (Colleen Miniuk-Sperry) told a story about a lady who lived in the desert feeling claustrophobic in the forest.  In order to overcome that feeling she went to the coast where it is open like the desert.  We were given the challenge to take the ocean back to the desert.  I thought how in the world can we do that?

The ocean is the opposite of the desert.  Moist cool breeze, blue water as far as the eye can see.  The sound of crashing waves, buoys and birds all along the coast.  It’s peaceful.  The desert air is dry like the hot air that escapes when an oven door is opened.  Coyotes howling as the sun sets and in the pre-dawn hour.  Many shades of brown in the earth, flora and fauna struggling to survive.

I struggled trying to bring the feel of the ocean to the desert.  Then a month after my trip to Acadia, I attended another workshop this time at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Critique sessions were held in the lodge.  The room was large and the view looked out to the canyon.  Most people view the canyon looking to the North Rim from the South Rim and vice versa.  This view was different, it was towards the west and went as far as the eye could see.  This was the ocean in the desert!

After our critique session we were headed to Cape Royal for sunset.  While waiting for sunset I made several intimate landscape shots.  We were out on a cliff and I was feeling a bit dizzy so I sat down.  Looking to the west, the canyon looked as if it went on forever.  Here was my ocean in the desert shot.

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Wotan’s Throne is to the left of the frame.  This perspective is different than the classic shot of Wotan’s Throne.  The sky was overcast and the clouds lacked texture so I kept it out of the frame.  Another trip to the North Rim to try this shot again is on my list!

And the classic shot?  Here are two from our sunrise shoot the next morning. As far as sunset that night, read my post “Don’t Get Caught Sittin’ on the Bus” for that story!

North Rim-2728

North Rim-2723

©Tamara Becker and Different Isn’t Wrong, It’s Just Different, 2013.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Tamara Becker and Different Isn’t Wrong, It’s Just Different with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.