Monday, January 26, 2015

One Location- 4 Stories

       We recently returned from another trip to Mexico. This time we went to San Jose del Cabo and I managed to squeeze off a few shots while there.
       As I have mentioned before on this blog, it can be a good idea to take numerous photographs in one location during one session. While the camera freezes a moment in time, the reality is, things are constantly changing all around us. If you leave a spot after just one shot, you may have missed a great opportunity to capture something.
       It is also beneficial to go to the same location at a different time. This will allow you to see things, literally, in a whole new light. Your first attempt may not have produced what you had hoped for. But what if you went there in the morning or at night?  What would it look like if there were more or less people there? You get the picture.
      So lets look at 4 images from San Jose del Cabo that illustrate these points. All of these shots were taken at the exact same location.

Image #1

   The first thing I noticed while standing on the beach in front of our resort were the waves. They were very powerful. I composed the shot so that the different elements of the scene divided the frame into fairly equal portions. The sky, the wave, the retreating surf and the sand. Using burst mode allowed me to take many shots of a fast moving wave. Then I could choose my favorite.

Image #2
  
    Turning to the left I noticed an interesting cloud formation. I liked the way the angle of the cloud and the angle of the shoreline created lines to lead your eye to the hills in the distance. Having my lens fully zoomed out, capturing a wider viewpoint, helps to show the viewer the surroundings of the wave of the first image. Now you have a better idea of where we were and the atmosphere around us.

Image #3

     If you look closer in the previous shot, there are people on the beach way off in the distance. Zooming in we see that they are fisherman. Now we have a picture that has a more specific subject and can tell a story. While still a landscape photograph, it has a bit of a journalistic feel. Its documenting a common activity in the area. I waited until a wave came crashing in before pressing the shutter button in the hopes of adding a little more drama to the scene.

Image #4

       You may have noticed in the three previous photographs that while there was atmosphere in the area, the light was very boring. I decided that I had to come back to the same spot when the light was different to get another take on the area. So, a few days later, I dragged myself out of bed early to capture the sun rise. If there were no clouds in the sky, I probably would not have got up. I went to the same location with my tripod and set up. Wanting as many elements in the scene as possible, I included sky, water and sand. Composing the scene so that the shore was angled made the foreground a little more interesting and using a long exposure here to soften the waves helped the texture of the sand to stand out more. And obviously, the sunrise creating the amazing color in the sky is the main reason this shot is so different from the rest.
        So there you have it. Hopefully these photographs help to illustrate the benefits of taking numerous photographs from one specific location. Thanks for looking!



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