Last weekend I took a much
needed trip out into the Columbia River Gorge to shoot some creeks and
waterfalls. It’s been a while since I
have been immersed in an intimate forest scene with moving water…..something
that my soul and spirit needed.
I took off for Gorton Creek,
which is a fantastic little creek that cascades down a hillside in the Gorge,
complete with two distinct waterfalls, Emerald Falls and Gorton Creek
Falls. The initial hike in is fairly
easy, maybe one mile on a well defined trail that follows the creek. The rest of the hike to the 80 foot Gorton
Falls is not on a developed train and required climbing over rocks, scrambling
up hillsides and wading through the creek to make it to the final falls.
But, back to the title of
this post and why I’m writing…..Even before I had left my truck to begin the
hike, I began the mental process of trying to get “in the zone”
photographically; to change my vision to “see” artistically, to look for
patterns, shapes and colors that would result in pleasing compositions. Generally I need to “warm up” to get in the
zone. Just like regular exercise, this is exercise for the brain and it needs to
warm up. Getting in the zone is not an
instant process for me, but one that is gradual as I open myself up to my
surroundings. Because I don’t live in
the zone all of the time (shock!), depending on what’s going on in my life, I
can get in the zone fairly quickly, or, it maybe takes some time to work my way
into a creative place. There have also
been times that no matter how hard I try I couldn’t get there and I end up at a
location and I don’t “see” anything that I want to shoot.
On this particular morning, I
knew I was distracted by life as I pulled in to the parking lot so I started to
focus my thinking on putting aside life and embracing photography and my
surroundings. As I began to walk up the
trail, listening to the rush of water across the creekbed, the birds singing in
the early morning light, smelling the fresh forest scents and feelign the soft
trail underfoot, my vision began to open up to my surroundings, to observe
subtle details, to take in the macro view as well as small micro views in the
forest and how the subtle light shifts affect the scenes. I wasn’t in a rush to snap any pictures at
this time, I was more focused on getting into the zone so that when I did
decide to shoot, I could do better work by being more in touch with my
subject. So on I hiked until I reached
my first planned stop of Emerald Falls.
A waterfall is a very
noticeable feature and one that is automatic to stop and shoot. It doesn’t take a lot of creativity or
insight or awareness to stop and take
some classic NW waterfall shots. Knowing
that there are some “easy” shots to take of the falls, I got out my camera and
set up to shoot to get the the traditional shots out of the way, which might
free me up to be more creative afterwards.
As I shot the waterfall, first using traditional lenses and techniques,
then striving for some more unique shots by using different shutter speeds or
longer focal length lenses, I found myself moving deeper into the zone, feeling
more creativity flowing, feeling more connected to my surroundings.
Once I had worked the
waterfall enough and felt I had at least a few images that were keepers and I
could be happy with, I stepped away from the camera to refresh my vision and my
mindset. When I arrived at this
location, I was so focused on the waterfall because it’s hard to ignore, I didn’t
take enough time to appreciate other parts of my location. So I consciously took a step back mentally
and reapproached how I viewed my surroundings.
I find that when I’m in the
right frame of mind, I’m far more attuned to the scene and it can “speak” to me
in ways that I don’t notice when I’m distracted or in a hurry. My vision sharpens, my creativity expands and
my senses are heightened, which enables me to look at a scene with a much
different perspective. When nature “speaks”
to me, it means I am in touch with my surroundings, that I have made a
connection and can “feel” my photographs more so than just “seeing” them. There is something basal about this
connection and when I have it, I feel that I produce better work which is more
creative and more artistic. It’s something that I always strive for, but don’t
always attain.
As I stepped back and
surveyed the scene again, I began noticing small details all around me. The shape of tree trunks, the texture of
rocks, the pattern of ferns dotting the forest floor the movement and texture
of the water in the creek. In this
heightened sense of awareness my excitement grew as I saw many more
photographic opportunities than just the obvious waterfall nearby. I grabbed my camera and began working the
scene again, but now with this heightened awareness and a new sense of
creativity. During these periods I also
make a very conscious effort to throw out most of the “rules” of photography
and shoot from a very creative perspective and experiment with wildly different
apertures, shutter speeds and compositions.
I spent another 30 minutes exploring the scene with ultra-wide angle to
zoom lenses, different points of view, etc. trying to capture the connectedness
I was feeling with the scene. The scene below is one that caught my attention and drew me to it, to try and capture what I was seeing. The curve of the water as it moved around the small rock and the converging flows all came together into an intimate composition. The sense of motion, the abstract nature of a "micro scene", the texture of the water and the solidity of the rock were all elements that drew me in. I know that if I didn't step back and open myself up to the scene, I would never have seen this. It is a subtle detail in a much larger scene that is so easy to pass by when you are in a hurry or just focused on one subject (waterfall). These kinds of shots are "gifts" and ones that I value as much, or even more, than the more obvious shots.
Creatively satisfied, I finally packed up my camera and continued on my hike to the larger waterfall. At this location, I didn’t get
as deep in to the zone as I was previously.
I shot the scene in a traditional manner as well as more creatively, yet
since I was still coming down off the glow of the earlier waterfall, I didn’t
expend as much energy to get as “deep” into the scene. Yet, I still came away with some great images
of a beautiful waterfall.
So my point in this post is
this……as you approach and photograph a scene, slow down (your thoughts and your
movements), open your mind, get attuned to your surroundings, listening closely
for the scene to speak to you….you might
be amazed what it may tell you.
Right on, John. This happens to me when I'm taking reference pictures for future paintings, or looking for something to paint plein air. I don't always get into that zone, but the key conditions for doing so are exactly what you mention: slowing down, looking around, noticing. There's a connection with a place that cannot happen until we do that. When that connection happens, as you point out so well, the most amazing things reveal themselves. I love it when that happens!
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