This shot came about in 2015, on January 31 to be precise. We just had some massive snowfall and a group of us wen to visit shore locations and beaches to capture this winter beauty. This was the winter when we got more than 6 feet of snow total; I long for another winter like that, as this year it has been nothing of the sort.
In last week’s post on My Creative Approach – part 1, I talked a bit about the impact of the inner vision in shaping the image; steering the edit of an image definitely is one way for me to get to what I’m trying to express. In this post, let’s take a look at another way to find that expression.
Last week during the walk on the beach at Meigs Point, one of the pieces of driftwood caught my attention…
Driftwood on the Beach
This beach always provides some interesting subjects for photography, and when I saw the shape of this jetsam, my mind’s eye started putting together a concept that might be possible. Using the available light and shifting my perspective, I opened up my imagination and let the shape speak to me.
At these times, it is important to use one’s feet and view your subject from multiple angles; as part of this process don’t forget to vary the height of the camera…
Vikings’ Dragon
Using height and composition to my advantage, the head starts to articulate above the landscape and one can almost feel there is something waiting to arise from this ancient head; could it be steam or fire? Letting our imagination do its duly appointed work, I can almost see the ancient Viking longships coming to the coast of the New World with their dragon-shaped figureheads; as the settlers left their beached ships behind, weather chipped away at the details over the centuries, leaving behind just enough to remind us of the way they once graced the oceans’ waters.
Part of the creative process here was in the selection of composition and using the camera’s aperture to set the subject apart from a more dreamy backdrop. Allowing the viewer’s eye to travel across the image helps establish a connection to their imagination from yours!
This image was captured with a Canon EOS R5 and Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. Aperture was set at f/5.0, at 400 ISO and 1/1250s exposure. Minor touch ups and a bit of contrast was provided in post-processing.
With some initial, cautious steps it is time to regain a sense of balance in life. It has not been easy to find creative energy outside the structure provided by a rather busy work schedule, as much of my energy is derived from direct, human interaction.
This year will be the year of our grand re-opening, as we’ve learned to deal with one challenge after another (and still more right now), and I have to say that I am looking forward to getting some real travel back into my schedule. Plans and reservations have been made for both a photography journey to Iceland in August and a Rhine river cruise in September. Exciting prospects!
Flotsam and Jetsam
One of my welcome outings of last year, was a trip to visit a great friend of mine and our going out to explore some areas with photo opportunities. This particular spot was the beach at Harkness State Park in Connecticut, where these pieces of driftwood caught my attention on a rather cold December day. The line they presented was just very inviting!
This image was captured with an iPhone 12 Pro Max and processed using Luminar AI; this software is produced by Skylum, headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge provides the theme of Out of this World, which immediately made me think of the specific image in this post…
What is rather amusing to me is that the author of the prompt used a similar approach! My reason for selecting this image is that at the time it made me think of the tracks left behind by an invading horde of alien snakes from low-gravity planet out in the Draco system…
Beachscape
This view came to me during a February beach walk a number of years back; I heartily recommend the month of February for visiting the beach, as you mostly have it all to yourself to explore!
Dutch goes the Photo! 