Creating a better photograph than you intended
Just a few days ago I had visualized a photograph that I wanted to make. I could see it in my head. I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve. However, that can be a problem. I find when I have a specific vision in my head before I go out to shoot I end up limiting myself or if it doesn’t work out I just get disappointed.
I knew the weather was going to cooperate the evening I made this photograph. For the last few weeks it was either pouring rain with flat gray skies or totally sunny with cloudless skies. On this day it was a nice calm, sunny but some clouds floating by. Just what I was waiting for.
I live by a lake, like so many Minnesotans, and spend half my life driving around it to get anywhere. There is one particular spot that has an older wooden dock that looks very peaceful and I look at it every time go to the other side of the lake. I pre -visualized a long exposure with the dock reaching out over calm flat water and a nice graduated sky with some clouds floating by.
The shoot
The evening approached and I grabbed my gear with excitement and anticipation of “the shot” I was going to make. It is just a short 2 minute drive to the spot I wanted. As I drove up I saw a two people out on the dock! What!? There is never anyone out on this old rickety thing… Sure enough, that very evening a father decided to take his son fishing on the exact same dock I wanted to shoot.
I could have said, “okay, that’s it. I’ll come back another day”. Instead, I pushed passed my expectations, parked the car and grabbed my gear. “They might be almost ready to leave” I told myself. They weren’t. I decided to just go with it. Accept what was given to me and make the best of it.
I introduced myself, had a little chat with the fishermen and set up my tripod and camera. I took my time, metering for the light and finding my composition. At the same time they kept fishing, moving around the dock with each cast. I made several long exposures and came away with some really interesting photographs but there is one that really spoke to me.
I could never have imagined this photo from where my pre-visualization in my head was. I had that image set in my mind as my goal. The resulting photograph that I have from that outing is much more powerful. I was really happy I pushed my expectations aside and just went with it.
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