As an outdoor photographer I work in conditions beyond my control. The unpredictable, mysterious and surprising elements of nature are precisely what compel me to spend time outdoors attempting to photograph the landscape at its defining moments.

A trip I took last fall is a great example. Excited by the promise of fall color and dramatic skies, I took a nine day trip to Montana and Idaho. 1,200 miles later I arrived at Glacier National Park on the edge of an approaching storm. Hunkered in my van, I was buffeted by high winds and rain for three days, during which I was able to get out and take photos for an hour or two. Undeterred, I headed south in hopes of better weather. In the Sawtooth range of Idaho, low cloud cover and snow kept the mountains hidden for all but a few minutes of the next three days. During the long stretches of time alone in my van, I read, scouted locations, studied the landscape and weather and got up before dawn so that I’d be ready if something magical happened.

The mountains were still shrouded when my time came to an end. As I drove back across the high desert of eastern Oregon, the skies opened for a brief sunset at the John Day Fossil Beds, but by morning the clouds were back and it was snowing.

The day after returning home, I decided on a whim to make a quick visit to the upper Rogue River, an hour’s drive away. I was completely caught by surprise when one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve experienced illuminated the sky and I rushed to capture the event. For the rest of the day I hiked and photographed brilliant fall foliage along the river at the height of color in perfect soft light. On that single day I created more good images than the previous nine combined, including one of my all time favorites. All of my experiences with nature during those ten days: the cold, the gray, the quiet, the slow, the subtle, the brilliant and the unexpected, they all keep me anticipating what nature will show me next.

David Lorenz Winston is a highly talented, respected and well known photographer whose career has spanned 30 years. I am fortunate to live in the same town and call him a friend. In the past couple of years he has greatly inspired and influenced my work. I highly recommend visiting his site at www.davidlorenzwinston.com and his BLOG. Below he explains the importance of relationship in photography.

For me, photography is about relationship. At times the relationship is between me and my subject(s), but more often its between subjects, animate or inanimate within the picture frame. To emphasize relationship I like to juxtapose, contrast, uncover humor and create mystery. Often these elements weave together. Sometimes relationship is about alienation, a sense of isolation in relation to self or surroundings. Ultimately, my photographs reveal a lot more about how I perceive the world than the subjects they depict.

Without relationship a photograph remains in a sense, two dimensional. With relationship there is always the possibility of transformation, creating more than the sum of the parts.

On the popular photography website www.BetterPhoto.com my photo Crimson Gorge recently won the honor of Photo of the Day. Photo of the Day showcases outstanding pictures from BetterPhoto’s monthly photo contest and goes out by email to over 26,000 people!

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