One of the mindsets that guides my photography is that the human eye and the camera don’t experience the world in the same way. Photographs are more limited than human sight in many ways, but can also see in ways that we can not. It is my goal to understand what the camera sees so I can manipulate and coax it to capture a photograph that reconciles with my own view of the landscape. To some this goes against tradition. We have been conditioned to believe that a photograph portrays, or at least should portray, an accurate record of the world and we must accept what the camera gives us. In truth, the very act of taking a photograph significantly alters a scene from how we perceive it in any number of ways. I’m less interested in the literal and more interested in what I can communicate and create. Artists have always endeavored to express themselves, their experiences and their impressions through their medium. A camera is a tool to do just that, to paint an artistic vision of the world. I want to capture something that excites me and hopefully resonates with others. In a recent interview my friend, professional musician and fellow photographer, Chip Phillips said, “The main thing to make the [musical] performance successful is to stir up an emotional response in the listener, and the same is true with a photograph.”

Both the way that we capture and develop our images have entered a new and exciting phase. Early on I embraced the changes digital technology brought to the art form. The digital age has allowed photographers to overcome many shortcomings and limitations of cameras that have frustrated them from the beginning. The new tools of photography enable me to be more creative and to express my experiences and vision more fully than ever before. I will always be fan and a student of traditional landscape and nature photography, venturing into the land to work with the raw materials of light, form, color and texture. And while the photographic tools and techniques are evolving, the motivation and the thought processes of the nature photographer remain unchanged. If anything, I find that it is more important than ever to be on top of my game. It takes skill in traditional photography techniques as well as skill in digital developing to get my images to approach what I hope for them.

There are those who worry that digital photography has lowered the bar. I can say my experience has been just the opposite. All the principles of light and composition continue to apply and proper camera technique is still essential. In fact, the way that I work with the camera in the field these days is more involved and creative than it ever could have been with film. I shoot thinking several steps ahead to how I will want to develop the image later on. In just a few seconds I might capture a range of frames utilizing different exposures, apertures and focal points in order to collect all the visual information in the scene I’ll need to develop the finished piece. Learning how to think and work with so many variables while simultaneously pre-visualizing the future processing has been far more interesting and challenging than working within the confines of a single frame of film ever was. Far from being a shortcut or a creativity killer, digital photography allows us to express a new and exciting vision, not unlike the way film photography did when it was introduced over a century ago.

For further musings on the topics of photography, artistic expression and where current digital developing techniques come to bare I would point you toward Guy Tal’s recent article: Lie Like You Mean It.

There are so many great activities one can be involved in in life. For many of us, one of those activities is the magic of exploring the world with our cameras in hand, capturing moments and trying to make lasting memories of the scenes that impress upon us.

Links that might be of interest:

Upcoming image processing classes and outdoor photography workshops.

Instructional videos on fine art image processing.