The imperative to stop

[tbob]

This sort of thing is why I have to divide my photography from going out with my family and friends,

Saw this as I was rounding a corner on a dirt road on my way home. If I had been traveling with another person I would not have had the luxury to spend ten minutes creeping about trying to get the angle and composition I wanted. Instead the pressure of not "wasting their time" would have cramped my endeavour. Now it may not be great art, but I still felt compelled to try.

[Wavelength]

I am not a happy person while i say , sorry Trevor, i don't see anything special about it

[mugge]

I do like the colours center and right.

I can see why you stopped to look.

[moroccanimager]

I think the framing overall is pretty good. It does become more interesting with sustained looking. Separation from the background is also decent. What can disengage is the sunny grasses clashing with the central subject. It's a bit too chaotic. One thing I always think about is subject form. Is the central subject a pleasing shape and secondly how does it interact with the frame or other objects. Obviously harsh light can interfere with the second point. Here's a link to a set which I made in a scruffy location back in April. It may give you some ideas with regards to dealing with chaos in nature.

https://essaouiraimages.viewbook.com/album/river-path

[ccphoto]

Here is the essence of photography as seen through different eyes. I cannot remember how many times I've turned around to shoot something that others just shrug their shoulders and say, "meh," what's to see...but I saw it and I took it to task and made an image from it. Sometimes, it was a great image, though more often the others were right..."meh."

Unfortunately like Nandakumar, to me, this is a "meh," moment.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Trevor,

I have to admit it may well have been a scene I'd have walked past too. Sometimes I do have moments like you describe, but often I give up, for me, nature is (very often) just too random!

I can see some merit in the composition, the thing that I find most distracting is the sharp regular shape of the sunlit rock in lower left corner, if I hold a thumb between my eyes and the monitor so it's hidden, the scene improves.

- but then there's a triangle in the background formed of trunks and branches that draws my eye.

I'm not sure my mitigation ideas will appeal to all, but the impact of both could be significantly reduced by very localised exposure reduction - assuming cloning away the rock is sacrilegious talk.

Some good examples in Darren's (river-path) album.

Cheers,
Dave

[xpatUSA]

I wish that the light had been coming from the opposite direction thereby bringing out the tree-stump and it's nice mossy bits; but I'm not sure what the intended subject is, so can comment no further ...

[Astro]

Trevor, I get caught up with a view or a texture or maybe just a reflection all the time. And it always has something to do with the quality of the light.......

In repect of Chris' comment, I would describe it as the essence of a 'personal' photographic perception.

We must be somewhat alike since I can see what probably? prompted you to stop and try this capture.
If it were my mine I think I would crop away the bright area to the right and then accentuate the contrast between the shaded and the sunlit areas to bring out the dressed stone block and those bright areas behind the stump.

James

[escape]

This post is primarily about having the freedom to stop and shoot as one pleases, unencumbered. It's about shooting whatever catches your eye.
(" Now it may not be great art, but I still felt compelled to try.") Bravo! I think that's pretty good.

[DanK]

Trevor,

I sympathize with your dilemma. I actually carried nothing but a tiny point and shoot on a trip to Iceland with my son a decade ago because I guessed--correctly--that he would lose patience having to stand around while I fiddled with the camera.

Unfortunately, however, this capture doesn't work for me. I can see why you stopped, and I probably would have too, but I don't think it works as an image. Most of the shots I take in the woods get discarded for similar reasons. We're pretty good at selectively focusing our brains on the interesting parts of the image, but the camera is merciless in ignoring this. The result in this case is a lot of clutter, some of it better illuminated than some of the more interesting material.

[Geoff F]

It looks a lot better in the Lightbox view; but I think I would crop tighter at the sides to remove distracting background items and concentrate more on the old dead tree stump. Maybe end up square or 4 x 5 ratio?

[Urbanflyer]

without comment about the photo used as an example, I, too, find it difficult to really take time to compose a photo when with other people. I am too aware of them and worried they are annoyed with my tarrying. So for "real' photo work I prefer to go alone.

[Chataignier]

2 things to respond to : the photo and observations about taking time when in company
Regarding the photo, I'm afraid it doesn't speak to me, but your comment about needing time and space to take pictures really does. My partner Isabelle is amazingly tolerant of me stopping to take pictures, but precisely because she doesn't complain, I feel obliged to hurry. I've taken to leaving the camera at home when we go out for walks etc. After all, I'm retired, whereas Isa still works full time, so I can always go back another day.

[tbob]

Thanks for the critiques and comments.

I think the majority is right, this image that will probably ever be anything more than a trial or an exercise. And probably the majority would walk right by (or drive in this instance). However it caught my eye and I was happy to spend some time, both in the forest and on the computer, to play. Fortunately I had the freedom to do both.

[Chataignier]

2 things to respond to : the photo and observations about taking time when in company
Regarding the photo, I'm afraid it doesn't speak to me, but your comment about needing time and space to take pictures really does. My partner Isabelle is amazingly tolerant of me stopping to take pictures, but precisely because she doesn't complain, I feel obliged to hurry. I've taken to leaving the camera at home when we go out for walks etc. After all, I'm retired, whereas Isa still works full time, so I can always go back another day.

A postscript to this - photo club outings. I have a friend who is an active member of our club, but never comes with the group on trips out for the reasons discussed in this thread. He says that ours is an asocial hobby. Personally I dont agree, I find watching others and discussing angles, depth of field etc with a group who are all there to take pictures is interesting and informative.

[tbob]

Count me in with your friend.

Yesterday represented a new step for me, I joined the local Photography Club and joined an online meeting. I will see if I enjoy the group outings. Until now I have been entirely solitary on my outings. And have never joined a club. I have always been a solo hiker and hunter (When I hunted. In University I hunted with a friend, but we went our separate ways and only met up once or twice during the day and to go home.)The few times I have gone hiking, hunting or photographing with another person I have found it extremely cramping of my style, however I will give this endeavour the benefit of the doubt.

[xpatUSA]

Count me in with your friend.

plus one, Trevor.

My "clubs" are this forum and the Sigma Camera forum over on DPR.

[Tronhard]

Count me in with your friend.

Yesterday represented a new step for me, I joined the local Photography Club and joined an online meeting. I will see if I enjoy the group outings. Until now I have been entirely solitary on my outings. And have never joined a club. I have always been a solo hiker and hunter (When I hunted. In University I hunted with a friend, but we went our separate ways and only met up once or twice during the day and to go home.)The few times I have gone hiking, hunting or photographing with another person I have found it extremely cramping of my style, however I will give this endeavour the benefit of the doubt.

I can relate to what you say, although hunting on my own is something I would not risk. One challenge for anyone is finding a companionship of those who like the same things as you. My partner was not a visual person, she was a linguist, and so when, on the few occasions she went out on a specific photographic trip, she would be obviously tolerant and read a book while I did my thing I felt pressure to get it all over and done with. Ironically, one of the best holidays of my life was with a friend from Quebec who also love photography and we joined forces for three weeks of shooting in Alberta and BC. There weren't enough hours in the day! We came back to our accommodation late, ate and collapsed to be up again early next morning and repeat.

I think joining a photographic group, club or society is a good idea as long as their culture works for you. I was a member of the Victoria, BC photographic society for about 3 years while I was there and loved it. It was inclusive, and apart from field trips and shoots, they held three evening sessions per month: 1 for competition, one for guest speakers and (the most popular) a members' night: where people were given a slot to present images on any topic - from experiments in macro or abstract, to someone's trip to Greece. It encouraged sharing of images without judgement, yet those presenting gained skills in how to show images and make presentations.

On returning to NZ I was disappointed to discover that the vast majority of groups focus on competition rather than participation. They seem to believe that competition is the only way for photographers to engage and improve. As a life-long educator I know that the fear of formal judgement and competitions hangs heavy on those just starting out - they need positive encouragement and reinforcement more than critique in the first place to encourage participation. I fully confirm that competition has its place, and I am fine with that, but the raison d'etre of camera clubs should be to encourage participation first before anything else. One of my fellow shooters was bemoaning the plummeting memberships of his club, and yet was firm in his conviction that competition was absolutely critical for participation.

[tbob]

I have been to two online meetings (COVID has precluded in person) of the local group and so far it has been a positive experience. There is a lot of back and forth discussion on images, all polite and constructive. So far it has been about choosing images for the group to submit to a Provincial Nature photo competition. The next meeting may show more how the group works when not actually involved in assessing images.

There is a group shoot tomorrow, but I will have to be away so the personal contact and group dynamics of actually participating with a group will have to wait.

On the whole the experience has been positive, really too early and limited in scope to fully assess. I hope it will not be all competitions, the exchange of opinions and new viewpoints is what has been sadly lacking in my photographic journey to date. Hard to grow and branch out by navel gazing . This forum has been of great value to that end, but nothing beats in person discussion from a group.

[Manfred M]

A postscript to this - photo club outings. I have a friend who is an active member of our club, but never comes with the group on trips out for the reasons discussed in this thread. He says that ours is an asocial hobby. Personally I dont agree, I find watching others and discussing angles, depth of field etc with a group who are all there to take pictures is interesting and informative.

I'm also very much of an asocial photographer and when I review what I consider to be my best work, it was all done in very small groups (sometimes splitting off a larger group), often just with my wife (who is a decent enough photographer) and often just by myself.

I am an introvert (as are the rest of my immediate family members) so I get my energy and creativity by being alone or with one or two other people at most. When working with larger groups, I tend to get outvoted on the approach and have to live with others decisions (shooting location, lighting, etc), which are quite often not where I want to go with the setting, lighting or work. I often find the experience frustrating and tiring.

The main reason I attend some of the outings is to encourage others in my photo club to participate in events (I am the Chair of one club and on the Executive of another), but will be frank and admit I have never come back with images I find particularly interesting and compelling from these outings.

When it comes to post-processing, which in my view is every bit as important as getting a good capture, that is 100% a solo activity. Depending on the image, I spend as much time on it as on capture and in some instances more time.

We did membership surveys at both clubs a few months ago and for some members, the social aspects of the club. Meeting with friends and acquaintances, the social aspects to traveling and chatting with others after an outing are very important to some. Others are more interested in the learning new skills and improving existing ones in order to make stronger images.

What I have always found interesting is how so many people could be at a club shoot and come back with such a large variety of images of the same subject.