What Nature Teaches Us

Being outside and immersed into nature is paramount for my photography.  I've never really cared what the weather was doing, any condition offers a new set of challenges to meet and capture natural elements. Foggy weather is fantastic for spooky atmospheric images of seemingly other worldly scenes.  By far the most challenging is full sunlight.  Yes I know, you the reader are saying, that is the "perfect" condition for lighting everything up, what are you saying?!

We don't always want to light up a scene in bright sunlight, or bright light of any kind. The play of shadow and semi shadow adds a depth and ambience and a certain air of mystery to an image. Bright light can bleed the colours out of your scene, steal the soft margins between subject and background. It can leave a harsh feel to the overall mood, and make the viewer feel like they need to apply a few layers of sun screen and some dark sunglasses.

Nature teaches us to approach gently, to watch carefully the play of light and shadow across the marsh surface, the shifting colours of a sandy landscape filled with cacti. Forests dance with shadows affecting focus, you never quite know where the edges are, where reality begins or finishes. This is real life, this is what nature teaches us. Patience, understanding, and above all respect. Because you never quite know where the edges are.