PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY.com

Let me say up front that the purpose of this blog has never been to boast how awesome I am. In fact sometimes I think I may be the least awesomest person I know. I spent hours pouring through the dictionary to find that word. I know it’s in there somewhere.
But back to the point. The idea of this blog has always been to write about my experiences as a photographer - and the journey that I’m on as I take pictures and advance in my skills. That’s why I called this site “Photographer’s Journey.” Pretty clever, eh? And trust me, the fact that it was the only available domain name had very little to do with it. Really.
Anyway, my thinking has always been that if I am still learning as a photographer - and I am - then others out there like you may be, too. Now, that is not to suggest you or I are not experienced photographers. I think we all vary in our experience level and I consider myself to be somewhere in the fattest part of that “bell curve.”
But to me, the very process of photography is a journey. With every turn of our head toward something interesting, with every choice we make between aperture and shutter, with every click of that button, we are on a journey toward discovery. Whoa. That’s heavy, man.
Now, the thing is, I’ve always been incredibly struck that when I undertake a literal journey - a trip somewhere - my eyes open up as a photographer to new ways of seeing things.
I read recently about a photographer who plans out every shot he makes. He’s a landscape photographer, so that makes a great deal of sense. Landscape photography can be extremely difficult and richly rewarding, but I think it’s fair to say the best images are usually well planned out. Certainly that was true for much of Ansel Adams‘ work, for example. And all that planning ahead, mapping out precisely how a shot should look, often leaves room for those pleasant surprises in weather or light that are less easy to predict.
So, certainly planning out a photograph is a great way to go. And there are some terrific photographers out there who do exactly that. I’m not one of them.

It may be a flaw in my personality (okay, fine, it’s a flaw) but I’m sorta one of those “let’s wing it” kind of guys. You can imagine how that translated so well into a stunning college academic career.
Sure, I may have some attention deficit problem. Hmm…. now where was I going… oh yeah:
But I get such incredible joy out of visiting a new place. To me, travel unlocks my vision and inspiration as a photographer in a way that few other things do. And by its very nature, it’s kinda hard to plan ahead much when you’re traveling. At least it is for me.
I made the image above while on a drive through Front Royal, Virginia. It’s a little town nestled at the north end of the Shenandoah Valley. And what struck me is that on a Sunday evening downtown, the streets were incredibly empty. There was a certain isolation and peace that for me, as a photographer, seemed especially powerful. I saw this image knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. It had rained moments earlier, darkening the street, which I thought contrasted beautifully with the red door and brick building.
Now, you can argue whether this image is a good one. For me, I kinda think it doesn’t suck. But the point is, this is an image I never would have made at home where I live in Washington, D.C. Yes, it’s true that one reason for this is that I would most likely be run down by a taxi while standing in the street trying to frame my picture. But the bigger reason is that Front Royal, Virginia, is simply not Washington, D.C. And my eyes were opened by that mere fact.
Now, I can’t say that I didn’t do at least a small amount of planning. I chose a small enough aperture to preserve the depth of field I wanted. I carefully balanced my exposure so I wouldn’t inadvertently highlight the street (blowing out the highlights in the background), and I also knew that photographing after a rain storm would present some great opportunities. It’s true what they say - rain can be a photographer’s best friend.
But essentially this image was not one I planned. It came to me. Almost like a “vision.” And if you’re like me, you know the incredible joy that comes with that.
So with this in mind, I thought perhaps a good poll question for this week would be “Do You Plan your Photographs?” There’s clearly no wrong answer here - we all do it differently and we all do at least some amount of planning. But the real question is your photographic style: Are you a planner? Or are you more the spontaneous type?
I’d be interested to know your feelings - so please cast a vote in the poll (top right column). And next week, I’ll blog out the results.
That’s it for now… and as always, please leave a comment and consider subscribing via RSS so you can read more of this insanely wise prose in the future.

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