The Picture Within The Picture

Observation is an essential quality for a landscape photographer. “The devil is in the details”, they say. It is crucial to have it in mind when you are on location for two reasons. First, because you don’t want to miss a potential shot. Second, because you are very likely to go back home without any picture, at least you will have enjoyed the process of exploring and wandering in Nature. So you’d better walk slowly, look around you, down at your feet, above your head and carefully screen the horizon. Visualize the scene in your mind under different lights and from different angles. Let the colours and the shapes feed your imagination. Get the feel of the place. Details might make you feel you are in heaven too!

Nevertheless, each of us has his own standards and landscapes don’t stimulate our psyche equally. Some like badlands, others lush green forests. We might feel comfortable spending hours on a beach; but we might feel vulnerable in the mountains and want to shorten our trip. Those situations can possibly limit the time we want to spend and determine the amount of attention we pay to our environment. As outdoor photographers, we usually wait for the golden and blue hours and should be prepared to return with our head torch in the dark. It is just part of the experience.

In landscape photography, what I learned is that the more time you spend outside, the more likely you are to find something worth it. And some places have more to offer than others. I always proceed by elimination. I usually find different potential places for the picture I had in mind previously, but finally choose the one which had the most impact on me in the first place.

But things happened differently for the picture above. I decided to explore that part of the coast well exposed at sunrise and wanted a shot with the sun in the frame and to match it with a good composition, because I didn’t have any of this kind in my portfolio. I parked my car next to some cliffs. Because they were ten meters high and I didn’t find them impressive, I thought I would throw a glance at them at the end of the day only. So I went exploring the sharpest and highest cliffs of the area first. After a couple of hours, I couldn’t find anything at all and felt frustrated – don’t feel sorry for me, it is consubstantial with landscape photography. When I finally arrived back at my car, I decided to have a closer look at the cliffs a few meters from it. I approached and after roaming around ten minutes, I saw the rocks in the distance, took my compass out of my pocket and noticed that the sun would be rising right in between them at that time of the year. I composed the picture in my viewfinder and I had it. Only had the conditions to collaborate the day after. Which actually happened.

In fact I confidently set my gear up and waited for the sun to rise the following morning. Regularly checking my composition through the viewfinder in the meanwhile, I noticed that I wasn’t the only spectator. I could see a seagull standing on the rocks in the distance.

I could not stop smiling while making the two and half minutes exposure. Those details are the reason why I love so much landscape photography. Bear in mind that you can’t always get what you want. Even if I was lucky to make that shot, I could possibly have missed those rocks the day before, or the sun could have risen behind the clouds. Be ready for missing a lot of shots, but whatever happens, enjoy your photography. Because if you pay attention to details, in the end you should be able to find the picture within the Big Picture.