What's just down the road from you? I have often overlooked amazing opportunities to photograph something because I wasn't looking all around me. Our best shots are sometimes nothing we intended to shoot. We also may find them BEFORE we get to our destination.
Golden Chilhowee Sunset Shot with a Canon 5DS and a Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM Lens. Shot at 70mm, ISO 400, F11 at 1/60th sec. Shot February 9, 2018 at 6:05 p.m.
The shot above was recently featured by the New York Institute of Photography. I will always include my camera settings so that you can hopefully duplicate the shot if you like it. It was my first photograph featured by the Institute. I didn't go to the Chilhowee Overlook to take this photo. But...this dry weed...brown and dead from sunrise through the middle of the day...became a golden, glowing subject at sunset. At the end of the day...it was the shot of the day...and I could easily have missed it had I not just looked around.
We often think that we have to go to an epic landscape to capture images that inspire. Nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly there are iconic images of places like Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon...but inspirational captures are all around us. Sometimes they are found on our way to what we thought would be our epic destination.
The image below was also recently published by the New York Institute of Photography. I was on my way to shoot the Mississippi River at sunset and got lost. This shot was the best of the night. I didn't even know this place existed and had I taken a right instead of a left...I would have missed it,
South Bluff Spring, Memphis, TN. Shot with a Canon 5DS and a Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM lens. Shot at 41 mm, ISO 400, F2.8 at 1/60th sec. Shot March 6, 2018 at 6:59 p.m.
The lesson I learned from both of these is that we have to be ready to see what's just down the road...and what's on the way to our destination. Don't be so caught up in the sunset that you miss the beauty of the golden hour on a field of flowers. And don't think you have to go to the western desert or on safari to capture beautiful images... they can be right down the road.
The slideshow below features images taken at a small pond in Charleston, Tennessee. There is nothing special about the pond...except the beauty that is waiting to be seen if you will just look...and then be patient and wait for the shot.
Just just down the road...I promise you won't ever be disappointed.
Hover your cursor over the image for a description and camera settings.
