We love to give names to inanimate objects. One might look at a natural rock formation and see an old man in the mountain, for example. Often these names are reflected on a map; many have persisted for decades. If you think in terms of making your own associations, an otherwise ordinary photograph could potentially tell a story.
           
Take this example.

I was hiking in the Sourland Mountain Preserve, a place filled with boulders and rock formations. I found these two formations and my initial thought was they resembled a married couple. I then thought that they could be a parent and child or just two friends. Regardless, I saw a relationship that had human qualities.The key is to frame it correctly so that the viewer might see a connection.
           
I made several images from different angles and opted for one that allowed the two entities to be shown with virtually no overlap. I avoided branches and brush interfering with a full depiction of the formations. The apparent leaning of the formations is how they were, as you can see the incline of the mountain behind them.
 
Be creative. What might not be especially interesting initially can result in an intriguing and unusual image.

We have all experienced the “wow” effect of driving along a road and suddenly a blaze of foliage captivates us. Unfortunately, when we stop and go back, we can’t always seem to find that same vision. Either we are too close to the trees, or the leaves don’t seem as bright as they did, or something else keeps us from capturing the image as we originally saw it. Consider the philosophy that less is more, and sometimes one can capture the fall foliage by focusing on the details.

Here is an image from Fiddlers Creek, a natural preserve in Central New Jersey adjacent to Baldpate Mountain. 

The trees to the right are still mainly green with some yellow, and many of the leaves have already fallen. Still there were sufficient leaves remaining to make the image appealing, and I could see the reflection in the water of the orange leaves. It’s like putting a mirror in the room to give the impression of a room twice the size. Even if it’s not completely filled with color, you can still get a good foliage shot by focusing on where the color is.

Also, make ample use of the filters in your software program. I found that by adjusting the hue of yellow I could obtain more orange than yellow. I adjusted other colors, such as the blue, and made use of filters to increase the luminance and light. Even if you don’t have editing software, you can still capture color by selective framing.

Prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, I was often on planes and traveling internationally. As a result of travel restrictions, I began to explore and reconnect with some parks in New Jersey that I hadn’t visited in years. The experience holds two lessons for the photographer. Never disregard the familiar in favor of the exotic, and rethink the traditional landscape photograph.

In terms of the first point, consider this image of a dragonfly in flight in a state park called Six Mile Run. It is not a close up you would find in National Geographic, but nonetheless a capture of an otherwise unremarkable moment. This required an adjustment of shutter speed and a quick decision as to suitable background. I do have to admit to a certain liberty taken. I selected and slightly enlarged the dragonfly and pasted the larger version over where the smaller one was. It’s the same scene with the same dragonfly but with a slightly enlarged version to make it more visible. Suddenly, an ordinary scene in a state park becomes a little less familiar.

The second lesson is rethinking what may be considered traditional landscape photography.  Not all of us are fortunate enough to live near the Alaskan glaciers or the Rocky Mountains or Niagara Falls. Sometimes a small, tightly cropped portion of a forest or natural area can be as appealing as a panorama. Below is an image of the waterfall at Schooley’s Mountain in Morristown, New Jersey,

It is an opportunity to hone skills in terms of creative effects.

In looking for interesting places to photograph, always remember that something can be interesting even if it's local.

Landscape photographs do not have to be of the most dramatic and exotic places. John Constable built a career and lasting renown for his landscapes of his home countryside, often focusing on details and finite space. We can learn a lot from him as photographers, and I encourage you to go on museum websites (National Gallery in London, e.g.) and study how he treated the subject.

New Jersey is often derided for its industrial landscape, but it has many pockets of beauty. Beauty alone is not enough, however. You need to pay attention to how it will look. You may take ten pictures and hope for the best, but a good photograph depends upon the elements of composition— where things are placed in relation to each other, what is included and excluded, vertical versus horizontal, etc.  There is no substitute for composition. You can improve a lot of things but there are limits on what you can do once the image is captured.

Here is the unedited image of a small segment of the Musconetcong River in Bloomsbury, New Jersey.

I took many images of the river and at least a dozen of this scene, both as portrait and landscape, and with shutter priority as well as program (letting the camera decide speed and aperture). First, I wanted the boulders in the foreground, and though the one in the lower left is slightly cut off, I didn’t care. I wanted these rocks to anchor the image. They are taken at a strong diagonal, a technique that pulls you into the image. Second, I wanted to capture the rapids. I set the shutter speed as slow as I could, given that I was shooting hand-held and not with a tripod or monopod. I shot at 1/10 of a second in order to get the water to blur and become smooth. I wanted to create the sense of motion. I essentially divided the picture into three parts, all angled: the lower part being the rocks and shore where I was, the middle being the river, and the top third being the trees on the other side. I felt this was a good balance.

Using both Lightroom and Photoshop, I adjustments to increase contrast, decrease glare in the water, sharpen and warm up the scene, and to bring in detail. I have learned through much trial and error to use these filters subtly in order to preserve the natural effect and avoid the artificial look that comes from overuse. Here is the final product:

Much can be done to improve contrast and sharpening using software, but they are not for wholesale repair. You can’t take a bad picture (subjectively speaking of course) and turn it into a good picture based on software.

Kingston Mill is an atmospheric place close to where I live and is therefore convenient for photography. There is a 19th century mill, an 18th century stone arch bridge, a canal built in the 1830s, and the Millstone River, all providing opportunities for landscape imagery. It is also a place that provides opportunities to shoot the same scenes in different weather conditions and seasons.

This image was made in the morning when the fog was heavy. It was shot in color but given the fog,  leafless trees, and brownish stones, color did not add anything to the image. By converting the image into black and white, I focused on the subject of the heron on the dam framed by the trees. In the original image, the detail in the upper right corner was blown out. I brought it back essentially by using the dehazing filter. Regardless of what software you use, there are certain filters that allow you to decrease the highlight in an area to allow the details to emerge.  However, since the point is to capture the fog in the scene, you want to balance bringing out the details with maintaining the effect of fog.

The image would have worked without the bird, but I think the bird makes the image. I also decided to keep the bird as a smaller part of the overall image, rather than just do a close up. The point after all was to capture the scene and atmosphere and not do a nature photograph of just the bird.

You should never be discouraged to go out photographing in inclement weather. Sometimes fog and overcast clouds allow you to create moody images. Not everything has to be the bright blue sky.

This photo of English Bay in Vancouver, taken a few years ago, reminds me a bit of Stonehenge (without the megaliths) and an ancient gathering of people. What are your thoughts on it?

This very simple photo from Asbury Park, New Jersey is one of my favorites. In cropping, I kept the curving line of footprints in the left corner. I brought out detail in the sky to create layers by using editing software. I also converted the image to black and white to create atmosphere. What are your thoughts about this photo?

Who doesn’t like a sunset?

When photographing a sunset, the image can be made more interesting by making sure it has context.  Perhaps other elements give it relevance or maybe the sunset alone is all you need to consider. The timing of the shot is also important; there are moments when the sun is still up, near or at the horizon, or below the horizon, affecting both color of the sky and the ability to shoot.  There are many choices and decisions.  You can shoot repeatedly, but which one will you decide is the best?

Here is an image I made at English Bay in Vancouver, prior to actual sunset but as the sun was descending.

Here is what the image looked like in raw form, as shot, with no polarizing filter, only a UV filter,

Let’s start with composition.  I wanted the people at the beach as part of the image.  I did not go right up to the water’s edge, but situated myself to make sure I could get a wide enough view to show a sampling of the people.  For safety reasons, I focus below or to the side, hold down the shutter button to maintain focus, close my eyes, and move the camera slightly up or to the side and take several shots. 

Of course, never look at the sun and always take the appropriate steps to protect your eyes.

There are ways to handle exposure—by taking several shots, exposing for the sky, exposing for the dark areas, changing exposure settings to underexpose, using filters, or employing other techniques.  There is an old saying, expose for the highlights, develop for the shadows.  Others may be more sophisticated at the moment of capture than I am; I rely on Lightroom and the ability to process the image through the software to make comparable adjustments.  In this case, I made use of the dehazing filter, taking it to 100%, the white point to -100 (all the way to the left), slight adjustments to vibrancy and saturation (+10 each) to bring back the coloration, and +75 to the shadow filter to bring up some detail in the now darkened beach and people, but not completely to lose the silhouette effect.  It is true that for some images, too much dehazing can make it look artificial or create a vignette or make certain parts too dark.  I was satisfied with the effect and the use of other filters to keep it as natural looking as possible.  I was also able to bring out enough detail to render the mountains in the distance distinguishable from each other.

I think I captured the sense of being there.  It was not as dark in reality, but there is an evocative mood to this image that appeals to me. 

Ultimately, the final image should be only what pleases you. 

I took this photograph in Havana, Cuba as the light was fading towards the end of the day.  You will notice that the musician is in focus, but the women are not.  For me, the blur of the women indicates motion. 

So many times we come across a street scene that exists for only a few seconds, if that.  We don’t always have time to adjust shutter speed so we take the shot, and before we can take a second photo, the scene has changed.  Upon pulling this image up on the monitor, I saw blur.  Does that mean the image is lost or irrelevant?  Not necessarily.

I could have cropped out the women and just showed the musician since he is subject of the image,  however, the women walking past seem to ignore him, as if this is nothing new or interesting to them.  That adds something to the story that the image tells.  Without them, it is the musician.  With them, it is a more complete street scene. 

I look at a lot of photographs in galleries, museums, books and online, and there is often a flaw of some kind, like blur. Think about this.  Does it really ruin the image or does it perhaps add to it in its own way?  If, like me, you’ve competed in photography club competitions, you may well have heard the judges criticize various images because of a slight cut-off of a person, or a blur, or some other minor element.  Hear what they say, but decide for yourself.  If the image works, it works.  I think this one does.  Feel free to disagree.

Louis Pasteur once said that “Chance favors the prepared mind.” The photographer must always be alert; there is no off duty. You never know what you will see, and all of us have stories of the images that got away.

Here is one of my favorites from a few years ago at a bus stop on State Street in the Loop area of Chicago.  Shot in color, I transformed it to black and white because I wanted primarily the silhouette, the shape, and the tones.  Backlit against the advertisement, which amazingly said “man kind,” this captured a woman at the end of day, shopping done, waiting for the bus to go home.  I like it because of its humanity and of the intimate and solitary moment of an individual doing a very normal act like waiting for a bus, and yet I find something profound about this moment, this person, and her place in the city.

I welcome your comments.