Since tonight is another Full Moon yesterday I once again ventured down to my favorite place to shoot this, or try to. As past readers know Lighthouse Beach is about a mile from my house so it is very convenient and has the relics of an old pier to work with. Now I have probably shot there dozens of times, certainly in and around the beach in various seasons. I have never been able to get a shot of the Full Moon rising which I have in my head. And last night I was once again thwarted in my attempt as the clouds moved in as the evening wore on. Yet when confronted with the idea your preconceived image will not be had, or even if it is, the thing I always try to do is look for other images. This may sound simple enough and intuitive – of course you should look for other ideas. But you’d be surprised how many folks just give up. “Oh too bad the sunset isn’t nice.” “Boy I wish the clouds were different.” “Where is the wildlife?” “Boy it is a crappy day out!”
Really? Not sure I’ve ever had a day where you couldn’t get something. Might not be what you were thinking when you started but there is always something. So, struck down in my quest to capture the full moon rising over the old pier yet again, I set about making images in the evening light anyway. I noticed that the lake was not dead calm but almost. What caught my eye this night was how even everything was. The light was flat, the lines of the horizon and the flatness of the water played against the clouds above. I kept the color balance close to 6000K which recorded the scene with a slightly bluer color than what my eyes compensated for. Plus you can always change the color balance when processing the RAW files in Lightroom.
This night was all about the negative space and the lines which made the images come to life. One of my favorites from the evening was this image of the jetty and water. Very minimal yet it strikes me as a fine image. I also played with selecting just a few of the posts and water. Set against what was left of the evening sunset.
It is all about letting go of your preconceived notions of what you are after and adapting to the conditions you are given. Something it seems is applicable to more than just photography. I was talking to a class of 7th graders the other day before they started out to investigate their neighborhood with fresh eyes and record it for their journals. I mentioned that part of the process is seeing outside your preconceived notions. Change perspective – don’t just put the camera to your face and snap it. Move up, down, side to side, get in close, step back. Get a different perspective and you may be surprised by the results. I used the water bottle sitting on a desk as an example and told them maybe to get in real tight and shoot just the label, or get in tight but include all the folks behind it. I think they might have thought I was nuts when I said you could make an interesting shot of a water bottle. I wonder if any of them did something like that during their assignment.
Anyway, back to my point of changing your preconceived notions when needed… just because you go out to capture one image, I have found sometimes the best ones are the ones you never thought of until they were in front of you. Be ready and enjoy the moment!
Peace,
Richard
To View more from this evenings shoot use this link: Sunset at Lighthouse Beach
Postscript: The night to shoot the full moon is the night before it is full as it rises at the same time the sun sets, giving you some daylight to work with in the landscape.
