Subtitle 1 – You Can’t Pixel Peep Your Way To A Perfect Image
Subtitle 2 – You Can Feel Your Way To A Photograph
This post is long, and may seem to be all over the place, but stick with me – there’s a point to be made in here somewhere 🙂
Lately, I have been studying street photography. I have looked at both historical and current work from old and new masters. One thing that immediately jumped out at me was this. Many of the most famous, successful, compelling street images wouldn’t survive the camera forums of today because they are not absolutely pixel perfect. Some have blown out highlights. Some display grain/noise. Some have blocked up shadows. The current thinking on photography seems to be that only images which are 100% noiseless with a perfect rendering of data in every spot (from 1 to 255) in Photoshop are good.
Family Of Cranes – Photo Copyright Scott Bourne
Sorry folks but history says that line of thinking is wrong. There have always been two sides to photography. The technical or scientific and the artistic side. I don’t see those two sides coming together any time soon, but I do think it’s good to be aware of the divide. For me, if a picture works, it works. I care less and less about pixel perfection, but I realize I may be in the minority.
I am mostly commenting on this because I recently made an image I really love, and to which people seem to flock (excuse the pun). It is made in some of the worst light I’ve ever shot in and under generally horrible conditions. A few years back I might not have made the image above because it’s not technically perfect. Now, after my recent study of street photography and the notion that the image is what matters not the pixels behind it, I have shrugged off any potential criticism and started making images where I FEEL something.
Feeling your way to a photograph is often the most rewarding experience you can have as a photographer. At least it is for me.
In this case, I was feeling a whole mixture of emotions. I didn’t think I would be coming back to Bosque del Apache again. I’ve had many health challenges in recent years and I simply can’t do some of the things I used to do. Combined with old age I might have been feeling sorry for myself. But through a series of miracles, I was able to make the trip this year. I won’t say one last time any more because who knows?
I have hundreds of thousands of pictures from this place which I’ve acquired over two decades. If there’s something to be photographed at Bosque I’ve photographed it. So on this trip I decided to experiment and think about my photos from a purely emotional point of view. Instead of reflexively shooting all the usual suspects, I made far fewer images than usual and tried to EXPERIENCE Bosque and the birds rather than photograph everything I saw.
It seemed like there were more photographers than birds this year at Bosque. The line up of photographers at the crane pools at the northern edge of the refuge was staggering. I counted more than 100 photographers at one point – and then I quit counting.
One day I noticed that there far fewer people at the refuge and the reason was clear. The weather AND the light just couldn’t suck enough. There were strong winds and rain and a deep, dark overcast. Only a few of us old diehards were at the Crane pool that afternoon. I am so glad I was one of those diehards there.
I’ve been to the exact spot where I made the above image hundreds of times in my photographic life. It is like home to me. When I arrive here – at this spot – I often feel a sense of relaxation, calm, tranquility and peace that I simply can’t get anywhere else. This spot is about two miles from where I made Cranes In The Fire Mist. While the fire mist shot was something I had in my mind for more than 10 years, I hadn’t pre-visualized the photograph above, but it’s still special to me.
The Sandhill Cranes are one of my favorite avian subjects. They are a hard bird not to love. They are large and have colorful crowns. They are elegant and seem to “dance” across the ponds as they display to their mates with a gangly sort of grace. I guess I humanize them because we strive to be like the cranes – or they like us. They mate for life, and are family oriented. They travel during migration with their families, other families and non-breeders over thousands of miles in search of food a different climate, and a place to roost. These roosting and feeding flocks stick together for months and when I think about it, we humans tend to travel in groups in much the same way, for many of the same reasons.
So yes, I admit that I love the cranes and that on any trip to the Bosque, I try to find and photograph them first. This trip was no exception.
On the day I made this shot, my second day at the refuge this year, the rain didn’t seem to want to let-up. I kept hoping that the sky would break but it didn’t. There was no light to speak of. While these are all bad things to a photographer, the birds didn’t seem to mind. They went on about their business.
I came upon this group of birds who had just flown in from the northern fields after eating grain all day. It was 30 minutes before sunset – although there’d be no sunset to speak of on this night.
This grouping is actually several crane families and a few non-breeders, all of which were flying together in one flock. The birds planned to spend the night at this spot before starting off the next day to find more food. I noticed the calm nature of these particular creatures and realized this was my moment.
I got to New Mexico when the fall color was still hanging on by a thread. The color in the foliage near the crane poll made for a nice backdrop. As I sat there, taking it all in, I paused to remember what this place has meant to me for the last 20 years. I stopped to reflect on the lives of the birds I’ve documented here over these last two decades. I thought about the strife in the world around us and how utterly immune to it all – this moment seemed to be.
I knew I wanted to protect this memory, if not for any other reason than to protect it for myself. So I shut out just about everything I would usually think about and just tried to “feel” whatever this scene would give me.
While the circumstances were wrong – I decided to make a picture. I knew there would be a chance that it all wouldn’t work out. The conscious photographer side of me was yelling “NO WAY! There’s no light! You’re too far away.” Maybe as photographers, we shouldn’t always listen to that side of ourselves?
I decided NOT to listen to that side of me and to let my emotion take over. I had seen a painting years ago that reminded me of the scene I had before me. I can’t remember the artist, but I sort of envisioned that painting as I sought out the groupings and composition that best represented the birds, Bosque the place, and how those things made me feel as a photographer and bird lover.
I didn’t need a close up portrait here. I have so many of these already they fill up a Drobo. I decided a “birdscape” was in order and here’s a little bit of information on how I decided to make the image.
In order to get any sort of light I had to bump the Nikon D810 I was using to ISO 1600. This is a very high resolution camera and while it’s great at capturing detail, it doesn’t do well with high ISOs. I didn’t care. I went ahead anyway. I made a few test images and looked at the histogram. I knew I had to under-expose to get the feeling I wanted and that was fine because the light was crap anyway.
Fortunately, the Sigma 150-600 Sports Lens is bright and easy to work with so I zoomed out to 600 and decided that would have to do. I knew the conditions were pushing past the limit of the gear. I knew that the final shot would be noisy and would lack the sort of dramatic light I look for in a photograph. I knew that some of the fine detail you’d capture in good light would be nothing more than shadowy goo in this shot. I knew that in post, the image would appear somewhat flat or muted. I didn’t care about any of that. I just wanted to remember this day and this moment and these birds. So I made one last shot and what you see is what I got.
I posted a quick grab of this online when I was in New Mexico and didn’t think much about it. But when I looked at the image on my computer screen the day I returned from my trip, I was surprised at the emotions that washed over me. I had taken hundreds of other images in the five days that passed after I made this image, but this one is the one that resonated with me, and apparently many of you. (More on that in a bit.)
I left the picture almost as it was straight out of the camera. The Sigma 150-600 vignettes at 600mm and while LR can correct for that, I decided I liked the effect. It draws the eye into the center of the image where I think the meat of the photograph is located. As I said, I had to underexpose because of the poor lighting conditions and to get the feel I wanted, but as you old film shooters know, this had the advantage of bringing out the color in the scene. I did a little cropping, some contrast, levels and vibrance adjustments – added sharpening for the screen and hit save. I probably spent 60 seconds on this picture in post.
And then I just sat back and looked at it…
While nothing will ever top “Cranes in the Fire Mist” for me, this shot is up there with some of my favorites. I’ve made a few test prints on art paper and canvas and they look surprisingly good. I have decided to hang a 20×30 on my office wall to remind myself of not only this moment, but what’s possible when you let your emotions guide your actions as a photographer.
IN THE END…
The reason I decided to write this post is that I was contacted by several of you who wanted to know more about this image. One photographer who’s followed me here on Photofocus for years asked if I was comfortable with the level of noise in the photo. I replied back – “ABSOLUTELY!” And her response surprised me. She said “Oh thank goodness. I was thinking most of my pictures were no good because some of them are noisy.” Wow! I’ve seen this woman’s work and it’s very good. It’s sad that she let that prejudice cause her to think she wasn’t a talented photographer. After seeing that reaction to this image I wanted to tell this story.
It’s absolutely okay to go out there and make photos from the heart. In fact, that’s what we want you to do. That’s ALL we want you to do. That will be your best work. If you’re passionate about your subject or your place or your art you will make great photos, even if a few of them are noisy or don’t hold the highlights or block up the shadows! And don’t let the critics get you down. Keep shooting. Keep telling stories with your camera. Keep protecting memories. Then share them with the world without apology.
You can’t pixel peep your way to a compelling photograph, but you CAN feel your way towards one. I am rooting for you and thanks for reading.
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Filed under: Inspiration, Photography, Shooting, Wildlife Tagged: birds, cranes, emotions in photography, Scott Bourne 
