HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I
am continually trying to push myself creatively but it gets progressively more
difficult to find new and satisfying ways to interpret subjects I have already
photographed. I have to confess I am not sure where I got the idea for this
week’s photograph other than from the accumulated wisdom of the first 100,000
or so pictures I have taken outdoors. I did know that when I decided to shove
my head and camera into the inner mass of leaves of branches of a plum tree
radiating fall colors that I would have to do it more than once. And I am
fairly certain I will try it again, despite the scratches and dirt in my ear.
Please
share this email with all
the photography buffs in your life.
For photographers just
getting started, it is important to understand there are two basic elements to
consider in every photograph: depth and movement. Every DSLR and many simple
cameras offer shooting options which give priority to the aperture or shutter
speed, which control these variables. So when I bent my cheek around a rotting
leaf, I knew I wanted the largest aperture possible to keep depth to an
absolute minimum.
Here, though, instead of
removing objects that fall way out of focus, I allowed them to remain in the
frame and throw abstractions of light and color around my subject, which is
just a single leaf. I made at least a dozen attempts on two outings with five
different trees. I had to keep shooting because my eyes – and yours as well –
don’t see this way. Our two eyes (compared with the camera’s single lens) allow
substantial depth perception so there was no way for me to determine what might
be the result of this experiment by simply eyeing the subject. I had to see it
in camera.
This shot worked the best,
I think, because I managed to fill the entire frame around the subject and find
a tree awash with colors. No more tree hugging for me; from now on I dive head
first into the crown.
TECHNICAL
DATA:Camera: Nikon D700, hand held, center-weighted metering
mode. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens:
Nikon 135DC prime lens, f/2 at 1/1,250 sec., ISO 200. Date: Oct 17,
2013, 4:33 p.m. Location:
Judean Mountains, Gush Etzion.
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