There is a difference between a photo workshop and a photo tour. Photo tours often produce fly-by shots out of windows, grab shots off the bus, the less-than-perfect shot as one jockeys for position with 30 or 40 other folks.
Arnie and I are always talking about the light.
“It’s all about the light,” we all say in chorus. Each day has a lesson — sometimes subtle, sometimes overt.
We go on a tour today, but sometimes one has no choice in travelling. Yes, one wants to get the perfect shot, but perhaps family is along tapping their feet impatiently. What to do?
Look for a different kind of shot. Will it be the white chapel with the light creating long shadows? Or the big, round hay bales glowing in the late-afternoon light? No, of course not, but there are other images one can get.
“Look for subjects with that beautiful, natural fill. Stay away from the harsh light,” we warn.
“Remember what attracted you to the scene,” I remind our group.
“Simplify and isolate,” Arnie says.
A couple in our group stand in a park, looking at some iconic Cypress trees on a distant hill. They are wrestling with composition.
“Too complicated,” I point out, “The light is much too harsh to include the pattern of woods in the foreground. Look at the sky and those marvelous clouds. See how the golden field with the Cypress trees plays off the blue of the sky. Celebrate the sky and forget the woods. Keep it really simple,” and I show them an approach they might take.
I remind them of the skills they have learned in post-processing that will enhance the compositions they work out.
Walking up around the corner, I find a ancient door. The hardware glows, and I like the design it makes.
“Look a the way the light plays off the door,” I say to one of our participants.
Arnie is pointing out similar things elsewhere.
We move on. Gertrude, our mostly-trusty GPS, warns of a stop coming up. Two cars have pulled in, and there is no room for us. We cross the bridge, and my co-pilot for the day says she sees a place for both our vans. I cannot quickly stop there, as there is a lot of traffic in both directions. We head several miles up the road until we finally find a safe place to turn around. Meanwhile, Arnie is flashing his lights, thinking we have missed the spot.
As we pull into our turn-around, we explain to the other car why we could not stop on the first pass-by. There is still a place for us to both pull in.
Arnie and I stay with the vans as people cross the bridge or climb the hill above to find their own vantage point for a great collection of Cypress trees.
There is a famous hill town that some people want to visit. Arnie and I have never marked it on Gertrude as a stop, because it is too touristy for our taste. The wine from this village is for sale in almost every shop as one enters the town. There are gaggles of visitors brought in my busloads.
We are pleased with our group. They come back with great shots. Instead of doing the normal, touristy shots, we are shown beautifully and humorously composed ones of shoes and boots for sale. We joke about people having a shoe fetish.
Several have photographs of an old man slowly walking up the street as he has probably done every day for nearly a century. There is a patchwork of posters on a wall. Someone else has a series of two old friends enjoying a humorous moment. He tells of his conversation with them.
We have told family members that we will be back to have dinner in Cortona, the hill-top town just above our hotel.
It is our last full day together. Many people don’t even bring their cameras. We enjoy the plazas and find a great little restaurant on a side alley. There is outside seating, and our waitresses are a lot of fun.
This is a good way to end the day, and we actually get to bed at a decent hour.
We are getting up early to photograph sunflowers.
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Aaahh…the sunflowers got my interest. My favorite. I can’t wait to see the photographs. The sunflowers are almost in peak bloom at the local Wildlife Management Area (Maryland). Hoping to get some memorable pictures this weekend. Safe Travels.
Benita,
I have to sit down and write that one. They’ll be different approaches than perhaps you’ve seen before. At any rate, I hope you get some great photos, too.
Take care,
TBC