An image of my dreams - digital landscape photography

A favorite photographic theme is landscape photography. The result can be predictable because of the landscape's approachability and immobility. Light and weather conditions change landscapes dynamically. This allows the photographing of the same scene repeatedly with very different characteristics. Landscape images can be very beautiful when photographed at the "perfect" time with "great" light. I like the challenge.

Making a good image is not based on luck. Instead, attention must be given to learning the possible changes that occur in our favorite photogenic scenes during the day and during different times of the year. Light and weather conditions are major things to consider when depicting the beautiful scenery. I firmly believe, for landscape photography, that expressing the photographer's feelings using natural light during special weather conditions is the key to making a good landscape image.

Currently the digital camera is becoming very popular. I like to use it as a memory recorder, much the same as using the Polaroid film technology. The images captured can be seen instantly on the LCD with all the basic information included, such as date, time, ISO, speed, and aperture. The best image can be selected immediately based on the composition and the exposure parameters. Besides making prints from the digital information captured by the digital camera, the information can be used as a guide while we are taking pictures with medium format or large format cameras. Digital images can be saved and categorized in the computer, where they can later be reviewed and studied. It is a great tool for serious photographers in the making of successful images.

However, the camera is only a tool. Any camera--whatever the format, film or digital--can produce outstanding images. The difference in making good or better landscape images is based on how much you see, photographically, that meets your preconception of the image in different kinds of light and weather. All photographic techniques (science) and all photographic seeing (art) will result in the images embedded in your feelings. Of course, this kind of image will have a life of its own in the end.

I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A log cabin was built in the early 1850s by Pioneer Henry Gotten, a Prussian immigrant. The cabin is near Paradise Springs in the south Kettle Moraine area, southwest of Milwaukee. It is one of my favorite photogenic places and is about 45 minutes driving distance from my house. Several years ago, I found this place and started to take black and white pictures. They were technically good, but lacked life. I ignored what Ansel Adams said: "A technique in any art form is only one of many possible pathways, not an end." Although the black and white representation was good, I still thought that color in the image would improve the liveliness of the scene, so I took pictures throughout the different seasons using color film. They more accurately reflected the scene I saw in front of the camera. Once again, I felt that something was missing in the image. I seriously considered what I really wanted to share with others in this image. So I started to think of the common settler's life and why he chose this place to build the cabin. Common sense told me that perhaps it was for reasons of safety, peacefulness, nice view, or ease of living. I then had to decide how to convey those reasons in a photograph. Simple, I thought. The winter season may symbolize the harshness of the settler's life. The soft, warm light may bring peace and beauty to the place. With this previsualized image in my mind, on a Sunday afternoon in January 2002, the weather cooperated. It was snowing. However, the southwest sky over the Milwaukee area was blue. I decided to take a chance to make my image based on the possible weather and light conditions that could be found at the cabin. Having arrived at the cabin, the snow had stopped. I took a few pictures with my Canon D60 digital camera to check the image in the LCD screen, making sure that the composition was good. I set up the camera on the tripod and waited for the proper light. About an hour later, it was around sunset and the light was getting warmer and weak. It lit the side of the cabin and the snow covered ground aesthetically. The final digital image told me this was what I wanted. The sunset light changed fast. I quickly photographed the scene a few more times as the light quality and quantity changed. And, after about 5 years of perceiving the moment, I felt that I had finally recorded a poetic image--an image of my dreams.

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