A Field Trip

Digital original

I find it fascinating that for all the time I spend photographing outdoors, working with the Nude in landscape, I still find a straight landscape hard to create. Every time I have a class field trip, I focus on working with the landscape, trying to make the most of the experience, but it usually ends up lacking something.

Digital original

I suspect much of this is rooted in two distinct and different aspects of the issue. First, while most successful landscape are created within a couple of hours of sunrise or sunset, my class field trips are usually conducted during the middle of the day, when the light is the least conducive to good photograph. If I developed a strong and focused interest in landscape photography, I could of course overcome this by simply getting up earlier, or staying out later to photograph. The second aspect is much more influential, I suspect, and that has to do with my connections to the subject. When I photograph the Nude, I am working with a subject that has been at the heart of my creative endeavors for almost two decades, and when I am photographing the landscape, I am simply making images because I happen to be in the space. The two subjects in no way share the same space in my heart, and I think, ultimately, this changes how I approach the subjects at the end of the day!

Digital original, 4 frame stitch