Behind the Camera - Moody Mornings
New York State weather is often … Unfortunate.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have any major natural disasters. It does get the stray remnants of hurricanes and literal ice falling from the sky. Lets just say New York has never been known for its pristine weather conditions. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days that are beautiful. The issue, however, is that certain times of the year New York is unphotogenic.
Specifically right now.
There is an awkward tension in the weather’s desires between late February and Early April. Snow is mostly melted, everything is dead, vegetation is matted down by months frozen temperatures. Trees are bare, grass is a sort of dog-poop-with-too-much-fiber brown color (appealing, I know), and skies are typically gray. And as a photographer, it is your duty … yes, duty … to find beauty in it. People are relying on your creativity to pull them out of their hibernation and depressed state of winter into a new hope for spring.
But alas, all you see are morbid looking skies with dark, jagged limbs on trees. But that’s ok, because it's also teeter tottering between frozen tundra winds and gentle summer-like breezes. What a time to be a photographer.
Again with the complaining.
This is a great time to update yours and possibly others' definition of beauty. You may need to get creative and take advantage of really odd times of the day where things capture your attention. The beauty is there, you just need to see it.
The other day I walked out to my car to go to work, like I do 5 out of the 7 days a week. On this particular morning, I noticed that the lighting was perfectly diffused by cloud cover and there was a slight mist in the air. I turned to my wife and said something like, “The lighting is perfect right now for a moody picture.” Having alternate responsibilities, such as a paying job, I naturally ignored those responsibilities and drove out of my way to check out a spot I had noted for possible pictures.
I was late for work.
That's ok though, until it isn’t. Anyways, as a side note I often capture glimpses of a scene while driving and save that location in my mind for future opportunities. The image below is a prime example. This was a scene I had driven by literally hundreds of times. One day I noticed a possible photo composition and came back on a day with the exact conditions I was hoping for. I was very happy with the result and all it took was trespassing on private property and getting my shoes dirty!
Back to my moody morning, I had noticed a tree out in the middle of a large field. I noted it and returned back on a day that I believe would reflect the moodiness that I was envisioning, ie that mornings light. I pulled over, grabbed my camera, free hand shot this, only slightly trespassed on farmland, and walked away with a perfect picture of what late winters look like in Upstate, New York.
Beautiful? Maybe.
It's moody. And my intent was for it to look moody. It was moody weather, with moody conditions, and possibly moody emotions at the time. However, I was very happy with it, which changed my moodiness. I bet you’ve never read a paragraph with that many references to being moody. Nor should you have. I’ll stop.
The following morning it was warm and extremely foggy. Ignoring my responsibilities once more I took my camera gear to a different location, trespassed on someone else's property, and was able to capture more moody shots.
The only catch was, I had to drive on freshly thawed dirt roads to get to this location. Can you say, mud? Staring at the tire tracks of those ventured before me, I became ever increasingly concerned that my all-weather tires and all-wheel drive would not measure up to the conditions. I know what my car does in snow, but hadn’t the faintest idea what it would do in mud.
Noticing my clock and recalling responsibilities to employers, I cut my adventure short and now plan on returning when the conditions allow. Moral of the story, trespassing = better pictures … er, I mean always listen to your parents.
