Photos Are What You Leave Behind: So Why Do You Take Photos?
Kitchen in the historic research centre at Port Lockroy in Antarctica.
I love the notion that, when visiting a wilderness, we should leave nothing behind other than our footprints, and that we should take nothing away with us, other than photos.
Photos provide a kind of memory insurance, documenting and preserving many of your most important life experiences for posterity. Photos explore the complex relationships formed with the places you visit, the people you meet and the interactions that take place on your journey through life.
A kind of time machine, photos allow us to remember, but also act as a way by which we can be remembered, long after we’ve passed on.
As a case in point, let’s examine this photo I made in the kitchen at the historic research station at Port Lockroy in Antarctica.
The room, and those around it, serve as a museum to the past and celebrate the dedication of those that served their time at Port Lockroy in the service of nature.
I believe all photos, ultimately, are about people and, as such, all photos explore the human condition.
Personally, I'm in favor of supporting the upkeep of research stations like Port Lockroy.
Clearly, the scientific research that’s done at these stations is of critical importance to our survival.
Furthermore, the history displayed speaks to us of the Human Condition and the heroic nature of those brave souls who’ve been stationed at these sites over the years.
Snowstorm sweeps over Whalers Bay and Port Foster on Deception Island, Antarctica.
What Motivates You To Take Photos?
Needless to say, the human condition is one of the concepts that heavily underpins my own photography.
The need to explore the human condition motivates me to make photos and is imbued as part of the story in many of the photos I make.
This photo really brings back my memory of standing on this desolate and isolated black sand beach on Deception Island in Antarctica.
With a snowstorm sweeping over Whalers Bay and Port Foster, it was a struggle to hold my footing, let alone make a photo in the bleak, windy conditions.
My body felt cold and beaten up by that cold wind, but my mind was elevated by the mournful beauty surrounding me.
I made use of the piece of machinery in the foreground to, literally, ground the image and juxtapose the derelict and earthbound manmade structures against the more ethereal elements of wind and sky and water.
The gull in the background is interesting as it’s able to transition between the world’s of earth and sky, in a way mankind has long wished it could.
I was happy to include two participants from the tour I ran, as they provided a sense of scale and a dash of warmth into an otherwise bleak scene.
About to Travel
Please Don't Confuse Presets With Style
It seems to me that so many photographers get lost in the notion of searching for a style and end up loosing themselves in presets, whether in camera or on the desktop.
Your photos need to speak to the world about who and what you're photographing, but they also need to speak about the creative force behind those images: you.
“Style is about the way you approach your photography and is largely determined by your worldview.
The importance of how you feel about who or what it is you’re photographing cannot be overstated.”
Together with your own, unique worldview, style is your personal signature that separates the photos you make from those made by other photographers.
But style is not just about the way an image looks (e.g., grain, desaturated, soft focus) or the way it's presented (e.g., torn edges, square or panoramic format).
Style is a mirror reflecting the character, nature and worldview of the photographer in question.
You can tell a lot about the artist, as a human being, by looking at the photographs they produce during their career.
Some notable examples include the following:
Now don't get me wrong, presets are a great way to help introduce folks to post processing their images on the desktop.
Presets can also help the photographer to establish a workflow and encourage them to experiment.
Needless to say, experimentation involves taking risks.
The result of your efforts, and the risks you accept when you take photos, help move your photos from mere two dimensional documentation of what you saw towards images that explore how you felt about what you saw.
That process is central to an artistic practice.
Accommodation for research scientists stationed at Port Lockroy, Wiencke Island, Antarctica.
How To Use Presets In Your Workflow
But remember, just like your camera, presets are simply tools to help you create images.
I used my own, basic black-and-white preset to convert the original color image into a black and white photo.
From there I was able to adjust tones and textures to my liking to produce the photo you see above.
The structure in the photo was built to serve as accommodation for research scientists stationed at Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island in Antarctica.
I was attracted to the tubular shape of the structure and how it’s very dark tonality significantly boosted the dynamic range of the scene.
Nestled snuggly into the landscape, the structure speaks of the difficulty of surviving in such a wild and harsh environment, even during the short summer months when we visited.
In the early days, I think it’s fine letting a preset guide you towards a particular look.
However, eventually you'll need to modify and save your favourite and most commonly used presets to better match your own vision of the world.
That will make those modified presets your own, and no longer someone else's.
As a result, you’ll have more control over the final look of your images and will have successfully used your preset to stamp your own unique vision (i.e., style) onto the photos you take.
Ruins by the sea on the island of Eysturoy, Faroe Islands.
Find Yourself Through The Photos You Make
Photography is a search for identity: your own.
I think the notion of identity is central to this photo of a derelict dwelling, now in a state of ruin, on the island of Eysturoy in the fabulous Faroe Islands.
Framed between lush, verdant grasses and the sea, the story of the people who once lived here is unknown to me.
It’s another example of how you don’t always need to include people in photos to explore the human condition. And it’s why I say that all photos are inherently about people.
The mystery of who lived in this building, or how it was previously used, adds to the poignancy of the photo and speaks to the difficulty of existance in wild and remote parts of our world.
What looks idyllic to modern day tourists, would have been a life of hardship and toil for the people that lived in this area up until quite recent times.
Taking lots of photos is important. But being able to look at those photos, from both a subjective and objective point of view, is essential in the process of becoming better at your craft.
It's easy to teach folks the language of photography, and for them to mimic what they've learned in the way they provide feedback to the images made by their peers.
I have a formal education in photography, so that's very much part of the route I followed.
Let's call that photography 102 or, if you prefer, talking the talk.
“The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are”
However, as a long time teacher of photography, I know that being able to talk the talk simply isn't enough.
To truly help someone, you also need to engage on a personal leave and help them understand and then articulate the following:
Why it is they photograph certain types of subject matter?
Why they approach that subject matter in the way that they do?
What it is they are trying to say, about themselves as much as about the subject matter in question, through the photos they make?
This is the best photography course in Melbourne. Learn photography, master your camera and realize your creative potential by making beautiful, life affirming images.
I’m Glenn Guy, an experienced teacher and owner of the Travel Photography Guru website and blog.
Here’s the private photography course that’s specially designed around your needs, your camera and the photos you most want to create.
The Photos You Take and an Evolved Learning Experience
I love working with folks from around the world and helping them to advance their photography by guiding them along their very own, individual creative path.
After all, the artists journey is not, primarily, about an accumulation of knowledge, it's about a journey of self discovery.
As always, why is the most important question.
Everything that matters follows after that.
Do you ask yourself the question why often enough?
I believe it's at the very heart of the artists journey.
Do you live in or around Melbourne, Australia and are interested to learn how to use your camera to take better photos?
A highly personalized, private one-to-one class is a great way to shortcut the learning process.
The courses I run are all about your camera, where you’re traveling to and what it is you’re hoping to achieve through the photos you make.
I’m taking about a 3-hour commitment that will accelerate the journey along your own creative path.
Click on the image directly above for more information and, please, feel free to contact me with any questions.
