WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PHOTO OPPORTUNITY FAILS

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PHOTO OPPORTUNITY FAILS

SO, HERE IS THE SCENARIO: YOU HAD PLANS TO GO UP IN THE MOUNTAINS TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE FALL COLORS. TO BE SPECIFIC, YOU WANT THE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES OF THE “QUAKING ASPEN” MIXED IN WITH THE PINE TREES. YOU KNOW, THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW LEAVES, MIXED IN WITH THE DEEP GREEN COLORS OF THE PINE TREES. AND THEN WHEN YOU GET THERE, YOU FIND THAT, BECAUSE OF AN EARLY COLD STORM, THE QUAKING ASPEN REACTED TO THAT, AND DID NOT TURN YELLOW, BUT AN UGLY BROWN, AND JUST DROPPED THEIR LEAVES TO THE GROUND, AND EVERYTHING WAS UGLY:

Disappointing colors after we arrived in the mountains.

Photo by Lanny Cottrell

OK, SO YOU DROVE OVER AN HOUR TO GET THESE PHOTOS, AND YOU DON’T WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

TIME TO GET OUT AND “CREATE YOUR OWN SUCCESS”. LET’S WALK AROUND AND FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO TAKE PICTURES OF. YOU DO HAVE A FEW TOOLS IN YOUR BAG, LET’S TRY SOME CREATIVE WORK, WITH A LARGE TELEPHOTO LENS:

Photo by Aaron Cottrell

SHOOTING THROUG A GROUP OF ASPEN TREES TO FIND THIS OLD BROKEN DOWN TREE,, TO MAKE THAT THE CENTRAL POINT, BRINGS UP AN INTERESTING SUBJECT THAT MOST PEOPLE MISS IN A USUAL LANDSCAPE PHOTO. BRINGS UP AN INTERESTING SUBJECT FOR SURE. PLUS THE TEXTURE OF THE ASPEN TREES, MAKES FOR A BEAUTIFUL PHOTO.

Photo by Aaron Cottrell

TOO MANY TIMES WE LOOK FOR THE SCENERY, WHEN SOMETIMES THE CLOUDS, OR THE SKY MAY BE THE MAIN SUBJECT IN OUR LANDSCAPE PHOTOS. THERE ARE A LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO MAKE A LIVING FROM GETTING THE BEST OF THE CLOUDS. MAKE SURE YOU USE YOUR POLARIZING FILTER TO GET THE BEST OF CLOUDS, AND A RICH BLUE SKY, LIKE THIS ONE ABOVE.

Photo by: Lanny Cottrell

LOOK FOR THE STRANGE THINGS IN THE FOREST, THE TREES THAT MAY TAKE ON STRANGE FORMS AS THEY GROW, SUCH AS THIS TWISTY ASPEN, OR EVEN TAKE A LOOK AT THE MARKINGS ON AN ASPEN, SUCH AS THIS:

Photo by : Lanny Cottrell

BUT DON’T EVER FEEL LIKE YOU GOT TO SOME PLACE, AND THE PHOTOS YOU WANTED AREN’T THERE. JUST LOOK FOR ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE SOME PICTURES OF SOMETHING ELSE. YOU ARE A PHOTOGRAPHER WITH THE EYE TO LOOK FOR SOMETHING ELSE THAT MAY BE ARTISTIC! A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW, EVEN IF THE ORIGINAL OPPORTUNITY DID NOT ARISE. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR NEW THINGS.