How it Was v. How I felt & What I Thought; Another Example

Oregon Pine Forest
(How I felt while standing there)

I believe it is important, as a photographer and artist, to connect with the subjects which we choose to record. When I see something that makes me stop and want to photograph it, I don't just pick up the camera and shoot off a few quick shots and go.  Before I even bring the camera to my eye or even get it out of the car, I try to first look and "see" my subject, trying to identify what is it about the subject that caught my eye, made me want to stop and make an image.  Why did the subject evoke an emotion and how do I feel about it.  What do I see and how do I feel?

After yesterday's post, I wanted to provide you with another example of being at a scene where I saw something that evoked an emotion, how it looked as I stood there figuring out what it meant and how I wanted to record it, versus how it made me feel.

I was driving through a dense Oregon pine forest toward Crater Lake National Park.  Most drivers look where they are going.  Well, police officers look where they are going (occasionally) as well as look all around them at the same time.  It is the nature of the work.  They have to be hyper-observant.  Being a police officer for over 30 years, that behavior is baked into my being and continues, but now focused on photographic subjects.

Oregon Pine Forest
(How the camera recorded it)

As I was driving, back off the road and to my right, I saw shafts of light shooting down from above through the pine needles and onto the forest floor.  There was no other place during the 20 or so mile drive through the forest where I saw this.  I stopped, turned around, and came back to the spot.  I learned years ago never to pass up an interesting subject, thinking you will return next time, or later, and photograph it.  It will be different or gone.  Believe me, I know.

I got out, and walked up and down the road looking for just the right composition.  There were a number of dead trees that had been cut down and lying on the forest floor.  I didn't want "the hand of man" to be reflected in the image, but my opportunities for a good composition were few since there was a lot of debris lying around.

I finally found the spot and I just stood and looked at it. What was it saying to me.  I felt like it was light reaching down into the darkness.  Rays of hope, if you will. I thought about all those people who feel lost and without hope but that there is light abounding everywhere, one just has to look hard and find it.  I raised my camera to my eye and made several images.

Later, when back in Virginia, I edited the image to reflect how I felt, not necessarily what the camera saw at the time.

Again, when you look at my images, I don't necessarily want you to see a nice image, I want you to want to experience the same emotion that I did and want go to those same places I visited.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.


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