One Scene; Several Images

Red Aspen trees and Silver Mine. Full scene. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 21mm; 1/160th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Often times, when I first spot a photographically interesting scene, immediately I recognize that I can make more than one pleasing image from that one overall subject.  I almost never see only one composition.  If you are not doing the same, you have and will continue to miss out on creating additional images.

I saw the scene above in the distance, in fact, across a valley recently while in Colorado on our extended road trip.  What initially caught my attention was this bright red/orange grove of aspen trees.  I thought the color was very unusual.  All the other aspen trees within miles of this were light green, bright yellow, a bit golden in color and some starting to turn just a little orangish, depending upon how much change had already occurred.  

I pulled over to the side of the road to get a better and safer look at this scene.  As I got out of my vehicle to examine the scene and assess how I wanted to capture these trees, I spotted the abandoned silver mine above and to the right of the trees.  Hmmm.  Even more interesting and something to balance and play off the trees.  I then went about creating several images from this one small piece of beauty.  I could have just made one image, but that would have been a really shame since this little scene holds a variety of interesting elements.

Below are some of the additional compositions I made from this one subject.

A vertical treatment. (click to enlarge)

Playing the red color off the orange of the mine tailings. (click to enlarge)

Emphasis on the abandoned mine remnants themselves. (click to enlarge)

Layers of colors—yellow to light green to red to dark green. (click to enlarge)

My recommendation is that if you are not looking for several compositions within a single scene, you are probably missing out.  It takes some practice, but the more complete way of photographically seeing comes quickly.  Try it.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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