After Going Back Several Times, I Think I May Have Gotten A Photo That Is Satisfying

A beautiful Autumn day for a walk! Part 1 of a seasonal series. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T4; 55-200mm lens @ 60mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 320

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post entitled, "Keep Going Back," about repeatedly returning to a location at which you previously had made photographs hoping to find just the right conditions to make the one image that aligns with what you had envisioned.  You can read that post here.  It is not unusual to see a composition that you like and want to photograph but may be lacking something, such as better light, the human element, the time of day or the weather.  You envision a certain image of the composition but things just aren't right.  When that happens, I think our job, as photographers is to go back as many times as necessary to capture the image just as we had envisioned it.

As a follow-up to that other post, I twice more returned to the same footpath that I had spotted a year ago to try to make a satisfying image of the combination of the path's s-curves, fall foliage, back or side light with someone walking with colorful (and complimentary) outerwear.  That image is at the top of the post.

In an of itself it is a rather mundane image, nothing special, but my future plans are to capture similar images in the other three seasons.  I have a place on a wall where the four similar but different images will nicely display.

As I drove toward the spot in which I would wait for walkers, I spotted this couple.  The man had a red jacket which would meld nicely with the fall foliage colors.  When I spotted them, they were about five minutes away from the spot at which I planned to make my photograph.

As I waited for the two of them to arrive, I carefully moved to the spot where I felt I wanted to make my photograph and ensured my camera and lens settings were as I wanted them.  

Finally, I spotted them coming toward me.  I raised my viewfinder to my eye waiting to press the shutter at just the right moment.  Just as the couple appeared before me, all of a sudden into the right side of my viewfinder, a woman walked into my frame!  Oh no!  I can't believe it!  Well, it turns out that I think when the couple reached the position at which I wanted them, the woman in the background actually compliments the composition and adds another element of interest.  No need to have worried.

To continue this little project, I'll now wait for the dead of winter when the sun is even lower in the sky, the trees have lost all of their leaves, walkers will be bundled up in heavy winter coats with their warm moist breath visible in the air.  The feeling of this same little scene will be totally different.  When and if I do make a successful successor image, I'll follow-up this post with an update.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2021 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.