urban ku(s) # 127-131 ~ f8 and be there
Monday, October 29, 2007 at 09:56AM 
Over the weekend I was treated to several pleasures. Matrimonial harmony suggests that I mention as pleasure #1 the splendid time I spent with the wife during an all-to-brief overnight getaway in Lake George - a place that, even if I were to have a trans-Adirondack funeral procession, I would normally not want to be caught dead in.
Despite the scenic beauty of the place, during the tourist season, it is .... well ... let's just say that if you want a cheesy t-shirt or to spend some quality time in a video arcade, this is the place to be. It is also worth mentioning that if you want to be in a place in the Adirondacks where there is no visual evidence (in the village of Lake George) that you are actually in the Adirondacks, once again, this is the place to be. Thematically, Lake Georgians have done a terrific job of making it look and feel like a cheesy Jersey Shore boardwalk.
So, why, you might ask, did I find my (un-dead) self in Lake George? The reason was 2fold - 1. college-boy had a crew meet in nearby Saratoga Springs, and, 2. the wife and I had an anniversary last week and this was a mini celebration. So, there you have it. Now on to 'f8 and be there'.
'F8 and be there' is a time-honored and well-worn photo adage. It implies simply that if you set your camera at its sharpest aperture and be in the 'right' place at the 'right' time, good things will happen, photography-wise. In the landscape division, the 'right place at the right time' has been generally been considered to mean that you should be stationed at a 'grand' or 'iconic' location at precisely the time that the light is at its most dramatic. Some shooters pursue this 'ideal' and this ideal only. They are truly 'addicted to the light'.
The problem is that, while they can put themselves in a 'grand' location, the light doesn't always perform up to standards. Hmmm ... what to do, what to do? The answer for most, is to reach into the gadget bag and pull out an array of filters - warming filters, gnd (graduated neutral density) filters, fog filters, etc., etc. When 'god' doesn't supply the requisite 'wow' factor, man, acting as his anointed art director, will. And then, of course, comes the post-picturing 'processing' which normally includes sliding the saturation dial to 11 (on a scale of 10).
It is also worth noting that, even when 'god' manages to 'get it right', that is rarely 'right' enough for the Velvia-esque gang and their digital-domain ilk. As I have previously opined, for them nothing exceeds like excess.
What inevitably results is an endless parade of 'dramatic' landscape pictures that, IMO, end up diminishing (rather than celebrating) the special quality of those 'real' but most often, rare, moments when 'god' manages to get it done all by him/her self.
That said, my other weekend pleasures where in the form of 'god' getting it right and my luck in 'being there' when he/she did - even if I did use f5.6 and not f8. In her infinite wisdom (sometimes in the form of dumb lick), the wife (not god) picked us a room with a view - in fact, a great view (looking north, right from the foot of Lake George). And, FYI, in my world, that half-empty pool with the algae-tinted water was a wonderful element in the view.
My only problem with 'f8 and be there' is that, while you can put yourself 'there' at a number of places at times when the light might be 'right', it's not always a recipe for 'success'. So my solution is to never be without a camera. That way, no matter where you are, you can always 'be there' and use the aperture of your own choosing.
BTW, the barn and distant snowfall did not magically appear outside of our room with a view. Rather it appeared on our drive home (in fact, within hollering distance from home) as a kind of final 'f8 and be there' puncuation point to the weekend.
Sometimes, all that clean livin' pays off.
FYI, it's interesting that clouds play a strong part in these pictures. Lake George is where Alfred Stieglitz created his 'Equivalents'. For decades, Stieglitz and his wife, Georgia O'Keefe, spent their summer and fall at the the Stieglitz family home on Lake George. Each and every time I looked at view out of our room with a view, I was aware of a Stieglitz 'presence'.
Also, just in case you're wondering, we did not stay at the 7 Dwarfs Motor Court. It was, unfortunatley, closed for the season.
And, of course, it must be noted that no pre, real-time, or post-picturing tomfoolery was employed in the making of these pictures.
Reader Comments (5)
That barn shot is awesome! It's very different than the multitude of "postcard" foliage shots.
Congratulations!
Andy Frazer
Oh so true of what you say of Lake George.
We were married just to the right of that pool in 1980 (the pool wasn't there then) and our reception was inside.
These shots are very dramatic with the sun hitting certain spots, very nice great job.
Amazing shots...I was lucky enough to be kayaking the Saranac River when that same (I assume) distant snow shower and light show took place...when god gets it right, as Mark put it, it's hard to make a bad photo...I didn't say impossible! About 3:30/4:00 o'clock when the snow and light show began, right Mark?
I snapped some pictures from my kayak that I am very happy with...the rather quickly moving river (it rained all day and night Sat/Sun) made it nearly impossible to turn back if I missed something, so I was trigger happy and shooting on first impression, not allowing myself to second guess.
By the way, those shots of the pool in front of Lake George are ridiculous Mark...I especially dig the second one with the sliver of sunlight and approaching boat...you could lose yourself in the details of that photo for hours...found another level I think Mark. Never seen anything like it...even if it was Lake George.
Andy - 'god' got it right, I was just passing by ...
Scoop - pretty sure someone was tieing the knot this past weekend also
James - I wasn't watching the clock but 4pm-ish is about right. The Saranac sounds like fun right now - were you running Permanent Rapids?
Mark...I knew the light in your last photo was the same light I experienced yesterday...you can even see the snow flakes against the dark sky if you look closely.
Jill dropped me off beside Pine St bridge at about 2:30, and I called her from the Moose Pond Trail bridge about 5:00 to pick me up. No Permanent Rapids though...not this time of year for a whitewater novice like me...just some picturing on gorgeous flat water, though it was still moving quickly. Paddled back up river a few times to try and take another shot at something I missed...misjudged the current more often then not on second and third passes anyway. Picturing this way is a skill all its own...a good time though.
Watching the snow clouds drift in was incredible...never even felt the cold. Lots of F8 and "being there".