man & nature # 56 ~ the whole picture
Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 10:22AM 
A visual treat on the golf course • click to embiggenI must admit to spending a little more time on the golf course recently, due in part to the fact that, by Nov. 1 and with only 1 exception, there will be no more golf to be had in these here parts.
Unlike most years past, the late season golf this year has been invitingly warm and pleasant, weather-wise, which makes getting out and walking the courses a very tempting proposition. That said, and because of the weather, there have been picturing opportunities aplenty every time I hit the links. It's been rather amazing. Counting today's picture, the last 3 entries feature on or around a golf course pictures. Tomorrow's picture, quite possibly my favorite of the bunch, will be one as well.
In each of these pictures, unlike most of my pictures, the light is an integral part of the scene. I don't think that it can be said that the light is what these pictures are all about by any means but the light is "featured" in a manner that I don't normally pursue. Nevertheless, even for someone like myself who is definitely not a light stalker, it is impossible to be out and about with a camera as a permanent appendage and not encounter "golden light".
Once again, to be honest, I do try to make pictures that have golden light as a "featured" element in a manner that is different from the normative manner which, IMO, is all about the light.
It would have been very easy in the case of today's picture to have slapped on a long lens and isolated a part (one of several possibilities) of the scene that was all aglow with golden light, flaming reds, and a hint of the purple mountain majesty. Throw in a little "Velvia"-like post-picturing processing and the result would have undoubtedly been a hit for those who salivate at the photographic sight of nature so caricatured.
However, I much prefer to see the golden light, flaming reds, and purple mountain majesty in the context of the greater scene. IMO, by utilizing that method of "isolating" those elements, their uniqueness is both highlighted and combined within the greater scope of the scene to create an infinitely better and more complex sense of place.
And it is that better and more complex sense of place that my eye and sensibilities crave and seek.
Reader Comments (2)
I think the thing that sets your "light" pictures apart from the saturated Velvia nonsense is the dark. With light comes shadow and it is the fact that your shadows are so good that makes these pictures, for me, so appealing.
Yes, as always, it's the showcasing of the shadow areas of your pictures that separates them from the light stalkers (sounds like a great name for a web site, or Shadow Stalker for that matter). The shadows are different at that time of day; there's not the huge difference there is at midday and the colors are ever so slightly affected by the existing light.