Neither Dawn nor Dusk
My previous post seems to have resulted in a disgruntled chorus of “Eeew! Get that snake off my screen!” so, for those of you who are not keen herpetologists, here is one of my favourite photographs from the ones I took in 2006.
It is taken from the Cleveland Way, about a one and a half hour walk north from the Sutton Bank Visitor Centre, and I took it on June 3rd which was a glorious, glorious day in early summer, which is my favourite time of the year.
One of my most interesting Christmas presents was a book on photography, of which I’ll write more later, but one of the things it stresses very firmly is that landscape photographs must be taken either at dawn or at dusk and at no other time.
This one was taken right in the middle of the day, and I don’t care.
The reason the book suggests dawn and dusk is because then the light makes the countryside look most beautiful – and yes, it does, and if that’s what you are looking for – as many professional photographers are – then that’s fine.
But actually, that’s not quite what I want from a photograph of the countryside, when it’s a photograph that I have taken – I want to remember what that day was like, how I felt looking at that view.
It was a hot day of sunshine and clear blue skies, and when I took the photograph we’d been walking for a couple of hours, though stopping quite often to take photographs. The dark shadows on the photograph remind me of how bright it was and how hot it was. The path leading straight ahead into the distance makes me think of how much I enjoyed the day, and how I felt as though I could walk away into that scenery for ever.
So when I look at that photograph I think “aaaah, yes” and it’s lovely to see it on a dark, cold, wet January day. So, dawn and dusk for beauty, yes – but other times are fine for memories.
It is taken from the Cleveland Way, about a one and a half hour walk north from the Sutton Bank Visitor Centre, and I took it on June 3rd which was a glorious, glorious day in early summer, which is my favourite time of the year.
One of my most interesting Christmas presents was a book on photography, of which I’ll write more later, but one of the things it stresses very firmly is that landscape photographs must be taken either at dawn or at dusk and at no other time.
This one was taken right in the middle of the day, and I don’t care.
The reason the book suggests dawn and dusk is because then the light makes the countryside look most beautiful – and yes, it does, and if that’s what you are looking for – as many professional photographers are – then that’s fine.
But actually, that’s not quite what I want from a photograph of the countryside, when it’s a photograph that I have taken – I want to remember what that day was like, how I felt looking at that view.
It was a hot day of sunshine and clear blue skies, and when I took the photograph we’d been walking for a couple of hours, though stopping quite often to take photographs. The dark shadows on the photograph remind me of how bright it was and how hot it was. The path leading straight ahead into the distance makes me think of how much I enjoyed the day, and how I felt as though I could walk away into that scenery for ever.
So when I look at that photograph I think “aaaah, yes” and it’s lovely to see it on a dark, cold, wet January day. So, dawn and dusk for beauty, yes – but other times are fine for memories.
posted by Daphne at 5:19 pm
1 Comments:
Safe? Ha! looks like there might be snakes lurking in that grass under the trees.
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