The Evolution of Creativity
Introduction
Photography is as much a craft as it is an art. While camera's have become remarkable instruments with improved capabilities and features, learning how to use your equipment is vital to being a creative photographer and your ticket to making great images. No matter how great the technology, learning basic camera skills are what you need to have control over how your images look and it's also where so much creativity lies!
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| Cabot Tower Drive |
“Cabot Tower Drive” is a photo of my home town of St John's, Newfoundland, Canada which I made in October 2010. I had taken this composition originally on medium format film back in 1991 and at that time I went with a 2 minute exposure, there were several cars in that image. I was happy with what I got back then and became excited about the possibilities of long exposure and light trail photography.
About 5 years ago while out for a walk it struck me “what if I could get only one car in the photo”? It would be a great idea to clean up the light trails. I knew it wouldn't be easy and I decided to pursue it as a creative and technical challenge.
It took considerable patience because I couldn't control the traffic on the hill. I had to set the ISO and the aperture to give me the exposure time I estimated. I opened the shutter just before the car entered the frame at the bottom of the hill and closed it when the driver applied their brakes at the top alongside Cabot Tower. In this case I used bulb mode and locked the shutter open for 73 seconds. Finally, after two evenings of trying, a second car didn't enter the frame and I got my photo.
When I look back on it I think I was lucky to get the image as “easy” as I did because of the frequent traffic in the area. But you know what they say about luck, the harder you work the more you have of it.
Check out my ebook for more. It has detailed information on what you need to be a creative photographer and some examples to get you started.
Thank You!
