Great Salt Lake

The masters lessons at work in the field

I asked the question because I was aware the whole time I had the lens(and most likely will be when I use it again) of its history. Not that this past successful image will make me better, but in using it I know that even with its age, it is a part of the history of photography. In using it, handling it and looking through it I get the distinct feeling that history is at hand. The lens covers the 8x20 film format, which is in itself unusual. Not too many lenses will do that. Not too many of us are crazy enough to try shooting with a format that big in the first place. So, place me behind the monster camera on the South shore of Great Salt Lake before sunrise with lens in hand and let the visions of Weston, Adams, Jackson and company help me compose a good image. Well, maybe.

As much as I may wish it were really that easy, it isn't. We can't buy Ansels old lens and suddenly become Ansel any more than getting Mark McGuires old bat will suddenly make us into a home run hitting machine on the baseball diamond. But, we can learn from the masters whether or not we can buy, borrow or use their equipment.

Sitting on a hillside looking out over a view that takes in over 150 miles is a nice way to spend some time. Having blinding white salt flats in the foreground and interesting desert mountain ranges one after the other to the edge of the earths curvature adds to the scene. Sitting there watching the play of light & shadow from the clouds marching across the landscape gives one ideas of compositions that we hope will work on film. Yet something keeps me from finally setting up the camera and getting the shot.

Boredom.

The picture is just 'nice'. Not great. Not a scene to feed the spirit. It is a 'nice scenic'. Another picturesque photo trying to entice me to waste a sheet or two of film I know I will develop and let sit rather than print & work with. I have too many of those already. Most of us do.

So, in an area with scenes that are nice, perhaps even inspirational at times, when they don't really do much for us what do we do?

I find myself at times just sitting back & watching and then start thinking...What would "place the name of one of your photographic heroes here" do?

If I got a bit of a higher viewpoint, put on a lens a bit longer than normal and shot, would I get the feeling that Ansel Adams got in some of his images? Yep, Ansel did use this formula a number of times, very successfully.

If I used my 75mm Wide Angle on the 4x5 and worked with very strong near/far composition, as David Muench does, would I get a good image?

Do you get the idea yet? Are you familiar enough with the images of your 'heroes' that you have actually looked at them to be able to figure out how they did what they did? To figure out what types of lenses, viewpoints and location commonalities they seem to use often? You may not know the exact lens, but careful study of images will get you pretty close. A serious look at many of their finest images can teach those who will learn a lot about lighting.

A photographer who doesn't know how to use light is a person who wastes film for no apparent reason. Every good image is a result of excellent use of light and every good photographer learns to use it well. The image that just 'falls into place' doesn't do it for the unprepared, or if it does they don't know enough to recognize it and instead shoot a postcard view rather than an image with quiet dignity and power. They are different. One looks nice and is put away. The other speaks to generations in the future as well as to us today.

It isn't a case of "What would Ansel do?" It is a case of "have you learned from all the excellent work you have seen" so it will help you to fulfill your vision? It is "How can I shoot without copying", while using the vision of the masters I admire? How can I transfer admiration and learning to film in my own unique way to get something I hope will be greater than what got me to this point?

Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't. Go to Yosemite and try to 'out Ansel Ansel' and you are pretty much guaranteed to fail. Go to Yosemite and use what you have learned about his style, composition and skill and apply it to your own vision and you stand a better chance. Or, go to Yosemite and play tourist, leave the camera in the car while you play tourist until something pushes you so you have to run back & get the camera and maybe your skill level will allow you to capture on film what you really want-whether you consciously think of Ansel Adams or not. You have shot your vision, not someone elses, while you have learned from them. With a bit of luck & cooperation from the weather & light, you have used the experience of others to help you create a vision entirely your own. Yes, influenced by others but not a copy of theirs.

You might find it easier to go to an area where you are not haunted by the ghosts of your heroes at every turn. It is pretty much guaranteed that no matter where you go, someone else has probably photographed it. It can be difficult to see with your own vision when your mind is filled with someone elses photographs. When this happens ot me I either waste film or put the camera down and just look for awhile. If I am on the hillside viewing a hundred miles of desert I may get my best image by looking at what is within ten feet. Look for something that isn't a cliche. Look for something of interest rather than shooting a scenic whose only message is "look where I was".

It isn't always easy to put the cameras away without exposing some silver. After all, I drove & walked for a day and a half to get here...don't tell me it is boring. The reality is that sometimes that is exactly what it is...boring. A waste of film. Especially if I get in a rut & fail to use my creativity.

This is the time to get up and look at the world through different eyes. AA, Muench, Baer, Weston, whomever you admire. But to do so, you have to have seen enough of their work to know from where to look, what direction to take as well as when to stop. It might be the time to look from a different viewpoint and openly ask yourself, "How would "insert name" photograph this? Then, when you think you have it figured out, don't take the picture...

Go and find one of your own.

This is one way to learn from the masters. Try to learn what they have done and move beyond it using your own vision; your own creativity. Their images won't be any less impressive. They will be even more so while your images get better and your confidence in your personal vision grows.

As for using the lens of the master? If I think it helps, it probably does. It sure can't hurt.

ATTACHMENT:

Great Salt Lake, South shore. Brine settling ponds, Morton Salt Co. The image is there and I have yet to shoot one I am really happy with. In time it will come. I go back every now & then when it starts calling and one of these days all will fall into place. The light, weather & my creative spirit.