Please consider this a "pre-announcement" for the assignment for the week of 30 August - 5 September 2010.
As many of you know, we will soon be departing on a photography workshop in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. As I spend more and more time thinking about the upcoming workshop, I'm starting to frame in my mind how I want to approach photographing in these beautiful, but often photographed parks. We will of course be visiting all the famous locations, the Snake River overlook made famous by Ansel Adams, Oxbow Bend with the reflection of fall aspen and Mount Moran in the calm bend of the river, Schwabacher's Landing with the reflection of the three Tetons in the beaver pond, the rustic Moulton Barn dwarfed by the majestic Tetons... all spectacular locations that have been photographed thousands of times. Chances are, we'll be putting our tripods in the same place as hundreds of photographers before us. So what's the point? Why bother at all when we can go on the internet and find hundreds of beautiful images of that very same location, no shivering in the cold or post-processing on the computer required?
The point is that
nobody has photographed this location from this very same location at the very same fleeting moment that we will be photographing it, and there's something special about that fleeting moment. Your challenge as a photographer is to successfully capture and convey what is so special about that precious moment in time. Is it the light? The frost on the leaves? The tinge of early morning light on the mountain peaks? The steam of warm breath as the moose breathes the cold morning air?
Here's an example of the "typical" photograph of Oxbow Bend (taken by yours truly):
Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National ParkPhotographed by Keith
It's a nice image, but not one that hasn't been taken hundreds if not thousands of times before. Now here's one taken at the same location by Rebecca two years later:
Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National ParkPhotographed by Rebecca
Rebecca's image captured a fleeting and magical moment as we all watched a cow moose and calf cross the river, highlighted by the early morning sun breaking through the fog.
So when we are in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks this coming September/October, I'll be looking forward to capturing many, many fleeting moments. Your assignment this week is to capture your own fleeting moments.
Please post your images into the "Fleeting Moments" album in the Weekly Assignments category of the Gallery no-later-than midnight, Mountain Time (GMT -07:00) on Sunday, 5 September 2010.
I'll look forward to sharing a fleeting moment or two with you this coming week.
Keith
