Posts Tagged ‘landscape’

This was back in the days of film when one of my clients was South Carolina State Parks.  It was after sunset on an incredibly calm summer evening.  If I recall correctly the exposure was around 20 seconds or so and the boat was so motionless that it is still sharp.  It was the last exposure of the night before I called it a day and went back to my tent for the night.  To think I actually had to wait several days before picking up the film from the lab to see the results……… boy have things changed in this business.

For no other reason than this past weekends Kentucky Derby got me thinking about Horses and Kentucky, where I spent many days of my youth having grown up right across the river in Cincinnati,  I thought I would share some images of a Horse Farm I photographed in Paris, Kentucky back in November.  Siena Farms recently converted an old cattle farm into a breath taking horse farm with striking yellow stables and is dedicated to breeding and raising world class race horses.  Here are a couple images from the photo shoot.

If you are ever driving on interstate 75 through Kentucky and can afford to take 30 or so minutes off your drive, veer off to the East around Lexington and get ready to see some beautiful rolling hills, breathtaking horse farms, and a truly unique and history rich part of our country.

I have to shoot an aerial tomorrow for a client and had to do something today that was difficult for me and went against my personal quality and aesthetic standards.   I booked a helicopter and a pilot for 1:00 in the afternoon, the worst time to photograph when the light is so high and flat, depleting the earth of all depth and shadows.  Not an ideal situation for creating beautiful aerial images.  Not only did I go so far as to research the suns zenith, or highest point in the sky, but I scheduled it before the buds on the trees had a chance to sprout their beautiful light green leaves.  Why you ask………  Because that is what best served the client and their needs, not mine.

Long story short, the shoot is for reference purposes in a law suit where personal property (trees) were destroyed and to best illustrate that, it requires having the property line clearly marked and visible and out of the shadows of the nearby mature trees.  As difficult as it is as an artist to go into a job with no intention of creating beautiful photography it is a valuable exercise that reminds me that my needs and or desire to create great photography is secondary to what my clients needs are.  It is wonderful when the clients needs perfectly align with ones own vision and expectations as a photographer but the reality is, when you shoot commercially for a living,  your job first and foremost is to put aside personal creative goals and to focus intently on understanding your clients needs and delivering a product that serves them, not yourself.

So for now, as much as I love photographing from a helicopter in the early morning or late afternoon when the light is more dramatic and creates great shadows and depth on the landscape below, I will have to approach the job as we always should and do what best meets the goals of the client, not our own and create an image that although may not be beautiful, is effective.