[See image gallery at cwexplorationphotography.com]

This is a story from our trip out to the Kalapana G61 ocean entry near Pahoa, Hawai’i. My wife and I ventured to the Big Island for our honeymoon and it was a trip that neither of us will ever forget!

First off I have to send out a huge mahalo to bruddah Bruce from Extreme Exposures, because without him this image wouldn’t have been possible. If you’re ever on the big island definitely look up Bruce and Tom- two of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. I also have to thank my amazing wife Kelcee for putting up with my shenanigans and getting up at 12:30am to go shoot lava. She was a trooper!

There’s a story that goes with this one and it’s a bit of a doozy. Ever since I was a kid my dad always told me stories about things that my grandfather had seen when he was growing up in the islands- everything from menehunes to the occasional spirit. I was hesitant to believe a lot of that stuff, but I had never gotten to truly experience anything quite like that first hand. This trip changed that.

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Developing an eye for composition in landscape photography is something that takes a great deal of time and practice in the field.  Sure, some folks don’t have to work as hard but you’ve got to put the hours in behind the lens to really gain a solid understanding of what elements make for a strong composition.  I can’t tell you how many times early in my career I completely botched a composition or just missed the mark all together.  One thing that I’ve learned over time is that you absolutely have to pre-visualize your shot.  How do you want to process it?  What elements do you want in the scene?  Where are your foreground elements? Leading lines? Focal point? What direction is the light entering your frame?  Does it work?  Does your composition look balanced? Do you have complementary colors throughout the image?  Is there symmetry or are there patterns present? Is the image interesting?  These are all questions that constantly fill my head when I’m in the field.  Now the question I’m sure you’re asking is “How in the world do I do that when everything is changing, the conditions are deteriorating and the good light is slowly burning out??”

I know it sounds complicated but I promise you; it’s not nearly as bad as it seems.  Pre visualizing the shot starts with four key elements – the direction of the light, the focal point, the foreground and the leading line(s). The focal point is often the first thing that your eye gravitates toward.  It could be a waterfall, a mountain or even a stand of trees.  If your eye gravitates toward it chances are it may serve as a good focal point to build your composition around.  The next step in the process is to look for a leading line that guides your eye through the scene to your focal point.

The ‘line’ is figurative of course.  It can be a rock formation, a river, a series of interesting trees, vegetation or foliage, flowers, or even a trail.  Choosing the correct leading line can have a large impact on your image.  It is important to note though that the leading line may not work depending upon the direction of the light in the scene.  All of the elements need to work together to form a pleasing composition. Let the light guide your eye to the focal point in the image.  Shadows and light play a huge role in guiding your eye through the scene and, when used correctly, can add a great deal of depth and interest to your photo.  Choosing the correct foreground (FG) can have a large impact on the success of your image.  I always try to choose a FG that offers a complementary color palette to the other elements in the scene such as the sky or mountains. Ted Gore published an excellent article on color theory so I won’t get too far into it here.  It’s safe to say that utilizing color theory correctly can really have a profound effect on the outcome of your image.

Texture and Layers

Texture is not something that’s often discussed in composition but I think that it’s crucially important to strengthening your composition.  Water texture is a solid example of this.  In some cases, soft water texture will work extremely well to give an image full of elements with an abundance of harsh textures such as rock and sand a more dynamic and ying/yang feel.  Texture can also convey a nice sense of movement as well.  Taking a shorter exposure of water for instance can add a great deal of movement to the scene. Balancing texture can be tricky but very useful.  I personally like to include elements that offer a variety of textures that work well together.  For instance; if you’ve got a series of jagged mountain peaks with clouds that lack interest try using a long exposure to convey movement and add a soft blurred look in the sky to contrast the sheer rock and ice. 

Utilize vegetation such as ferns, flowers or trees to add a contrast in texture to elements such as smooth rock, sand, fog or snow.  One of the reasons that foggy tree shots tend to work so well is the play on not only contrast but textures as well.  The jagged trees jutting out through the smooth rolling clouds and fog add a ton of interest to the image.  Texture can also be useful in setting up leading lines in a photograph. It can add depth, help with framing and ultimately solidify an already strong composition. Pay attention to the textures that are in the vicinity of where you’re shooting.  Look for ways to bring them into the scene to add balance and interest. The addition of texture, if used correctly, can draw your viewers into your image and ultimately help to shape the overall delivery of your work.

Layering on the other hand is a very popular theme in landscape photography- composing an image to bring layers and depth into the frame can add a lot of interest to your photo and can make it stand out from the crowd. I always try to add a bit of layering in my composition- even clouds and fog can add depth and interest. One way to go about doing this is to shoot in portrait mode. Shooting in portrait mode can compress the composition and can add depth by compressing the foreground, middle ground and background into ‘layers’. The other way to do this is to use longer lenses and telephoto work can often compress the scene and achieve some of the same things goals mentioned above.

Go wide or go home, right?

In truth this is a very loaded discussion, but if you’ve been paying attention to trends in landscape photography you will have seen a slight shift toward subtle, intimate and sometimes abstract scenes shot at longer focal lengths.  Shooting landscape images with long lenses (focal lengths that range anywhere between 70-400mm+) can be very challenging but a lot of the same aspects of shooting grand scenes can still be applied in many ways. Layering, light, leading lines, patterns, color profiles and a focal point all play a huge part in making a smaller scene seem grand and inviting.  Balancing these elements can be tricky given the constraints that a longer focal length can impose but the rewards can be plentiful!

When shooting scenes such as this, one of the first things I look for is depth followed by layering, framing and light.  If you see a focal point or a subject that looks amazing but lacks a solid foreground or is minimized a great deal by a wide angle lens, then you may want to switch things up and go for a longer focal length.  Zooming in on your subject can dramatically change the way the scene looks i.e. the presentation of light and contrast, the depth and the overall feeling that the image may convey.  Shooting longer focal lengths can also take a well known scene and transform it into something that almost renders it unrecognizable even to frequent visitors.

In the field I often mount the telephoto lens/camera combo on my tripod and pan throughout the scene using your viewfinder as a guide.  If you see something that really captures your eye or that you find yourself going back to snag an image of it! Don’t be afraid to experiment; play with the different focal lengths available to you.  Zoom in and out on a subject to see what looks best.  Take multiple images of the same subject at different focal lengths; you may find that one works overwhelmingly better when you begin your editing process and trust me you will kick yourself if you don’t have options to look at.

Information Overload

Personally, I think that one of the biggest issues that landscape photographers face in the field is information overload.  I think it’s happened to everyone at some point in their photographic careers.  It’s the point when you arrive at a location that you didn’t have time to scout, the light is going off and you’re completely overwhelmed.  You know you’ve got to nail down a strong composition in a short amount of time but where to do you even start? No pressure at all, right?  First things first; breathe! Take a deep breath and take in the scene.  Where’s the light coming from?  What focal point does your eye focus on?

Break down the scene and put it back together; does it have nice flow?  Does the sum of the parts contribute to the whole?  Don’t get fixated on one solid composition.  Look for alternatives. Take your camera off of the tripod and look through the viewfinder or use live-view.  Move around and get a quick feel for the different options that the scene may provide.  When I’m trying to determine how to put my composition together I look for depth, layering, curves and strong points of interest to guide my eye through the frame.  Remember that there are no rules in art, as in photography.  Placing constraints around your style and vision will only serve to hinder your personal development as a photographer and an artist.

Final Thoughts on Composition

In the end you are the artist and the photographer.  Be inspired by others but also develop your own unique style and eye for composition.  Imitation is a form of flattery but at what cost to your own creative process?  We are bombarded with inspirational content on what seems to be a weekly if not daily basis.  Learn from the images you see but don’t limit yourself to their constraints.  Find your own voice in composition and you will succeed.

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This is a collection of my favorite images landscape photography images from 2015.  The images you see here were taken in Washington, Oregon and Montana.  It was a great year and I can’t wait to see what next year will bring!

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A few months back Max Foster (from TheWorldExplored Photography) reached out to me through 500px after we had been following each others work for a few months.  He asked if I would be up for a waterfall hunting trip down in the Columbia River Gorge in a few months time and you know I couldn’t turn that down.  We started making a list of possible waterfalls to visit and began planning for the trip almost immediately hoping that the conditions would be prime to shoot the many gorgeous waterfalls that grace the small strip of land between Oregon and Washington.

The first waterfall that we both had on our bucket list was the Mossy Grotto.  I first saw an image of this area taken by my buddy Ryan Dyar and I knew that I had to eventually see the area for myself.  Max and I got up at 5am and hit the trail by 6am after a couple of rounds of coffee (neither of us can function without it haha).  We had slept in our respective vehicles the night before which made getting up that much more fun but you gotta do what ya gotta do to get the goods! We left the Eagle Creek parking lot and headed up toward Ruckel Creek to hit the trail.  The trail was moderately steep almost right away and my body was not happy about it at 6am.  That thing was a thigh burner!  Once we hit Indian Pits we dropped down the rocky slope and descended into the lush greenery of the valley below.  When I say lush greenery what I really mean is Poison Oak and ticks because yeah there were enough to go around for everyone in the area.  Key tip: wear long sleeves and layers!! Okay back to the hike.  We descended into the valley and followed the creek below for a fair distance before rounding the corner and stumbling upon one of the most unique and gorgeous waterfalls I had ever seen.  The Mossy Grotto had definitely lived up its name.  We both began scouting for comps almost immediately.  Here’s a behind the scenes shot from the Grotto:

This is Max in what we have since dubbed the #powerstance for photographers haha.  He’s nailing some long exposure reflection shots of the Grotto.  One thing I will say is that I honestly couldn’t believe the amount of visibly new trails, stripped moss and disrepair in the area. We take photos of these areas because we think they are absolutely beautiful and convey an emotion and a very strong connection with the land and to show others the beauty that may not be able to see in person. The other side to that message is that our photos often draw hundreds of people to these areas who may not fully understand just how fragile the land is. I think it’s very important for anyone that visits to realize that these places have a finite lifespan given the amount of traffic they receive and if we want future generations to enjoy these areas we need to do our part to tread lightly, educate the public as much as possible and respect the lands.  The more we respect the land, the more it will give back to us!  Tread lightly and happy shooting everyone!

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So Rialto Beach and I have quite the history and I should have known that making the trip back there could only have ended poorly. I started the trip out there at around 11am and I was hoping to make it down to the haystacks by around 4:30pm for the sunset. I rolled into the parking lot at around 10 till 4pm. Not good. I checked the tide and the high tide coincided with the sunset. Double not good. To say that getting down to the stacks during high tide was difficult would be an understatement. Most of the trip involved scrambling over massive piles of driftwood while dodging waves and hauling some serious ass down the beach. I ended up missing the majority of the good light but managed to snag some moody twilight shots as the stars started to come out.

I got all of my gear packed up and turned around to head down the beach when BOOM I got nailed by two consecutive sleeper waves from behind. Luckily my camera gear stayed dry but I was completely SOAKED. Water filled my boots and the extra layers I had on absorbed the water like a sponge. Awesome. So then I had to try to figure out a game plan for getting back since I really didn’t want to have to scramble over the driftwood in the dark even with a headlamp.

I decided that I was already wet so why not cut my loses and stick to the beach. I played dodge the wave for a good part of the time until I had to make the river crossing. Doing that crossing in the daylight is a cake walk. Doing it at night in soaking wet boots and clothes is a different story. Let’s just say that it probably looked like a scene right out of Jackass when I slipped and fell placing the log squarely between you guessed it. Good times!! At that point I just had to laugh. I mean what the hell else was I supposed to do ha! I finally made it back to the Jeep and made the executive decision to skip camping out in Mora and head to Forks. That hotel room bed never felt so damn good!

Rialto Beach, La Push, WA

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If there ever was an ‘oh sh$t’ moment in my photographic career thus far this would have to be it. I left fairly early on a Friday morning in a valiant effort to make it down to Cape Kiwanda to shoot the sunset because the weather was looking prime to either be a complete bust or something really special. We had an offshore low spinning in some really unsettled weather in the form of a few nasty thunderstorms and some heavy rain/sleet/hail showers which made the drive down to Portland a ton of fun to say the least. Once I hit PDX a hopped over to HWY 101 to make a few pit stops on the way down the coast. I finally hit Kiwanda in the late afternoon and managed to get about 45 minutes of sleep in before heading out in the late afternoon light to set up for what I was seriously hoping to be some epic light.

Thunderstorms were everywhere and the rain showers were pummeling the coast as the sun fought through to illuminate the area. I shot a set on the rocks down below the dunes as the tide was still a out a bit and then made the climb to shoot some of the more well known compositions in that area. I shot some moody wave action on the cliffs for a bit before turning my attention to one of more well known comps of the Haystack made famous by guys like Dyar and Noriega when all of the sudden BOOM. Thunder cracked over head and rain started coming down. For whatever reason I decided to turn around and check out the cliffs directly behind me and they were absolutely going off. The sun had dropped right below the thunderhead and soaked the cliffs in warm ominous light. I scrambled down the slick clay (be forewarned it’s slick as hell especially when wet) shot over to the other side of the bluff and set up shop praying to the photography gods that I could get off a few clean shots. The light lasted maybe 5 minutes before being swallowed up by the incoming weather. It was definitely something I will never forget and it was one hell of a way to start my trip down the coast.

Photo Specs:

Sony a7r

16mm, ISO 50, f/13, 1/3sec, two exposures blended by hand in CS6 followed by utilizing luminosity masks and various editing techniques

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