anticipation (ænˌtɪsɪˈpeɪʃən) — n 1. the act of anticipating; expectation, premonition, or foresight – World English Dictionary

One of the greatest pleasures that large format photography gives me is the manner in which it encourages anticipation of the end result; the photograph. This feeling of anticipation is based upon a foundation of contemplation, thought and preparation. Conceiving the photograph, setting up the camera and preparing to take the photograph is a time consuming process in large format photography; with time measured in minutes, not seconds as is common with SLR type cameras.

However, anticipation is not limited to large format photographers, it’s a valuable emotion that all photographers can harness, regardless what type of camera used. It does however, require a different approach to photography than many SLR photographers are used to using. It’s an approach based upon forethought about how a scene could be rendered, and not a reaction to how it is.

Moonrise over Chinaman’s Hat. Kualoa Regional Park, Oahu, Hawaii. Toyo 45AII Camera, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5.6 lens on Fuji Velvia 100F.

Neither approach is wrong, of course, but I’ve found that my finest results come when I’ve anticipated the results before taking the photograph. So, what are the steps that go into the process of anticipation?

1. Know what you want. It seems quite elemental, but many photographers go out to take photographs without any thought given to what they desire to photograph or how it fits with their interests and photographic goals. It doesn’t matter if the objective is to photograph the sunrise, or whether the outing is part of a larger, more all encompassing, project. Knowing and defining the objective – the photographer’s “vision” – is essential.

“It is not a peripheral subject reserved for the photographic elite or photographers with a sociopathic bent towards navel-gazing. It is the place we begin, and the road we travel, on the way to our goal – creating compelling photographs that express something we’ve no other means of expressing but through the frame.” – David duChemin – The Vision Driven Photographer.

Without a clearly defined vision, the photographer will flounder, and there can be no real anticipation of what lies ahead, for the photograph. The lack of vision will carry over into the overall body of the photographer’s work, defining it in an unflattering manner. Vision enables you to glimpse into the future, to sense its hope and power, and builds a sense of anticipation that can be fulfilled by your photography.

2. Preparation and research. Once the determination about what to photograph has been made, the next step is to prepare to take the photograph. This can be one of the more mundane parts of the anticipation process, but it’s the part where you learn what is possible for the given subject and location.

I like to begin by considering the location and the lighting that I expect while there. Some subjects work better early in the morning, while others work better in the afternoon. Additionally, knowing the type of terrain to expect you can get a sense of how long it will take to get into position, and the direction where the majority of the lighting will come from. A good topographical map or a computer program like Photographer’s Ephemeris can be quite helpful.

Dawn, Moeraki Boulders. Moeraki, New Zealand. Toyo 45AII, Schneider Symmar XL 80mm f4.5 lens on Fuji Velvia 50, .6 (two-stop) Split Neutral Density filter along the horizon.

I also make extensive use of the Internet, scouring through blogs, photographs and other sources for information about the location I’m going to photograph. As I’m going through all these, I like to keep track of the bits and pieces that I find in Microsoft OneNote 2010, which I’ll then refer to while on location.

Not all of your research needs to be of a formal nature – after all, research is not supposed to be a chore – sometimes the research is simply based upon past experiences. It needs to be of the type that frees the mind to concentrate on the creative aspects of photography, which in turn builds excitement and anticipation.

3. Know your equipment. You need to both understand the operation of your equipment, and be able to operate it without having to pay too much attention to the physical aspects of setting it up and taking the photograph. You may need to setup and shoot in the dark, or simply work quickly in changing light.

The act of knowing the operation of your equipment means much more than knowing how to set the aperture and shutter speed. For example, it can also entail choosing the correct filters for the lighting situation; knowing how to setup and use split neutral density filters; if you are a film photographer it can entail knowing which type of film emulsion works the best in the given situation. In short, it’s about the physical aspects of taking the photograph. Knowing your equipment will often entail the need to photograph simply for the sake of keeping up proficiency with the equipment.

This is the time when the creative aspects of photography must rule. As I stated before, the creative act builds excitement and anticipation.

Finally. I hope that I haven’t given the impression that this is a long, drawn out process. In fact, anticipation can build quickly, even explosively, in a matter of seconds from the initial idea to the final photograph. Of course, that is not always the case, but when it does, these steps I’ve laid out lead to being prepared, regardless how quickly or slowly it strikes.

In his book, “The Vision Driven Photographer” photographer David duChemin recounts his series of photographs about a blind man in Nepal. His narrative clearly shows the thought processes that led up to anticipating his final results. This narrative clearly illustrates a build up of anticipation and excitement.

Photo Narration

Moonrise over Chinaman’s Hat – For this photograph, I knew that when the trade winds weren’t blowing, that there are certain areas along the windward coast of Oahu where the water would be still, the trees almost unmoving, and the sky would be fairly clear. Kualoa Beach Park is one of the places I go in these situations. What I didn’t anticipate was that the sliver of the moon would be so close to the horizon. Fortunately, I knew my equipment well enough to be able to set it up in the dark.

Dawn, Moeraki Boulders – I had arrived the afternoon before this photograph was taken. While there I scouted around the boulders to see how they lay in relation to the beach. At the time the surf was out, and the boulders were dry. I camped out at a nearby campground, and made the short 1.5km walk from the campground to the boulders in the dark. Living in Hawaii, I was quite familiar with shooting along the shoreline, so after setting up this shot, I waited until the surf had just begun to retreat before snapping the shutter. I knew this was the optimum time, when the sand would still be wet, and I could get a sense of movement in the water.

More Information

• The Vision Driven Photographer – David duChemin. An excellently written and insightful ebook detailing the process of thinking about the photograph – thinking about the photographers “Vision”.
• Landscape Within – David Ward. If there is a philosopher in photography, I would have to think that David Ward is it. David’s book “Landscape Within” gets to the heart of why we photograph the way we do, and why we look at the landscape as we do.

See also: Field Tips: Being Aware of Your Surroundings.

“The landscape is a complex subject but understanding that something is complex doesn’t mean that one must necessarily present the subject in a complex manner”. David Ward, Landscape Beyond – A Journey into Photography. (p.33)

In landscape photography, photographers are often confronted with the need to take a complex composition, and extract a clearer and easier to understand composition from it. The difficulty lies in determining which elements enhance, and which elements distract. This simplification is the key, however, to achieving meaningful results. There are three main aspects of simplification to consider.

1. Simplify by removing unwanted clutter from the frame. Begin by looking not at the subject, but at the frame around the subject. Remove any unnecessary clutter from the composition that may lead the viewer’s eye outside the composition, or away from the subject itself.

The subject, or the essential element, of the composition, may, at times, be the tiniest of details. In those cases, the composition isn’t necessarily of that element, but of the other elements of the composition that revolve around and give context to it. For example, in the following image, that tiny, essential, element was the small island named “Chinaman’s Hat.” The surrounding water served to show the environment where it is located. It provides a scene of solitude, peace and tranquility.

Chinaman’s Hat at Sunrise. Kahaluu Bay, Oahu. Hawaii. Chamonix 45N-1 Camera, Schneider APO Symmar 210mm f5.6 lens on Fuji Velvia 50, using a Horseman 6×12 roll film back.

However, including the beach in the foreground (where I was standing to make the composition) would have served to pull the eye away from the tiny island as it woke to the rising sun, and destroyed its simplicity.

2. Simplify to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the subject. Secondly, what is it about the subject that stirs your emotions and ignites your desire to photograph it? That is the element  that the composition should emphasize.

Try “seeing” the underlying elements that caught your attention in the first place, and then exclude, or minimize, those elements that distract from your feelings toward the subject. One way to do that is to close one eye when looking at the composition. This gives a feeling for how the subject will appear in the photograph, and will help to determine what should be included or excluded. Remember, what you omit from the composition is just as important as what you include.

What ways can we use to capture the viewer’s attention and at the same time simplify the composition? One way is through the use of careful framing, or simply moving closer to the subject. Too many elements in the composition confuse the viewer, obscuring those elements which ignited the photographer’s emotions in the first place.

3. Simplify by not using gimmicks or unnatural tools. Finally, let the subject speak for itself without adding unnecessary embellishments. Gimmicks such as the use of the star or fog filters signify to the viewer the presence of the photographer; unconsciously making the photographer’s tools the subject rather than the landscape.

Likewise, avoid overusing filters, such as the warming and polarizing filter. Their use should be restricted to overcoming the limitations imposed by the photographic medium itself, be it film or a digital sensor, or when highlighting an essential element of the composition. Make sure their use doesn’t overpower the subject itself. The subject should appear as it would naturally.

Aboriginal Artwork in the Making. Ochre Pits, Western MacDonnell Range National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. Toyo 45AII, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5.6 lens on Fuji Velvia 50, using a Horseman 6×12 roll film back.

Not every composition benefits from simplification to the utmost degree, but all compositions benefit from some type of simplification to be effective, and pleasing to the viewer. The key is learning how to simplify the composition, by learning which elements to include or exclude.

“Great artists are able to present complex things in a simple fashion because they have feeling for the essence of what they are trying to explain or portray.” David Ward (p.33).

For more information, see the following photographers whose work exemplifies simplicity:

• David Ward: http://www.into-the-light.com/.
• Tom Mackie: http://www.tommackie.com/.

Almost every photographer has their own backup strategy. Their backup strategy should be based upon their individual needs and consideration. However, there are certain best practices that should be considered when defining a strategy.

Successful Backup Strategy Considerations

A successful backup strategy should take the following into consideration:

Decide what you need to back up. Start with your answer to the question “What can I afford to lose?” As photographers we are interested in our image files first, however, our general business related files are also important to the well being of the photography business.

First, separate data files from operating system files, and place them on either a separate partition or a separate drive. This will make finding, backing up, and restoring the desired files much easier. 

Secondly, set aside your installation disks for all your software and your operating system. I like to set aside the CD or DVDs they come on, as well as copy the disks to an external drive (where re-installation is much faster).

Define the backup techniques and technologies. Not every photographer has the same needs. A large studio or photography business may need an enterprise level solution, while the freelancer can get by with much cheaper solutions. Remember, the more extensive the backup, the more difficult it will be to use, and the less likely it will be carried out successfully.

Consider keeping a backup log. Keep the listing in a book or a file listing on an external drive. This can make it easier to find a specific file if you happen to overwrite or destroy it in some manner. A general listing is sufficient.

Backups should be automatic. Whatever technique or technology you select, it should be automatic; you shouldn’t need to be present to initiate a backup.

Ensure the backups are valid and test restoring your data frequently. Not being able to restore a backup is the same as not having a backup at all. How the backup is restored is dependent upon the technology used, however, the software used should be easy to find and restore files.

Restoring your data on a frequent basis can also give you a good understanding of how long the process takes and how difficult it is. These are handy things to know if a client is waiting on a file, and your computer crashed. Restoring data from a backup also verifies that the backups are indeed valid; after all, backups that can’t be used aren’t backups.

Ensure that your backup copies are safe. Finally, ensure that your backup copies are safe from either theft or natural disaster. Generally, this means to store a copy of the backup some where other than where your computer is located. Some photographers may choose to rent a locked space, or even take their backups to their office.

When you discard your backup media, make sure to physically destroy them, or reformat them in such a way that they can’t read by anyone who may misappropriate or misuse any of the files on them.

A Personal Strategy

My personal backup strategy revolves around Microsoft Windows 7, my primary operating system, and Microsoft Windows Home Server. This backup strategy is defined and configured in a manner that works best for my personal workflow, given the computer hardware that I own.

The backup strategy presented here, only works for those computers running some version of Microsoft Windows , with Microsoft Windows Home Server as an integral part. The Windows Home Servers sold by HP do support backing up Mac computers (via Apple’s Time Machine). However, I don’t own any Mac computers, so I don’t have any real knowledge of how well this works.

On-site storage for my image files are based around an HP EX495 Windows Home Server, with 4 drives and a total of 4.5 TB of storage, as well as an external eSATA or USB drive.

Backups are accomplished using two methods.

First, a normal system backup. The primary workstation, a Windows 7 Ultimate computer, as well as other other computers in my office, are backed up on a nightly basis, with a 3-day, 3-week, 3 month retention policy. In other words, the last 3 daily, weekly and monthly backups are retained on the server.

Secondly, the HP EX495 has a specialized software known as a media collector. This software finds all files of a certain type, e.g., image – like the files copied from the original DVDs referred to previously – video, etc., and copies them to a central location on the Home Server itself. The files in this location are duplicated on each of the data drives in the system. 

Adding files.

As I receive scans via DVD, the scans are copied to my working computer, and the DVDs put away in storage. These files are copied to the Windows Home Server by the media collector automatically.

This configuration means there are multiple copies of each of my files; on each of the backups, on each of the internal drives, and finally one copy on the external drive.

Restoring the entire computer. Windows Home Server enables my computers to be restored to a previous point in time, or restored completely in the case of a hardware failure – like a bad hard drive – by using the Home Computer Restore CD.

The client software that is installed on each of my computers, allows a backup to be mounted as a drive or multiple drives. In other words, if the computer being backed up has multiple drives, each of the drives is accessible as a drive to the computer opening the backup. This makes retrieving files from a backup as easy as copying files from one drive to another.

Off Site storage.

I rely on both on-site and off-site storage for my image files (both original and working). I periodically copy the entire backup database from the Windows Home Server to an external hard disk, and then carry that hard drive to an off site location. I keep multiple external hard drives, so that I am able to keep multiple copies off site.

More Information about Backup Strategies

For more information about backup strategies and Windows Home Server see:

Best practices for Backup

Windows Home Server Home Page

Windows Home Server Technical Brief for Home Computer Backup and Restore

Being on the US West Coast, with a small mountain range to the east, I knew that conditions weren’t ideal for a sunrise photograph. However, when I arrived at the park, I found the tidal flats were empty, the tide out, with a full moon in the sky. I knew that I couldn’t ask for better circumstances.

Oregon Moonrise. Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area, Oregon. Toyo 45AII camera, Nikkor SW 90mm f8 lens on Fuji Velvia 50.

I’ve always found the Nikkor 90mm SW to be a difficult lens to work with, the small F8 aperture makes focusing on the ground glass difficult. As a result, while the foreground is sharp, the horizon isn’t as sharp as I would like. Since this time, I’ve upgraded to a Schneider Super-Symmar XL 80mm f4.5, which is an absolutely, beautiful lens to work with.

Later during this trip, we were able to meet with noted landscape photographer Christopher Burkett, in his home/workshop in Portland.

Christopher works primarily in the 8×10 format, printing on Ilfochrome (Cibachrome) papers. Cibachrome is a beautiful paper, of which there is no equal; either traditional photographic, or ink jet papers. Sadly, few use this wonderful paper, probably because of the difficulty of mastering it, as well as the cost.

Christopher was kind enough to show us the process he uses to make his prints; from creating contrast masks, to the monster 8×10 optical enlarger and the associated Jobo print processor (about the size of a small car). Later, he showed us examples of his prints.

Truly, a memorable trip and a memorable experience.

A few links related to this article:

• Ilford Ilfochrome Paper
• Photography West Gallery
• New work from Christopher Burkett
• Per Volquartz

If you are interested in trying out Ilfochrome printing, I highly recommend Elevator Digital in Toronto, Canada.

One Sunday afternoon I drove to Makua Beach on the Waianae coast of the island of Oahu. I had vision of a photograph taken at particular rock formation near the end of the beach. In the late afternoon, during the winter months, it isn’t unusual to get a bit of overcast skies, with a smattering of rain. So, I knew from experience that it was possible to get a bit of cloudiness and a sun lit sky, close to sunset.

The problem was, the rock was teeming with fishermen and children playing in the surf. With a slight sprinkle, everyone soon decided it was time to move on, and I was left with the location to myself. I hurriedly waded out into the sand, camera mounted on the tripod, Nikon F5 slung around my shoulder to use as a light meter.

Angry Sea. Toyo 45AII Camera, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5/6 lens, on Fuji Velvia 50.

Watching the movement of the sea, I timed my exposure for a point in time when the surf was receding from the shore, which I knew would leave the sea wet. I also knew that a slow shutter speed would leave “fingers” of water.

Since, I’ve taken this photograph, I’ve learned a bit more about how others perceive a photograph. The photograph that appears above isn’t my favorite of the session, but it’s the one most popular with others. My favorite was taken just after the first, from a different point of view.

The reason that the second photograph appeals to me more, is the result of a technical flaw on the first. Looking at the transparency, I can see where the upper left hand corner of the slide isn’t sharp. This was due to the film holder not holding the film as flat as it should have been; I was using a Fuji Quick Load holder.

Angry Sea #2. Toyo 45AII Camera, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5/6 lens, on Fuji Velvia 50.

I’m not sure why, but the technical flaw diminishes the first photograph in my mind in some respect. I fully agree that the first photograph has much more impact than the second. It seems many viewers will accept some technical flaw, that I as the photographer have trouble accepting.

Something to learn, and to ponder.

A few years ago on a visit Western MacDonnell National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory,  a situation arose that made me aware of the need to consider such possibilities. I’ve visited Australia on numerous occasions, and have photographed in the Outback several times, but I’ve never actually seen a snake in the wild. One morning at Ormiston Gorge, I arose well before dawn, to make the 2 km walk up the White Gum Lookout Walk. With the help of a full moon, and excellent night vision, I was able to make the walk in the dark. I arrived at the lookout well before sunrise, spent an hour or so photographing, then made my way back to camp for breakfast. A nice morning shoot.

Sunrise, Ormiston Gorge. Toyo 45AII, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5.6 lens on Fuji Velvia 50.

However, that evening a situation at the campground that reminded me of the need to be more careful, and how that pre-dawn walk was probably not the wisest decision I had made.

That evening another camper approached me and my good friend Steve, as we were relishing the end of day, with a cold Coopers Pale Ale, excited about the photographs we had taken that day. The camper, who we learned was from Germany, was telling us we should come and see that snake he had found outside the ladies toilet. We both told him that he needed to leave it alone, but he continued to insist. We declined to follow, not giving it any further thought.

A short time later however, the camp manager arrived. We followed him to the area where to snake was, and found a long, black snake, about 8 feet in length sitting almost in the door of the building. After pelting it with sticks, it ran back into the desert. After talking to the camp manager, and later one of the Aboriginal Park Rangers, we concluded that we had seen a Mulga Snake, or as it’s commonly known, the King Brown Snake – reputedly one of the deadliest snakes in the world – and which are very common in this area.

A few days later, I was at the Devils Marble Conservation Area, about 500km away. With this experience fresh in  my mind, I made sure to take a flashlight and pay closer attention to the areas where I walked. I didn’t see any snakes, but the awareness of the possibility was fresh in my mind.

Dawn, Devils Marbles. Toyo 45AII, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5.6 lens on Fuji Velvia 50.

Lesson learned about being more careful in the natural environment.

Through the reach of Twitter, I was recently able to meet up with an Australian photographer, Ilya Genkin (@igenkin) on a recent photo shoot in the Blue Mountains of Australia. I had a great afternoon picking his brains over a cup of coffee about the photography scene in Australia, as well as information and tips on photographing in the Blue Mountains. His friendship and time was well appreciated, and make that portion of my trip even more memorable and enjoyable.

Choose Who to Follow

I make a general practice to only follow those photographers who actively tweet about photographic subjects, either their latest work, or links to blog sites about photography, links about equipment, or any other link that is photographically oriented. Photographers who tweet political topics, or some other controversial topic generally find themselves “un-followed” very quickly. Keep in mind, photographers are human and will occasionally tweet about other subjects, even sensitive subjects; what I’m referring to is the general tone of their tweets. By controlling who to follow, I can more easily keep my Twitter timeline pared down to productive subjects.

When following another photographer, be sure to check who they follow. This will often lead to new photographers to follow.

Make Sure to Participate

The secret behind Twitter is sharing what other photographers are tweeting about. Make sure to retweet liberally, whenever they post a photograph, blog entry or web article that is of interest. Likewise, make sure to tweet about your photographic efforts that others may find of interest.

Pay attention to those who follow you. While you don’t need to be obligated to return follow everyone who follows you, many people don’t like to follow people who don’t return follow them in return. The more you followed, and are followed, the more your tweets will be of benefit towards others.

Like most people you will have people you follow who aren’t photographers. I’ve found that by creating a list of photographer, I can quickly get a timeline that shows tweets from only those I have identified as photographers (see figure).

Suggestions on Who to Follow

Well, onto my list (in no specific order). These are photographers whose “tweets” I have found quite productive. I know there are a lot more photographers that I should be following, but, I’m sure I’ll discover them as time goes by. Likewise, I may not always follow the same photographers that I currently follow.

• @artwolfe – Art Wolfe | Seattle, WA
• @MichaelEGordon – Michael E. Gordon | California
• @MFryePhoto – Michael Frye
• @dewittjones – Dewitt Jones | Hawaii
• @petercoxphoto – Peter Cox | Ballingeary, Co. Cork, Ireland
• @ClydeButcher – Clyde Butcher | Florida Everglades
• @timparkin – Tim Parkin | Leeds, UK
• @richseiling – RichSeiling | Yosemite (also owns West Coast Imaging)
• @CraftAndVision – Craft & Vision (multiple photographers)
• @pixelatedimage – David duChemin | Vancouver, Canada
• @bandhphoto – Henry Posner | New York, NY (from B&H Photo, NY)
• @jpcaponigro – John Paul Caponigro | Cushing, Maine
• @igenkin – Ilya Genkin | Sydney, Australia
• @markmeyerphoto – Mark Meyer | Eagle River, Alaska
• @Gustavo_Castill – Gustavo Castilla | Santa Fe, NM
• @LandscapeLegend – Ken Duncan | NSW, Australia
• @ttsweet – Tony Sweet
• @LewisKemper – Lewis Kemper | Sacramento, CA
• @btharp – Brenda Tharp
• @MoosePeterson – Moose Peterson | CA
• @JoeMcNallyPhoto – Joe McNally | Ridgefield, CT
• @jimgoldstein – Jim Goldstein | San Francisco, CA
• @nevadawier – Nevada Wier | Santa Fe, NM
• @CornforthImages – Jon Cornforth | Seattle, WA
• @joelsartore – Joel Sartore | Lincoln, Nebraska
• @ykphoto – Yegor Korzh | Sydney, Australia
• @alisagreig2 – Alisa Greig | HAWAII
• @AdamBarkerPhoto – Adam Barker | Salt Lake City, UT
• @Pink_Leaf_Photo – PinkLeaf Photography | Australia
• @mattconsidine – Matt Considine | Hong Kong
• @bernabephoto – Richard Bernabe
• @CarlDonohue – Carl Donohue | Alaska
• @JeremeThaxton – Jereme Thaxton | D.C. + Abu Dhabi
• @josephrossbach – Joseph Rossbach | Annapolis,MD
• @photostephen – Stephen Whitehead | Liverpool, England
• @jaygoodrich – Jay Goodrich | La Conner, WA
• @Timecatcher – Patrick Di Fruscia | Montreal, Canada
• @RussBishopPhoto – Russ Bishop Photo | Southern California
• @kostaspetrakis – Kostas Petrakis | Athens / Greece
• @FocusMagGuy – David Spivak | Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Publisher Focus Magazine)
• @JackVJohnson – Jack Johnson | Wisconsin, USA
• @OrganicLight – Youssef Ismail | San Francisco Bay

For More Information

For a list of blog articles on this subject you find useful:

• Twitter Photography Resources List
• 10 Photography Sites You Should Follow on Twitter
• 50+ Photographers on Twitter You Should Follow Now!
• 17 Photography People You Should Follow on Twitter
• Photographers On Twitter – 80+ Photographers You Should Be Following
• Ten Twitter Lists All Photographers Should Follow

Above all, have fun.

Hurriedly parking the car, I jumped out, grabbed my 4×5, and proceeded to setup for a shot. Not having time to properly meter, I used my Nikon F5 to take a quick meter reading. As I was setting up the camera, and metering the scene, I noticed several surfers in the water, waiting for a wave. Finally, they lined up in the water, and I snapped the shutter. While it seemed like I waited a long time for the different elements to come together, in reality it was perhaps no more than 5 or 10 seconds that I waited.

I learned one lesson out of this incident; stay put wherever I am, regardless how bad the light seems; it may change quickly. Fortunately, in this instance the situation worked out for the best.

Who says you can’t take surf photos with a large format field camera, and a wide angle lens?

Photo Details: Kahe Point Beach Park (Electric Beach), Oahu, Hawaii. Toyo 45AII camera, Schneider Symmar-S 135mm f5.6 lens, on Fuji Velvia 50. No filters used.

There are natural patterns that most experienced photographers recognize in any composition. Most widely known is the “Rule of Thirds”. However, less known, but equally valid is the “Golden Mean” (or Golden Section). The Golden Mean is a ratio of numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. Based upon a mathematical sequence of numbers, the Golden Mean manifests itself in various forms, including the Golden Spiral, Golden Triangle and Golden Proportion. These manifestations have been known, and used since ancient times, because their simplicity leads to pleasing patterns.

Learning about these various forms of compositional patterns can be valuable in choosing compositions that are more pleasing to the eye. Many photographers, who flaunt the breaking of the Rule of Thirds are unknowingly following one of the forms of the Golden Mean, without realizing it. These patterns are all around us, and become natural to our eyes, even when we can’t identify them.

To learn more about the Golden Mean, there are some excellent articles at the following links:

• http://cwlawrencephoto.blogspot.com/2006/04/golden-section-in-photo-composition.html
• http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/
• http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/James_Gentles/KAP_Photo_Technique.htm
• http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Stuart_Low/The_Golden_Mean.htm
• http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Edwin_Leong/Camera_Hobby_-_e-Book_on_the_Golden_Ratio.htm

For those photographers using Adobe Lightroom, you can view how your photographs fit these forms of the Golden Mean. See the following article on how to set this up: http://www.revellphotography.com/blog/?p=2853&cpage=1

Photo Details: Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. Toyo 45AII camera, Schneider Symmar-S 13mm f5.6 lens, on Fuji Velvia 50. No filtration.

Those in Toronto, Canada can see this as a 20×24 print at the Elevator Gallery.

Late one afternoon in November, I made the long drive up this side of the island. During the winter months, the Leeward side of the island gets strong surf patterns, making it ideal for photographing vibrant patterns and shapes in the sand.

Many non-residents of Hawaii don’t know that sunsets here aren’t generally the “big ball” blazing sunsets many photographers love. There is almost always a layer of clouds on the horizon, which the sun sets behind. Knowing this, I decided it would be better to concentrate on the reflection of the sun off the sand instead. This led me to seek a spot where I could get both the reflection of the sunlight, as well as the flowing water.

Once I found the right spot, I waited for the incoming surf to hit and begin to flow on the beach, then I waited for the next incoming wave to just begin to break. These elements all came together in one brief instant. I was also fortunate that there was a little haze in the air, causing the sun to appear as a vague ball, while keeping the contrast level down.

This photograph illustrates another photographic technique that I employ for controlling depth of field. With Large Format cameras, changing the aperture is not the only way to control depth of field. Using a technique based upon the Scheimpflug principle, the film plane of the camera can be tilted forward or backwards to increase depth of field. Tilting the film plane backwards increases the depth of field, although it tends to exaggerate the foreground.

Photo Details: Kaena Point State Park, Oahu, Hawaii. Toyo 45AII camera, Nikkor SW 90mm f8 lens, Fuji Velvia 50 film, Lee .3 (one stop) split neutral density filter.