Over the weekend, I participated in the Out of Chicago (OOC) LIVE online conference as one of the instructors. This is the third online conference OOC has offered during the pandemic and they all have been such inspirational weekends. (Although the live conference is over, you can still purchase the recordings through April 16 and then access the sessions for the next year.) The organizers always pull together a great mix of inspiration, motivational storytelling, and practical education. I am usually on the side of practical education since that is what comes most naturally to me but last weekend, I had the chance to speak in one of the full conference keynote spots and give an “inspirational” talk. It felt like a big stretch and I was super-nervous leading up to my session but once it was over, I felt like I could do more on the “inspiring” side with some practice.
I chose “shifting your mindset” as the topic of my talk, with a focus on thinking about how you show up and the positive and negative ramifications of the ideas you bring along with you. The role of expectations in nature photography is one of the three areas I talked about, with the encouragement to set aside expectations and show up with an open mind. Generally, I think of expectations as blinders that you put on before you ever get out of the car, often leading to being laser-focused on a preconceived idea that may or may not materialize. By putting the expectations mindset aside, you can instead show up with an openness to serendipity and the opportunities that are in front of you at the moment instead of the conditions or compositions you hoped for that may never materialize.
Settling Sands #2
After my talk, I received this question: “What does it actually mean to go to a place with few expectations?” To answer this question, I’ll share an example from a trip we took to the southern California coast a few years ago. The purpose of the trip was celebrating Ron’s birthday and our main goal focused on eating as much good food as we could (soup dumplings, street tacos, homemade pasta, and Korean-inspired small plates were the highlights, which I am dreaming about right now after so few restaurant meals over the last year). Around eating two indulgent meals a day, we planned to visit a few beaches and gardens for laid-back photography.
For this example trip, expectation-driven photography might look like this… In advance of the trip, we would extensively research all the beaches in the area we planned to visit, making notes about which places look most appealing for landscape photography and then ranking them. I might save screenshots of photos that represent notable compositions from certain beaches and then research the best tide levels for each place (lower tides might expose formations and higher tides might equal more wave motion, for example). Once we got to California, we would obsessively check the weather forecast to determine where clouds might be at sunrise or sunset and then chase them to try to get the “best” conditions. By the time we actually arrived at a place for photography, our heads would be filled with all sorts of ideas – judgements about the location’s photographic potential, ideas about specific compositions that have worked for other photographers in the past, and hope for a certain type of weather to materialize. Those blinders I mentioned above… My mind would now be full of them.
Skipping Stones
We took the opposite approach for this trip, which I would characterize more as experience- and connection-driven photography. The photos come straight from the experience I am having at the moment, not from the ideas I had in my mind before arriving. Before leaving home, we casually talked with some friends about a few nice beaches in the area so we had an idea of a few places we wanted to visit but aside from locating them on a map, we did not do any research in advance. Bringing an open mind means that the expectations stop right here with the directions to the parking lot.
Once at the parking lot, I’d describe my mindset like this: I know I am visiting a coastal location but beyond that, I have no idea in advance what will most catch my eye once I actually arrive. If there are clouds in the sky, I might consider photographing grander scenes. If those clouds are colorful, I might look at how the colors reflect onto the sand and moving water for some more abstract renditions of the scene. If it is a clear day, I might look for smaller scenes, like sand patterns or other details. If we visit during the middle of the day, I might look for the strong contrast that comes with bright light and deep shadows for black and white photography. I have some very general concepts based on my interests but I don’t have any specific plans or ideas that will focus my attention because at this point, I have no idea what I will find at this beach on this particular day or how I will feel once I get there. By not filling my mind with hopes, specific ideas, and other people’s photographs, I can just see where sparks of inspiration, connection, curiosity, and the current conditions lead me.
Settling Sands #1
Generally, I find that expectation-driven photography leads to more predictable results but experience-driven photography leads to more personal results. With deep research, I often know in advance what I will find and have ideas about how to replicate the photos I have viewed if variables like the weather cooperate. If the weather or tides do not cooperate, there is a good chance that I will leave feeling disappointed, frustrated, or full of resentment because I walked away without any of the photos I anticipated. And, with a head full of specific ideas, I might not even be able to adapt and see anything beyond all of my preconceived notions about the place once I realize things are not working out like I had hoped.
For the photos in this post, a more experience-driven approach meant that I spent more than an hour photographing the tiny, colorful bivalve shells shown at the top of this post. I connected most with these colorful shells so that is where I concentrated my efforts. The return on investment was low because the scene would change with every incoming wave, resetting my composition every thirty seconds or so. The colors were so captivating that I stuck with it, even when possibly more “productive” subjects surrounded me. I also photographed a lot of sand patterns in which the different colors of sand would settle differently, creating feathery patterns. I knew of these patterns from our friend Jennifer’s amazing photograph of them but I didn’t know exactly where to find them. Coming upon somewhat similar patterns on our own felt so much more fulfilling than Jennifer telling us exactly where and when she took her photo.
Luckily, our mindset when we show up is not a forever binary decision, as we can take elements from both approaches and apply them to different situations. With an expensive trip to a place I might never be able to revisit, I will put in more research time. With places I have visited before, I am more likely to think in terms of exploring to see what we might find instead of having any specific plans or goals for photography. So, if you sometimes find yourself with a head full of ideas and a heart full of disappointment, I encourage you to think about how you could quiet your expectations and leave more room for serendipity. Doing so could markedly improve your experience with photography and help you create more personally expressive work.
Settling Sands #5
Twisted Ripples
Settling Sands #3
Butterflies
Settling Sands #6
Wavelets
Settling Sands #6