[Gallery] Impressions: When Challenging Conditions Offer a Creative Invitation
An image set from a day photographing in the Canadian Rockies.
Recently, I spent a day in the mountains photographing with my friend and fellow photographer, Lee Nordbye. As always, it was a pleasure to share the day with someone who understands the quiet language of the landscape and who is happy to let the day unfold without expectation.
The weather that day wasn’t particularly generous, giving us less-than-desirable light to work with. At first glance, it was the kind of day some photographers might write off, one that offered few of the classic elements we often chase. But I’ve been trying to shift the way I respond to days like this. Rather than put the camera away, I’ve started to see these conditions as creative invitations.
When conditions verge on monochrome to begin with, I find I lean into black and white photography. When colour is removed from the scene, the textures, contrasts, and subtle emotions can take centre stage, offering us impressions of a moment.
What resulted from our time out there is a collection of images that challenged me to slow down and shift my perspective. I’ve put together a small set of photos from that outing below, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on them.
What do you look for on days when the conditions don’t cooperate? And do you find, like I do, that some of your favourite images emerge from moments you almost overlooked?
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![[Video] Simplifying Scenes in Challenging Conditions](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3755ac02-1a0a-4588-9c26-497f9ecd0173_1920x1080.jpeg)
Check out my friend Lee Nordbye’s photography here.
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A wonderful set of images, Paul. As someone who mainly travels in order to dedicate time to landscape photography without any day to day distractions, I’ve become used to taking whatever weather and light I’m given and making the best use of it I can. You become much more observant and open to possibilities that you would likely miss if everything was ‘unicorns and rainbows’ as my friend Jon would say. I often prefer these quieter images too, they seem to have a longer shelf life. Thanks for sharing. 👏
Nice series and variety of shots.