{"id":83,"date":"2013-02-06T00:10:57","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T06:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikemacdonald.com\/blog\/?p=83"},"modified":"2017-06-20T15:13:41","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T21:13:41","slug":"landscape-photography-transcendental-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/landscape-photography-transcendental-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Transcendental Light & The Art of Landscape Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In

In the art of landscape photography, light can have a transcendental effect. Here at Black Partridge Woods, woodland phlox\u00a0spread in a serpentine wave across the bluff, as streaks of morning light dramatically and ethereally transform matter.
Location: Black Partridge Woods, Lemont, Illinois
Forest Preserve District of Cook County<\/p><\/div>\n

On this typical May morning, along a bluff at Black Partridge Woods, transcendental rays of new-day light\u00a0fleck the verdant floor and streak across serpentine waves of woodland phlox, casting\u00a0the divine onto this springtime panorama.<\/p>\n

Thirty\u00a0minutes earlier, though, only flat blue\u00a0shade from the open sky illuminated the landscape. Editorially and visually,\u00a0the composition would have told much the same story, but not a transcendent one.<\/p>\n

Landscape photography of a woodland\u00a0is straightforward when\u00a0fully lit by a diffused sky. Ubiquitous, the even light plays no influential role\u00a0and is, therefore, not part of the equation.\u00a0Simply compose for the existing subject matter.<\/p>\n

However, when rays of light enter the\u00a0scene,\u00a0they ethereally and dramatically influence\u00a0all tangible\u00a0elements. Suddenly, the\u00a0landscape\u00a0is\u00a0recast\u00a0into a complex\u00a0story of highlights and shadows, and\u00a0every physical subject takes a back seat to the light, which now fills the starring role. A symbiotic and orderly combination of\u00a0light and\u00a0subject matter is required to create the ideal photograph,\u00a0seriously raising the level of difficulty.<\/p>\n

Along with the light comes new challenges, like\u00a0distracting\u00a0hot\u00a0spots\u00a0or black featureless shadows that can\u00a0divert the viewer’s\u00a0attention\u00a0away from the intended story. Therefore,\u00a0to photograph\u00a0amongst the trees, the sunlight must be soft and\u00a0precisely directed.\u00a0Soft sunlight can be\u00a0seized by showing up\u00a0during the first and last 30 minutes of the day. That’s easy enough. Directing the sun, however, is out of our hands.<\/p>\n

In the open prairie,\u00a0sunbeams travel predictably and virtually unobstructed, and I\u00a0easily “chase the light.”\u00a0I scan the scene\u00a0for a sunlit area, head directly to that spot,\u00a0check for a suitable composition, and,\u00a0if I find one,\u00a0set up and shoot without surprises. However, in the woodland, trees divvy up the morning sun, making the position and shape of the dappled light impossible to predict. Obstructing the sunlight, they hurl\u00a0their shadows in a slow, constant advance\u2014a forest of sundials. Each flower is given its moment in the spotlight, only to fall back into the shadows. Timing and location are critical\u00a0when photographing the woodland landscape.<\/p>\n

Chasing the light, like I do in the prairie, may sound like a logical plan, but the sundials don’t wait while I take the necessary time to analyze the scene or to arrange the composition.\u00a0That’s why, when time and space converge to create the perfect moment,\u00a0it’s usually too late to do anything about it.\u00a0Then, with the possibility of tomorrow, I glance down at my watch and\u00a0vow to return to the same spot, thirty minutes earlier, hoping for a rerun of light, weather, and sky.<\/p>\n

Chasing the light under the canopy\u00a0can be a frustrating, unproductive scramble. So now, I employ a more relaxed strategy, one that\u00a0separates the\u00a0variables of\u00a0space and time. Before daybreak, I scout the location for a scene that holds\u00a0potential, then I stake it out and wait for the perfect moment.\u00a0With\u00a0the equipment in position and the composition\u00a0virtually solved, if that moment comes, it’s likely\u00a0I’ll get the picture. This approach is\u00a0less frenzied, requiring only\u00a0patience\u00a0and\u00a0an avid\u00a0awareness of\u00a0the creeping light, as it constantly conjures\u00a0new compositions.\u00a0Granted, it’s a crapshoot, but these\u00a0are the images\u00a0that ascend to a higher level of art and make it all worthwhile.<\/p>\n

I tell my students, time after time, that one great\u00a0picture is better than a hard drive full of good ones. Less is more. Much more. To stand out in the field of photography, stand out in the field at 4:45 in the morning. There are no shortcuts. Whenever I complain, my lovely wife exclaims in a delightful refrain, “Suck it up, Mike!” And, I do.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0learn\u00a0about landscape photography and how to\u00a0harness\u00a0the transcendental light, consider\u00a0my\u00a0illuminating photography workshops\u00a0entitled “Light and The Landscape<\/a>” and\u00a0“Art of Landscape Photography<\/a>.”\u00a0And, to find out more\u00a0about\u00a0all of\u00a0my photography classes and learning adventures, please\u00a0visit\u00a0Creative Eye Workshops<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this typical May morning, along a bluff at Black Partridge Woods, transcendental rays of new-day light\u00a0fleck the verdant floor and streak across serpentine waves of woodland phlox, casting\u00a0the divine onto this springtime panorama. Thirty\u00a0minutes earlier, though, only flat blue\u00a0shade … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[68,231,212,73,67,79,70],"tags":[12,54,258,230,240],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chicago-nature","category-illinois-cook-county-nature","category-illinois-nature-photography","category-landscape-photography-lessons-tips","category-nature","category-nature-photography-lessons","category-photography-lessons-tips","tag-black-partridge-woods","tag-forest-preserve-district-of-cook-county","tag-illinois-nature-photography","tag-lemont","tag-light-photography"],"yoast_head":"\nTranscendental 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For me, the beginning of spring does not arrive in a fanfare of color. Rather, it begins subtly, when sometime in March, speckled maroon and yellow spathes\u00a0of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) quietly emerge from beneath a layer of snow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","block_context":{"text":"Biodiversity","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/nature\/biodiversity-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frazil ice formed during the frigid night on the surface of Sawmill Creek at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in DuPage County, Illinois. \u00a92013 Mike MacDonald Photography\u2014All Rights Reserved. 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Location: Black Partridge Woods, Lemont, Illinois Forest Preserve District of Cook County At Black Partridge Woods, invisible raindrops plummet from the gray onto a canopy of yellow sugar maples, dislodging turning leaves from their tentative grasps and sending them into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","block_context":{"text":"Biodiversity","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/nature\/biodiversity-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Copyright 2012 Mike MacDonald Photography, Inc., All Rights Reserved","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Partridge-Woods-Autumn-121017-0020-00-600px-sRGB-Copyright.jpg?fit=400%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/new-nature-photography-blog-the-heart-of-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":83,"position":2},"title":"New Nature Photography Blog: A Celebration of Biodiversity & The Art of Nature Photography","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"January 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a new day and a\u00a0new year,\u00a0and with\u00a0them\u00a0come\u00a0a fresh new resource, a nature photography blog\u00a0that speaks to\u00a0the avid photographer\u00a0and the\u00a0lover of nature. I call it: The Heart of Nature. The purpose of this blog\u00a0is to share my insights about photography and my\u00a0explorations in the wilds of Chicago. It's a celebration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biodiversity"","block_context":{"text":"Biodiversity","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/nature\/biodiversity-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The morning sun peaks above the horizon to illuminate a large display of Foxglove Beardtongue at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois. \u00a92007 Mike MacDonald Photography\u2014All Rights Reserved","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1071,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/the-extraordinary-in-the-ordinary\/","url_meta":{"origin":83,"position":3},"title":"The Extraordinary in the “Ordinary”","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Extraordinary in the \"Ordinary\" I am both haunted and fascinated by a phrase that's often used to praise and describe my work. It all came to a head one day after I performed my one-man show about Chicago nature. Three audience members separately visited me at my book-signing table\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The winter sun warms the oak savanna on the kame at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":145,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/digital-landscape-photography-and-digital-capture\/","url_meta":{"origin":83,"position":4},"title":"Digital Landscape Photography: New Possibilities in Storytelling","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Not\u00a0until\u00a0recently, did I begin to photograph the landscape with a digital camera, leaving behind the beauty of transparency film and the process of leaning over a light table, one eye to the loupe, to immerse\u00a0myself in the colorful world\u00a0living within. During my film capture days, I developed\u00a0a sense of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bluff Spring Fen-120821-0010-00-HDR-FINAL by Mike MacDonald, Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/BluffSpringFen-120821-0010-00-HDR-FINAL-600px-Copyright.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1162,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/winter-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":83,"position":5},"title":"Winter Red","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"January 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Winter Red So far this winter, the magic of frozen white was nowhere to be found. So, I tried to photograph it, anyway. With dense fog predicted for the morning of Dec. 24, I visited Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois. The fog wasn't as dense as I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chicago Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The winter fog added a sense of mystery over the sand savanna of black oak and holly.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IL-Beach-SP-231224-0010-UNCROPPED-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1030,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/1030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}