Where it started….
So today I woke up pretty early and decided to check out Muir Forest in the Bay Area without doing any research. After a long drive to get all the way there, I saw signs saying I had to reserve parking. Thinking it was a bust and continuing on, I saw another sign for Muir Beach. Deciding to at least make the most of my trip and find something, I made a quick change of plans and headed on down.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice location despite the curious cloud cover that seemed to gravitate to that particular spot. Skies were all clear driving in, but just around there, an umbrella of clouds had the area stuck in an overcast shade. Either way, I decided to get after it anyway.
Now I had been watching videos on YouTube for a hot minute, trying to level up my Landscape Photography game, which I have to admit is a weakness. I love portraiture and street photography, but Landscapes seem to elude me when I drag my camera out into the wilderness. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect. So I decided it was time to get a little practice in. I brought along the Fujifilm GFX 50R, which I have to say is a POWERHOUSE of a camera in terms of image quality. And best of all, you can adjust the aspect ratio. I had been shooting 16:9 up to now, but decided to go full panorama with a 65:24 aspect ratio, and MAN, it was cool. No other way to describe it. I had always dreamed of the old Hasselblad X-Pan, and on my currently non-existent photo gear budget too, this was what the doctor ordered. It really pushed me to look at composition a little bit differently. And in my opinion, it gave my framing and composition something of an old-school Golden Age of Hollywood vibe. The couple in the edit below is in the aspect ratio I began with. Overall, the image is unremarkable but still is a good demonstration of where I began.
Now I saw this page here:https://fujilove.com/shooting-panoramas-with-the-gfx-50r/ a while ago, and as you can see from the cover image they use in their article, they’re nailing it. And hopefully soon I will be too, haha. Let’s all hold our breath together… Anyway… I decided nothing really beats a failure but a try, so bada-bing bada-boom I go and switch up. (say it in Sopranos voice)
Where it went….
so what’s the point with the extreme crop?
Is what you’re probably asking, right? But it isn’t cropped; it’s shot like that. And I personally love it. Yes, you could just shoot it and crop it like this, but given that photography is a creative pursuit, putting some degree of limitation and working within a framework will force you to see things in a different way. I was starting to look at things in terms of not stitching images or trying to think in squares but in an extreme wide shot, how would I print I was thinking to myself, what is critical? My attempts to leave the mollusks in the foreground and have the boulders lead you in fell a little flat, but I don’t think the image lacks character, which I found to be the most fun aspect of this exercise.
How is this relevant or how does it apply?
“I don’t even have that camera.” You may be thinking, what’s the point? The point is learning to work within a framework and see how it informs the work. Because that may open up new avenues of creativity. The concept is extremely popular with photographers and often comes up among some of my friends, who talk about how it informs their decisions. I admit I often chafe a bit when I forget the lens I didn’t think I’d need and the perfect photo goes by, but at the same time, it can really inform the way you look, which is a critical way to grow as a photographer. Here is another cool article to check out by the well-known F-stoppers: https://fstoppers.com/gear/one-camera-one-lens-travel-experiment-was-it-worth-risk-697190. In the article, they expound a bit more on these “challenges,” though I would consider it more of an exercise to challenge yourself vs. a Challenge in and of itself. Either way, I think that, while pithy, I made my point and offered a brief observation. Reading is fun, but it’s even more fun to get outside and shoot some images. So off with you 🙂 Create a scenario that forces you out of your comfort zone and exercise that inner creative piloting your meat-suit.
PS. Remember, Robert Capa said, “If your photos aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” That’s another way to view photos, lol. Either way, good luck out there refining your style.
