Back in 1982, I studied for a week with Sam Abell, a National Geographic photographer who was teaching at Maine Photographic Workshops (now called Maine Media Workshops). It was a transforming week for me. I was really just beginning my path into professional photography, and had much to learn. It was a challenging week - yet in the end, it was by all accounts a successful one. Midway, I gave the image below to Sam for critique in front of the group, and held my breath. He was, after all, tough; fair, and kind, yet tough on all of us.
A very long moment passed, and then he walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek, saying “you did it. you pushed past the ‘postcard’ image and created something special with your vision.” I was speechless after that reaction/comment. And very proud, I must admit.
Here’s the image. August mornings in Maine are very early. Blue hour begins about 4:45 AM, and sunrise about an hour later, and I wanted to be out in the good light. Only there was no visible sunrise this morning. It was super foggy. I wandered down from my room towards the harbor. Boats in fog might be nice, I remember thinking, and they were. There was just something missing. I had a rather large empty space in the left foreground. Hmm. As I stood there, pondering what to do next, I became aware of a rhythmic sound, like water dripping, and I realized that someone was out there in that fog, rowing a boat. I waited. Luckily, he was rowing to shore. As he began to emerge, I held my breath that he’d keep coming at me, and not turn left or right. When he turned his head, with the oars poised, I knew I had something good.
Looking at the image today, I am still pleased with it, I must admit.
Sam taught us many things that week. One all important concept was to find a background – a ‘stage’, that you liked, and wait for the players to come into that space. He was a master at that, although at the time he had a rather unlimited budget and therefore the time to return to a scene again and again while on assignment, yet it still taught me the value of patience if I found a scene I liked. Sometimes, it was hard to wait, though. Just think of all the other images I might be missing while I hoped something would happen where I was! It was a fine balance between waiting to see vs moving on, to be honest.
In my travel/general photography, I often saw scenes that begged for a person to be part of them. I couldn’t wait around all the time, but when I did, it was often a ‘win’. In these Egyptian ruins, there were locals who wanted money to pose for photos. I mostly declined, preferring to capture candid moments. As I wandered around, I saw this scene, and simply waited for one of them to walk through it. I watched as his shadow hit the wall, and I was fortunate he looked sideways at that very moment. The first man to walk through there was wearing brown and the photo didn’t work as well.
I liked this scene in Bhutan, and the shop’s name “Your Size” was humorous to me. When this older man decided to walk into the shop, the photograph came together.
In the image below, when I saw this man leaning against the wall he was simply standing there, and when he saw me, he politely started to move out of my way. I called out to him to stay (in Spanish) and said I loved him against that wall, and when he leaned this time, he put his foot up! It was such a neat building, and he made the photo come alive. Not as truly candid as some, but it was initially, and I wasn’t going to let this one go!
The image below was visually busy, yet it told the story of a terracotta factory that was producing a ton of stuff! It just needed a human in there for scale and story. Fortunately, I had seen this man lugging pots back and forth so it was just a matter of waiting for the ‘next’ time.
I loved the architecture of Bhutanese Dzongs (monasteries) and when I saw this scene I knew it just needed a human figure in it. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for this monk to walk with purpose through that space. I may have let other photographs go in order to get this one, but that was okay with me. You can’t have them all!
In the blue city of Chefchaouen, the maze of alleys and steps creates some wonderful opportunities for photographs. I came upon this scene with just the cat, and thought “wouldn’t it be nice if someone colorful walked through that alley below?” et voilá - and she was a traditionally dressed woman at that.
You can’t always win at this, and I would be lying if I said I was successful every time I went out to photograph when I travel. Yet I believe my chances are greater because I have tuned my instincts and my eyes to see the possibilities, to always be on the lookout for interesting scenes and (hopefully) someone in them.
Imagine my joy, then, when I just happened upon this scene while walking in Juneau, Alaska one day!
What a memorable moment with Sam Abell, Brenda. Including people in your excellent photos shows how it tells a more interesting and relatable story. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely article