Thomas Mengelsen’s photo

[Sevcat]

This was a slightly challenging assignment for me because I have never really researched professional photographers and am definitely not fond of essays, so here we go. I have always been drawn to nature photography, and I found so many different fantastic photographers. There was a quote from Galen Rowell that I really appreciated. Basically he said that he used photography as a means of visual expression to communicate what he had seen to people who were not there. The first 99 percent of his photos were not as good as what he had seen, but the one percent contained something that looked even more powerful on film than to the eye. As an example his photo, ‘Sunset over Pine Glades Lake, Everglades, FL’ is striking. It was this one percent that motivated him to pursue photography.
As far as an inspiring picture goes though, I have to go with Thomas Mengelsen’s photo of ‘The Beaver Pond.’ The color range is so appealing and the perfect reflection of the mountain on the water is amazing. Picturing myself there with the photographer, the day must have been so calm because there isn’t one wave in the water. When he hiked up to that area and came upon that scene, I bet he couldn’t wait to take hundreds of pictures. The water looks just like glass, you can almost hear how still and quiet it seems. He was able to capture the detail and deep green of the trees and grass while still keeping the background in focus. The warm lighting on the front of the trees contrasts so nicely with the cool grey-blue of the sky. Also, he centered the picture so that it is almost like there is a horizontal band going through the picture making it seem like you could turn the picture upside down and still get the same effect. I really appreciate that you can stare at this photo for a long time and almost feel what the photographer was trying to capture.
The aim of this assignment is great because, before now, I honestly have not given any thought to what areas of photography I am interested in. It has inspired me to pursue this art and maybe at some point I will be able to take a photo so fantastic that someone will want to stare at it and examine it to try to experience what I was thinking while taking it. The ability to freeze a moment in time with photography is truly priceless and I am looking forward to this journey.

[Duncan Rawlinson]

Thanks for submitting your second assignment.

There is never really much for me to add to this one because you’ve done all the work already!

Just remember to put this inspiration in your pocket and take it with you. Remember why you are trying to shoot better photos.

Also, thinking along these lines will help you to refine your particular area of interest in photography. For instance you may have a love of landscape photography!

I’m happy it was challenging for you.

See you on the next assignment.

[Author]

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