For a while now I’ve wanted to tell the story behind some of my images. On one hand the idea of adding some context to the scene and the process of creation is intriguing, on the other, writing is not my favorite thing or something I consider a strength. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride and I can learn to better express what I’m photographing and why. Let’s get to it!

I had the idea for this image the week prior while strolling along the bank of the Olentangy River in Highbanks Metro Park outside Columbus, OH. Along the trail, there were shallow pools of water due to the low level of the river. These pools were just starting to fill with leaves. I figured another week or two and more leaves would fall thus covering the bottom of the pools and covering up some of the messy parts. When I returned, I was met with exactly what I had envisioned. There was a layer of leaves which had fallen below the surface of the water while others were still resting on top. The leaves were in various states of decay which provided some amazing colors set as the backdrop for the leaves still floating on the top of the water. 

Now it was time to decide where to focus. There were a few sections that quickly drew my eye. I knew I needed something in flat light, in the shade, the sun was not going to be friendly to an image like this. I needed a strong focal point, a home base from which the viewer could explore the image, a place to return to. Finally, I needed some order in the chaos of leaves. There were various twigs and stones throughout the pool, but I wanted this to be a story just about the leaves. This scene in particular had some stones just outside the frame that needed to be excluded for the image to work they way I envisioned it. 

Once I settled in I quickly realized there would be a few technical challenges to over come. Focus was going to be an issue, I would need to do some focus stacking to make this image work. For those of you who do not know, depending on the settings you select you can either have more or less of an image in focus, there are a number of factors that play into this including how close you are to the subject, what the focal length on you lens is, and what aperture you select, all of this comes together to determine the depth of field in a single photograph. This challenge is overcome by making multiple images focused on different spots then combined later to achieve a greater depth of field than you could with one image. The problem was compounded though because even though this pool of water appeared to be still, there was a very subtle current moving through the scene. In order to achieve better results than Photoshop, I returned to a tool I had tried once before, Helicon Focus (maybe more on that in another post, but what an amazing tool). 

Some images work because the scene in front of you is such a universally agreed upon beautiful view that it seems like you could point your camera in any direction and something good would come from it. This is not one of those scenes. It’s nothing but a big “puddle” with leaves decaying. But that is exactly what I like about it and it’s what makes me so proud of this image. I envisioned this a week prior, not exactly but pretty close. Through some technical tricks of the trade and tools which I have practiced, I was able to overcome the challenges of the scene and process it in a way that brought greater attention to the focal point but left enough for the viewer to explore and roam. Some images are made for the photographer, we just have to make sure we don’t mess it up. Other images are made by the photographer and a series of choices align to create something. This image feels like I made it. 

As with all learning, it comes and goes in waves, sometimes you make a lot of progress then it seems to slow for a while. This summer I felt a bit stagnant, like I wasn’t getting any better, the initial burst of growth started to fade. With this image though, things started to click. It is a signal to me to keep pushing, keep learning, keep growing. It will pay off in time. If this story resonated with you, please leave a comment! If you are a photographer and have experienced something similar, I’d love to hear about it below.

-Oak on the Water