Looking small to see color in a subdued winter landscape. Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park

Sometimes it's good to sweat the small stuff

Looking small to see the big picture is something I do a lot. Defining and refining nature's landscape is a constant practice that is always part of the process of my photography in the filed. There is always a picture in a picture I find, and the object of that lesson is to find it!

Many years ago in a visit to Yosemite valley I attended a ranger hosted evening program conducted by a volunteer. One of those great people that will do most anything it takes in the park in order to  be able to have a few hours for what most are there to do as visitors. In this person's case, photograph.

Nature sets the table of the intimate landscape

The introduction was everything to me. I've long forgotten the actual images that were presented that evening, however we were told that all the images that we were about to see were made in the last few seasons. All the work done before that period were "simply too big!"There was an explanation of this statement that followed but I hardly heard a word of it. I understood completely! I had also been shooting in the park for quite a while and had come to the same conclusion. What it meant to me was that I had yet to find the intimate landscape and I knew that I was now about to be shown it. I also knew that i was about to witness something very important. What I did not realize then was that I already had!

Being overpowered by a huge vast landscape is something that must be overcome time and time again in my experience. It's something that is set before us as photographers constantly and the temptation is always there to make images that are simply too big!

While I don't do microphotography, I do see most settings in nature as still life waiting to be discovered. Isolation is the beginning point for me usually. In Yosemite Valley especially, with cliffs and waterfalls among so many landmarks, the eye and mind are captured constantly with the grandeur of the all encompassing vistas. At times the discipline must be focused on the smaller scene at hand, or literally, at foot.

Winter can be a harsh environment even on the valley floor at 4,000 feet. In some years  there is almost no color to be seen unless you are willing to walk and hike looking for it. In the image at the top, a bleak and now frozen meadow is transformed by the color of the foreground shrub against the granite wall with conifer trees to accent the scale. Although very muted, the use the Singh-Ray color intensifier helped the green, and of course the reds, while not leaving a color cast on the granite. I tried this image a few minutes later with direct light on the cliff face but without success. It lessened the impact of the foreground color.

Moss is a natural anytime of year and is usually found in shade making the color more saturated. In winter it can be the only color to be found at times. With rain soaked leaves in the image above on the right, the mood and tone are set. The bright light from the background was distracting but included to demonstrate the shelter that was needed to create this environment. Some dodging and burning was also needed and the use of the Singh-Ray color combo with its polarizing factor to cut back the glare of the wet leaves was a valuable tool as well.

The straight forward approach	An indirect interpretation	Setting the larger scene

Are the three images above about the trees? I didn't think so and set out to show habitat that made their existence possible, or as it seemed to me, almost impossible! On the left the totality of the frozen setting gave even the bare tree color and texture. The openness of the meadow was needed to show this. In the middle reflection the shore line was barren and unattractive so the cliff face was the setting for an indirect approach. On the right and trees with the river passing below suggested a defensive stance to me. I felt a line of trees were needed to create this mood of serene struggle in the larger sense.

For me these types of images have become my version and vision of Yosemite Valley in winter. I know there are no waterfalls presented here. Also no shots of Half Dome or El Captian either. Yes, I photograph them also and a lot! However as I look over my work from all the years I've spent happily traversing the valley floor, I too now make the statement that I do not show much of my earlier work. I'm not sure that they were too big as much as I now think that these smaller, more refined images present more of my feeling of being in Yosemite Valley in winter.

Upside down or inside out, seeing small to get the big picture!

I found I needed to get out and into the landscape to accomplish what I wanted. The hours spent alone hiking and leading workshop participants along the trails that led nowhere in particular have become the staple of what I now do and have been worth the effort. A destination is a comfort to have when starting but it in itself is not the point, it's just a finishing place to a great adventure and photo shoot.

You can actually work up a sweat, even in the dead of winter when the adrenaline rush hits and there is just no snow bank or steep incline that will hold you from a perceived shot. Those of us that have shared this feeling know only too well that sometimes its very good to sweat the small stuff!

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