The Little Things

On the way back from engineering design, I shed my outer layer—my sweatshirt—and had to stuff it into my backpack.  Then I noticed all around me, the trees were doing the same.  Not with sweatshirts (or into their nonexistent backpacks), of course, but I found it hard to find trees with many of their leaves intact around Old Main.

Trees are easily one of my favorite things to shoot.  Landscapes and nature in general continue to amaze me with vibrant colors, complementary structures, and unique unpredictability.  But trees—with their variety and hue shifts, textures and branches—hold a special place in my photography, especially in the fall.

With the photo to the right,  I aimed to reattach all the fallen leaves to the barren tree via double exposure.  In effort to fit the tree alone in the second exposure left the top third of the photo looking like it's raining leaves.  As I watched this piece of film develop, I couldn't help but think of myself as a photography surgeon.  (Instax camera, stat!)

Despite all my effort to restore the tree to its original glory, trees without leaves are pretty neat too. Though I missed Halloween by just a hair, their darkness still evokes a sense of spookiness and their shadows extend like skeletal limbs out to get you.  The lack of deep reds, yellows, and oranges don't take away from the cool-factor of these natural statues.  Here's an example of exactly how shadows can alter the entire atmosphere of a photograph below.

Without the shadows, the image would stand on its own with some interesting lens flare on the right-hand side.  The busy street in the background contrasts with the field and surrounding trees, while the main tree and street itself abide by the rule of thirds.

Add in the shadow of the trees, however, and the dynamic of the photograph changes instantly.  The network of intertwining finger-like silhouettes adds a layer of depth impossible to achieve with leaves fully encapsulating the branches.  Like little dark highways, the shadows also guide your eyes to the base of the tree, further accentuating the main subject and the rule of thirds.  The distorted contours also provide variety within the photo, which is dominated by straight lines.

Here's another picture that takes advantage of some fortuitous lighting below.  This shot was taken in New York City on new years day.  Taking this photo took some planning.  I looked both ways and waited for people to walk across the nearby crosswalk.  Then, I crossed as well, going for an Abbey Road inspired shot.  To make sure the film developed correctly in the below-zero temperatures up there, I had to keep the film in something called a "cold clip".  Essentially, it's a piece of metal that folds around the film to keep it warm with your body temperature.  Think of it as a metal money clip... for photos.

The sun, with this type of film and camera (Polaroid 600 type), does not turn into a black dot like it does with Instax film.  Furthermore, the square shape of the image lends itself to different compositions than with the rectangular Instax film as well.

While yes, the dark outlines add to the depth once more, shadows here mainly emphasize the anonymity of the city-folk in New York.  The tall skyscrapers, blackened by the sun behind also contribute to the Big Apple's outward intimidation factor.  Finally, the seemingly endless street running down the middle of the photo lends itself to the expansiveness of the giant metropolis.

Shadows are innately spooky features, but often overlooked in daily life.  When was the last time you thoroughly examined one?  Photography, in many ways, is used to call attention to small details like these that most folk don't have the time to ponder or explore.  Being able to utilize these small details to make a big impact on your images certainly makes photography worthwhile.