Embracing the Darkness

This week, I had a great surprise: a photo I submitted to LEE Filters—Winter Storm, Yosemite Falls—was one of 5 chosen to be critiqued by landscape photographer David Noton. That felt like a great honor! Here’s what he said...

Dappled light on the landscape is so much more dramatic than blanket illumination, isn’t it? This is a wonderfully atmospheric picture. OK, Yosemite is epic, we all know that, but the most dramatic landscapes are often the hardest to shoot. To capture something special in such well-known and overly photographed locations, we really have to dig deep.

Derick has captured an image full of dark mood here. Too dark? Those shadows on the left are awfully dense, but then again, there’s beauty in a rich black. I may have teased out a bit more detail there, but I applaud Derick’s courage in embracing the darkness.

He’s used his filters subtly, too, with no obvious grad line darkening down the top of the mountain and good detail in the heavy, threatening sky. I’m not quite sure what the use of a Big Stopper achieved, though; an exposure just a few seconds long would blur the waterfall nicely. But who am I to question? It’s worked, and by the way, it’s another minimal colour image! Don’t you just love them?

As to my “embracing the darkness,” I like that!