As I write this, today marks the anniversary of my workshop on Whidbey Island. The unique locations for photographers to photograph, and the quality of the light. Both of these came to bear when I took my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop there for a week. As I always say both in my workshops and my online class with the BPSOP, LIGHT IS EVERYTHING!!! You find the light and you’ll find the shot. In this case finding the light at a wonderful location is just about as good as it gets.
We were shooting at one location late one afternoon in June when the sun disappeared behind a large bank of dark clouds, and it looked like we were done for the day. We were heading back to the offices and classroom when I looked over and saw that there was a small hole between the horizon and the dark clouds. One of my students that was familiar with the area told me about Admiralty Head lighthouse, and that it was high enough in elevation to catch the sun break through the clouds before it set.
I immediately thought to myself about Eddie Adams, a famous Pulitzer Prize winning photographer. He once said, “When you get lucky, be ready”. This has been my mantra for the last fifty-three years, and it has helped me take some incredible photos; so off we went chasing the light, my favorite pastime!!!
When we arrived, the temperature had dropped significantly, and the wind was howling at us. It was mighty ‘freaking’ cold up there that night and I have to take my hat off to the students that went with me. As they say in Texas, “Sometimes you just gotta cowboy up”.
While working with another one of my students I said that Light is so fleeting that it will change in just seconds. I took this shot and had her run with me around to the other side to show that the time it took for us to get there the light and color had changed dramatically.
As I always say, “Never stop shooting until you can’t see anything, because as long as you can see it, you can photograph it!!!
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this page and come shoot with me some time.
JoeB