Exploring Nature Through the Lens

Marlene Walker
Copyright, 2007

Exploring nature is all about seeing. One can wander in the woods and not really ‘see’ the delicate beauty thrusting through the dry detritus or the forest floor swollen with new growth and coloured with ephemerals. The Spring Beauty is delicate while the Red Trillium flaunts its red-burgundy blush. The White Trillium dances and Dutchman’s Breeches, a species of the Bleeding Heart sub-family, has a cascading habit. Each wildflower has its own time in the sun withering as the verdant luscious canopy draws an umbrella over the forest floor.

I enjoy walking in the woods with or without my camera in hand. And although I relish the solitude of my special time, I also delight in time spent with those who want to learn natural history and photography. Carol is the perfect student. Reluctant initially to entertain the idea of belly-down contact with her subjects, she soon adapts to the challenge.

Teaching and learning are intricately related; I always learn when I teach. Carol points out things of which I’m unaware and I teach her the magic of macro (close-up) photography.

I demonstrate how to remove the clutter around her subject and focus on what she really wants to photograph. How do you remove extra foliage, branches and rocks that you don’t want in the photograph without actually doing so? I encourage her to alternate positions, and walk around the subject to find the best angle. Many people ‘point and shoot’ which is fine if you want a photo for purely documentary purposes. If, however, you’re shooting for aesthetics, one needs to compose the shot. Look up, look down and look sideways. Stand on your tiptoes, crouch or lie down. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that the image can be shot in infinite ways and means.
I call this exercise ‘simple elegance’. Your photo will be something special as you ‘remove’ the extraneous. I love the challenge of a ‘busy’ potential photograph, finding ways to extricate the significant components, and refining them into simple elegance.

Remember that negative space plays an important role in your composition. Are there spaces, gaps, or holes that add interest to your photograph? What do you want your background to be? A dark tree trunk against a delicate flower adds interest, depth and emotion. Don’t be afraid to practice. Digital photography provides the opportunity of experimentation at no additional cost. You can try different angles and positions of the same subject and critique your own images.

And then there are the magical places and spaces that enrapture your heart and captivate your soul. Spend time enjoying the ambiance, the scents, the textures, the patterns and feeling the mood. You don’t even have to photograph it. Return to the place at different times of the day and in the different seasons. You will always find something new.

I find a magical place when I walk with Carol. I also have a mental image of a photo that I don’t capture with my camera. It’s one of those photo prospects that happen but you’re not ready for it. It remains in your ‘mind’s eye’ forever. We are quite high along an embankment above a fast moving river when a sudden flash of red, green and white in a characteristic horizontal posture flies by directly above the river and level to our elevation. The sun’s rays make the green head iridescent and the red-orange bill a beacon. We are awe-struck by the splendour of a male Common Merganser.

The camera is a tool, an instrument with capabilities, but it is through your eye that the camera captures images. You are the director, the producer and the editor. Have fun with your camera. Get down on your stomach, lie on your back, peer between the undergrowth and up into the excavated holes left by a Pileated Woodpecker. The possibilities are endless, and your photo opportunities are infinite.

Exploring nature is a lifelong gift.