First snowfall of the winter, Lake O’Hara, British Columbia.  © Ted Nodwell 2018

When I walk in the mountains, I am in awe of the majesty and beauty. Yet when we try to preserve the scene, our images most often fall short.  Our camera has recorded what we saw but not what we felt. Why is that?

Nature is messy.  Our eye moves like a video camera and our brain can selectively focus on one thing at a time, separating the subject from the clutter. A stills camera faithfully records all that is in front of it and compiles everything into a single two-dimension rendering.  So as photographers we need to work hard on subject separation, layers and lines.

Landscapes are often thought of as being static. They are not. Clouds move.  Wind ripples across a lake. Sunbeams strike a peak but leave a valley in shadow.  A rain shower blows through.  Catching these moments is what creates landscape photographs that have a life.

posted by Ted Nodwell