|
Perhaps the
question most often asked of any professional nature
photographer is, "Is that picture real?"
The short answer
is that all the pictures on this site are real. I don't use
Photoshop to move trees, put captive animals in the
wilderness or add fiery clouds that weren't really there.
(All the animals, with the obvious exception of the puppy in
a box and a couple others that are clearly noted, are wild.)
But if there was some way to look at a picture
of a sunset at the same time you were watching the real
thing with your own eyes, you would notice some striking
differences. With no mal intent on the part of the
photographer, the picture would have much more dramatic
colors.
The problem, if
you can call it that, is the camera processes scenes differently
than your eyes and your brain. Cameras are literal,
capturing exactly what is before them. Your brain, meantime,
processes all the information it gets from the eyes, making
all sorts of corrections.
In the case of
the sunset, your brain notices that everything is bathed in
red light and makes adjustments so that people don't look
like tomatoes. But that also means the fiery red clouds
won't be quite as fiery in your mind as they will record on
film.
The camera's
differences can also allow us to see things we can't with
our own eyes. Long shutter speeds capture the motion of
waterfalls and allow enough light to accumulate on the film so you can see the red part
of the Northern Lights (in Washington they're normally too
faint to see anything but the green bands with your own eyes).
Photography may
be an imperfect way to capture the world around us, but I
also believe it helps us to see and appreciate things we
might otherwise miss.
It also allows
me to share my experiences with you.
People usually
respond to this image of Mt. Rainier with an expression of
awe. The fiery red clouds, the perfect reflection, leave
some viewers with their jaws open. That is exactly
how I felt when I watched this scene unfold with my own
eyes. Click
here to buy fine-art prints, or
here to return to the gallery |
