Way back in the days of old, I’d head out on a road trip to an iconic national park with a couple dozen rolls of Velvia triple bagged in Ziplocs in the cooler. Images of Delicate Arch framing the snowcapped La Sal Mountains, wildflowers dancing in alpine meadows below Mount Rainier or the rugged Tetons reflecting in a beaver pool at Schwabacher Landing inspired an impressionable young me. I wanted to make my own photographs of these gorgeous locations. For thousands of novice landscape photographers, the ritual of reproducing photos we’ve all seen a million times is a valuable learning experience. We discover things like sweet morning light, how aperture controls depth of field and how shutter speed can turn a powerful waterfall into a delicate strand of white silk.
Flash forward a bunch of years and I continue to find myself drawn to photographing the national parks. Moreover, I still find value in photographing the icons. I guess some things never change, although I no longer have to stress over the possibility of dank cooler water infiltrating my precious Ziploc’d Velvia film!
How can making images at a location that has likely been photographed hundreds of thousands of times possibly be of value to an experienced landscape photographer? Easy – challenge yourself to create a unique photograph. Perhaps it’s a composition that strays from the common perspective, or shooting at sunrise instead of sunset or maybe venturing out in unusual weather.
Whether we want them to or not, photographs of landscape icons saturate our memory. Close your eyes and think of the Maroon Bells. Chances are your mind’s eye took you to an autumn photograph of symmetrical peaks awash in alpenglow above vibrant yellow aspens and the whole scene reflecting in the tranquil waters of an alpine lake. Now imagine Mesa Arch. American Basin. Half Dome. Toroweap. Sit back and enjoy the slideshow! My point is, most of the images you envisioned were probably the common ones most photographers have seen over and over and over again. They’re in calendars. On postcards. In magazines and travel brochures and posters. We’re used to seeing them and when we visit one of these iconic locations ourselves, it’s all too easy to show up and set up in the well worn tripod holes of those who have come before us. Honestly, I don’t have an issue with this. These places are popular for good reason. But if you’re willing to take a chance, you might just find an even more interesting, more dynamic image right around the corner.
What do you stand to gain? Well, there’s the obvious – an uncommon image from a common location. More importantly, this exercise teaches you to expand your vision. As we approach a new scene we’re usually presented with at least one obvious composition. If it’s obvious to you, it’s probably obvious to everybody else. Make a mental note of it but allow yourself to continue exploring the scene. What if you move 50′ to the left or right? Maybe a long lens would work to isolate an interesting scene within the scene? What would it look like in a different season, or at a different time of day? Or, go a totally different direction, as I once did at the Maroon Bells, and find something truly unique at your feet. The options are endless!
Every image in this post was photographed in RAW, imported to and processed in Adobe Lightroom 3 and finished using Nik Software’s Complete Collection (Viveza 2, Color Efex Pro 3, Sharpener Pro 2 and, on the black and white image, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.) This is my standard workflow for every image I process. If you’d like to try out the Nik plug-in’s for Lightroom please visit the Nik Software website and download the free, 15 day fully functioning trial software. If you like it and decide to invest in Nik Software plug-in’s, use coupon code “BEDGE” for a 15% discount at checkout. And, your purchase helps support this site.
12 Responses to “What We Can Learn from Iconography”
David Leland Hyde says:
Some people can do it well, some can’t. I wouldn’t necessarily encourage it, because it’s going to happen in hoards anyway. That said, I like your suggestion that “young” photographers find something new to photograph in iconic locations. That second image is fantastic and certainly different. The other two are good too, in my opinion.
Bret Edge says:
Thanks for the comment and compliments on the images, David. Always a pleasure to receive your insight. Have a great weekend!
Steve Sieren says:
Hey we do these icon chasers for our workshop clientele! If all the photographers out there did what you’re saying we’d be trouble for that part of the business. You’d figure by now there would be plenty of new icons out there even by accident because of all the GPS in the newer cameras.
I still shoot some of the icons every now and then. I haven’t been to the Superstitions yet so I’d be making a icon shots but most importantly trying to challenge my self there to create something new!
Bret Edge says:
Thanks for the comment, Steve. You know, I’ve often thought about what it takes for any given location to become a new icon. It’s an interesting phenomenon. Do icons become icons because they’re easily reached and super scenic or is it because some photographer with huge name recognition creates an image there, or is it a combination of these things, or something else altogether? I think it’s one of the last great mysteries of the universe!
Ron Niebrugge says:
Zip locks full of Velvia – now that brings back the memories!
Bret Edge says:
Good, or bad, memories? Ha! I also remember the good ol’ days of storing bricks of Velvia in my freezer at home, leaving less room for bachelor staples like microwave meals, ice cream and, well, that’s it.
Greg Russell says:
Great thoughts, Bret, and something I’ve thought quite a bit about. I personally have gone back and forth on this issue quite a bit, and it’s the primary reason that I’ve never set foot in Antelope Canyon.
But, I have to say that that icons are icons for good reason…they are beautiful. If we refuse to photograph them on principle, perhaps we’re missing the whole point of what it means to be a landscape photographer. It doesn’t matter if we’re too stubborn (like me in Antelope Canyon) or whatever…when we stop appreciating beauty for beauty’s sake, well then it’s all over.
I think the inspired landscape photographer can still make images of the icons when available, as well as some really love unique images from non-iconic locations. Just don’t let the roadside pullouts rule what you photograph.
Bret Edge says:
Thanks for the comment, Greg. As usual, a thoughtful one. I agree that if we don’t photograph icons on principle we’re missing out on something. I also agree that it’s important not to be sucked into photographing exclusively from road side pullouts. There’s entirely too much unseen, unphotographed beauty in the landscape for all efforts to focus upon the common scenes.
Wesley Picotte says:
Bret, really interesting post, and timely for me. The backpacking season here in the PNW is just getting underway, and this is how I do the majority of my color photography.
Just yesterday I started writing about what has become an annual tradition for me, which is an early summer return to Mount Rainier NP. Although my photographic goals between now and October center on the N. Cascades, I make this Rainier trip each year to see, with another year of photography behind me, how I “see” the place differently.
It’s a really rewarding exercise and similar to what you talk about in as much as it pushes us to see the familiar anew.
Thanks for the post!
Bret Edge says:
Thanks for the comment, Wesley. You brought up a point I hadn’t considered: the value of returning to the same locations every once in a while as we gain experience in “seeing”. Back in 2005 my wife and I embarked upon a 4 month road trip throughout the west. Although I’m extremely thankful that we had the opportunity to do the trip, I also wish we could do it again now as I literally see the world with different eyes. No doubt I’d finish the trip with dozens, if not hundreds, more “keepers” than I did in 2005.
By the way, gorgeous image in your link. Love the atmosphere and mood.
Wesley Picotte says:
I’m sure that would be the case, Bret!
Thanks very much for the comment about the Rainier image. It’s an easy place to find “keepers”!