City Boy Goes Country
It’s Friday the 13th and 2020 to boot. Spooky szn indeed.
I just returned from a trip to eastern Tennessee yesterday and boy did it get me thinking!
Being that I live in South Florida, I’m surrounded by metropolitan areas that aren’t country or simple in the slightest bit. Miami has tons of neon lights and high rises for days, Fort Lauderdale has a mid-size skyline with great beaches, and West Palm Beach is the Beverly Hills of South Florida. While we might have our fair share of “green spaces,” it pales in comparison to TN. As a native Floridian, I sometimes forget that there is a whole different world once you get north of Orlando. Even as you start making your way through North Central Florida, you start seeing a change in landscapes with small rolling hills and different types of trees. This past week of being in the Great Smoky Mountains hit different. The simplicity, the slowing down of pace, the hospitality, and the utterly impressive landscapes were awe inspiring.
Now, I know you didn’t come here to hear me drone on about how amazing of a time I had and all of those kinds of details. My point in writing this blog is to talk about something that came as a pleasant surprise to me. Being from the city, I thought that it was going to be an absolute nightmare trying to compose and edit photos of TN because it was nothing like the city. Turns out that I was luckily quite wrong. Here are a few tips for the urban photographers who are planning on venturing outside of their comfort zone and shooting in the great outdoors!
Use Auto-White Balance. I’m not a fan of auto-anything unless that word is auto-focus. However, being outdoors you simply cannot control the lighting very well and AWB will be your best friend in eliminating one thing from your checklist of tasks when setting up for a shot. The clouds might have just rolled in or you might find yourself in a prairie when you were just under a huge canopy of trees. Don’t waste time mucking about with this and just use AWB.
Compositions are still a major point of focus! I thought for sure that being around a bunch of trees or other outdoorsy things was going to make composition an absolute nightmare but I was wrong. You can still utilize your “city” skills as they still translate to the outdoors. Use grass in the foreground or a tree off to the side. Keep with the rule of thirds. It’s all still relevant.
Try to limit yourself to 2 lenses. This is more than just a creative challenge, it’s practical. If you’re going to be hiking or at the very least doing a lot of outdoor walking, you’re probably not going to want to carry around a ton of weight. Lenses get heavy. Trust me. Aside from that, there’s only so much you can do. You’re going to either be using a wide angle or some form of zoom lens in your endeavors. On this trip, I actually left my zoom lens home and worked with a 16-35mm and my baby, the f/1.8 85mm. You can take a look at some of the photos to understand how each was used!
Don’t forget your polarizer! The lighting conditions can be harsh if you’re capturing anything around midday. Polarizers are your friend!
Pay attention to the details. When shooting something as physically impressive and awe inspiring as the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, you’re going to want to try and fit as much of the scenery into each photograph as possible. However, if you slow down and take a look around, you’ll find some incredible detail shots. My favorite photo that I took over the past week was actually a single red leaf floating in a crystal clear river. The details made this shot what it is and I will cherish it for as long as I live.
This turned out to be a little longer than expected, but I really learned a valuable lesson from this trip and I now recognize how similar city/country scenes can be! Do yourself the favor and get out to some of our amazing national parks and venture outside of your comfort zone if you are more urban/suburban situated. You’ll thank yourself later!
-MA
