Touches by Jay Daley

Touches by Jay Daley

Early in my photographic life I was told that, in the end, landscape photography comes down to two things and two things only – composition and light. If you can get those two right you will capture a good image. With so many tools at our disposal today it’s easy to forget the fundamentals and I am the first one to admit my guilt. If it’s not up to standard I can usually wrestle it back. The last image I posted (Hurry up and dream) was shot with some of the best light I had ever witnessed and together with a carefully measured composition it was as close to S.O.C as I have probably ever produced. After we had finished with our amazing find at the lake Jake and I quickly packed our bags and set off to make our way back to the Cascades (our original plan) but we were once again bought to a stop along the way when we saw the light above these dead trees. With the 15mm still on I hurried around some compositions I had tested a few days earlier. A few quick exposure tests to help with optimizing my DOF and I was underway. The light was still there and the results looked spectacular on the back of the camera. A month later and in the comfort of home I opened the files. Things were looking good but my natural inclination was to wrestle with the image. Why? I don’t know. It’s taken me the better part of 3 days to realise my problem. The image didn’t need wrestling. After all my trial and error, I have undone most of what I did. Some WB, some contrast curves, some dodging on the branches, extra saturation and a vignette. It’s not as close to S.O.C as Hurry up and dream but it’s closer than I thought it needed to be 3 days ago. So. I’m not saying the composition and light here are perfect but they’re good enough to carry the image through on it’s own merits. Lesson to oneself – in the end, landscape photography comes down to two things, composition and light.

Jay Daley: Photos