The editor who published my first text/photo package gave me advice I use to this day. “Make every word count for ten!” I put this advice to work not only in my writing but in my photography. There are many ways to bring the viewer’s attention to the subject. Mystery is a powerful yet complicated technique that doesn’t always present itself to us. Those times it does like with deep shadows or clouds and fog, we need to recognize the opportunity and jump on it.
Here’s a couple of examples of one idea from a month ago in Yosemite. Yosemite Valley is a spectacular granite carving the towers above the valley floor. What’s one way we can say a mountain is really high? Have the tops of the mountains shrouded in clouds. At the same time, if we don’t actually show the mountain tops, hide them and just hint at their existence, does it trigger one’s imagination? That was my thought process when I grabbed the D850 / 70-200f4 and carefully optically isolated just pieces of the great granite wall and used its rugged beauty set against the soft clouds to tell its story. The vast majority of the subject is hidden but the story still comes through. So next time the opportunity arises ask yourself, “Can you hide the subject?”