Chuck had that sad, puppy dog big eye look when he answered my question what’s wrong. “I still have issues with wide,” he said. We had just got onto Bandon Beach, a favorite locale that has a different face every time you walk it. I stopped right then, grabbed Chuck and walked over to the scene you see above. Now just standing there, it wasn’t obvious there was a photo to be made. But once I pointed his D810 / 18-35AFS down, got close physically to the rock and zoomed out to 18mm and said to Chuck, “Get close, shoot across the top, shoot wide” and had him look through the viewfinder, he said, “Ahhhhhhh.” We talked a little further and off he went down the beach with a smile in his hop.
I went back to exploring the beach with the D750 / 14-24AFS when after a while, I looked up to see Chuck bouncing from rock to rock to rock to rock across the beach, shooting the same thing we just had done, just with different rocks. I caught up to him and said, “What in the hell are you doin?” He said, “Looking for wide shots like we just did!” I then pointed at this God given gift of a scene you see above and screamed, “That’s a wide shot too!” To which he said, “You tell me things and I instantly get in a rut.” To which I said, “You know what a rut is, it’s a grave with its ends knocked out.” Chuck looked puzzling at me.
Chuck and I had a marvelous week talking about wides and ultra wides as we explored the CA / OR coast. It started with explaining what I mean by the dance and ending with the above exchange. The Dance is where you exclude all those elements that take the eye away from the subject while including those that tell the story. We also talked about White and Bright, finishing and a whole lot more. And by the end of the week, we finished off with the most important lesson. Because after the two photographic examples above, the skies opened up and the beauty was just about too grand for a pixel to hold. It’s then I told Chuck the most important elements when working with wides and landscapes. I said, “and after all of that, you have to insert your heart!” He smiled the smile of knowledge, shook his head and said with that great smile of his, he got it! Great week, thanks Chuck!