The Death of Previsualization?

A photographer stands in shallow water filming a fleeting sunset

Last week’s post about Yosemite’s natural firefall got me thinking about the late, great adventure and landscape photographer Galen Rowell. A topic that he wrote about often was the importance of pre-visualization in photography. That is to say, as a photographer, it is important to “pre-visualize the way the image will look on film before you take the photograph, instead of merely taking a snapshot with the naïve expectation that the outcome will be like you see.”

As I was learning the craft of photography, I always took this teaching to heart. But is the idea of pre-visualation as important today as it once was? Rowell was emphasizing the importance of understanding how each specific film type captures light and is processed into the resulting photograph.  Very few of us still shoot with film, so does the same concept hold true in the digital age?

As anyone who has learned photography with a digital camera can attest, being able to see the results of your work instantly in the field greatly accelerates the learning process. In other words, if you get the settings wrong when capturing an image, in most cases you can review the image, correct for any mistakes, and shoot again. The necessity of understanding how the camera sensor will capture the subject is diminished.  Of course, this may not hold true with certain types of action or event photography, as you might miss that critical moment.  But even with wildlife, I often take a few sample shots and review them to make sure my settings are in the ballpark of correctness.

The need for this type of pre-visualization falls apart even more when moving from DSLR to mirrorless photography. Mirrorless cameras have an electronic viewfinder, allowing the photographer to see a “live” view of exactly what the camera’s sensor sees. Here the photographer knows exactly what the image will look like before ever pressing the shutter.

So maybe Rowell’s original reasons for the need to practice pre-visualization have faded over the years. However, not all digital photographic results are directly correlated to what the photographer sees on the back of the camera. If the photographer is truly thinking digitally, they may be overexposing in order to capture more digital information in their final photo (exposing to the right). Or they may be thinking about capturing certain elements of the frame to use later in digital blending. Using techniques such as exposure blending, panorama stitching, or ISO blending all require some degree of pre-visualization of the final intended outcome.

Although the need to understand how the camera settings ultimately interact with the specific film you are using may no longer be valid for most photographers, the need to understand what you are trying to create and how to control the camera in order to achieve that vision may be more important than ever. The tools may have changed (film vs final digital output), but the concept is the same. The better you understand what you’re working with, the more predictive you can be about your desired outcome, and therefore, the better you’ll be able to prepare for that desired result in the field.

Gear I used to create the photos in this post:

Harbor Seals At Pescadero State Beach

A harbor seal looks toward the beach from an offshore rock outcropping, Pescadero State Beach, California.

I always enjoy photo locations that offer more than one possibility for a successful photo. Such was the case on a recent morning I spent at Pescadero State Beach for a sunrise landscape shoot. Being along the coast, I knew that chances for wildlife were high, and so I lugged my wildlife/bird lens along with me, even though I was hoping for a magical coastal sunrise shot.

Arriving about 45 minutes before dawn, I hiked up to a vantage point overlooking sea stacks just offshore. By shooting due south, I was hoping to get some wave action around the stacks, with a colorful backdrop of winter sunrise colors. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not with me, and I got a dull glow to the east and suddenly it was daytime. No sunrise colors, no landscape keepers, nothing.

Harbor seals compete for lounging space on an offshore rock, Pescadero State Beach, California.
Harbor seals compete for lounging space on an offshore rock, Pescadero State Beach, California.

As it got lighter, I scanned the offshore rocks and saw several groups of harbor seals clustered away from the roaring ocean. Getting these guys on camera was only a quick walk back to the car to retrieve my wildlife gear. Once re-set up, I waited for another 15 minutes until it got light enough to really start in earnest.

A harbor seal looks toward the beach from an offshore rock outcropping, Pescadero State Beach, California.
A harbor seal looks toward the beach from an offshore rock outcropping, Pescadero State Beach, California.

Fifteen minutes later I was done and moved on to look for interesting coastal birds. As it was a quiet morning, I soon moved on to more important activities, namely breakfast!

Gear I used to create the photos in this post:

Puerto Vallarta Wading Birds

A wllet wades through shallow water, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Every time I go to a new place, I try to have at least basic photography gear with me in order to explore the area photographically. For a location as beautiful as a Mexican beach, there are opportunities for both landscape and wildlife (in this case, birds). Due to the necessity to travel light, I left my 800mm behemoth at home and opted instead for the (comparatively) compact 100-400mm zoom lens.

A whimbrel struts across a sandy beach, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A whimbrel struts across a sandy beach, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Given that I was still in North America, most of the shorebirds along the beach were the usual suspects. The ever-present whimbrel was strutting around through the breaking waves, poking at exposed treats in the sand.

A black skimmer stands in shallow water along the shore, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A black skimmer stands in shallow water along the shore, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

One of the stranger looking birds in my usual list is the black skimmer. When seen on land, they look slightly off balance, with a long protruding lower beak. It is not until they take flight until you realize the grace of their build. Skimming low across the surface of the ocean, they dip their lower beak into the water, scooping up food while in flight. Seeing a group of ten or more doing this is a remarkable sight.

A willet wades through shallow water, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A willet wades through shallow water, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The willet is one of the blander looking birds of the bunch, and is similar is size to the whimbrel. Here I caught a slight reflection in the shallow water, which were few and far between on this blustery morning.

A laughing gull stands just off shore in the shallow water, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A laughing gull stands just off shore in the shallow water, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I was happy to see this laughing gull, as I don’t see those very often close to home. The black eye ring is a give away here for identification. I typically find gull species hard to differentiate from one another, given the species similarity, and the great plumage variance depending on the bird’s age.

A semipalmated plover stands on small bits of exposed sand, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A semipalmated plover stands on small bits of exposed sand, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Finally, I snagged some photos of a semipalmated plover among the lesser sandpipers. I am a big fan of plovers, and am always excited to find them hiding among the masses.

If you are interested in casual bird photography while traveling, I highly recommend a lens like the 100-400mm zoom. With some careful stalking, you can usually get close enough for some good photos, and it is very easy to travel with. Also, you can leave the tripod at home, as it is easily handheld.

Great-tailed Grackle

A great-tailed grackle picks food items out of the washed-up seaweed, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A great-tailed grackle struts along the sand with its head in the air, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A great-tailed grackle struts along the sand with its head in the air, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The great-tailed grackle is an interesting blackbird. Look to quickly and you might mistake it for a common crow. However, once you glimpse that long tail, you’ll know this is an entirely different beast. Even better, if you see it in this strange strutting behavior with its neck thrust up into the air, you’ll really wonder what’s going on. This is usually an indication of the male breeding display, and can be quite entertaining to watch.

A great-tailed grackle picks food items out of the washed-up seaweed, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
A great-tailed grackle picks food items out of the washed-up seaweed, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I found a colony of grackles along a beach in western Mexico. Originally from Central and South America, the great-tailed grackle has expanded its range into North America as far north as Oregon. They can often be seen in agricultural areas, where food can be more plentiful.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen