Author:  Keith Briley

When Snowmageddon (that’s what we from the Charleston area call a few inches of snow when it hits the ground in our area) arrived, uncommon images within a very familiar scene started showing up in the ole’ social media feed. Upon viewing these stunning captures, we were reminded of the photographic opportunities that can be captured when Mother Nature decides to mix things up a little.

You’ve seen them; the massive, charcoal colored clouds forming rings high in the sky, producing the ominous but beautiful tornado below. The thunderstorm in the distance creating enough lightning to continually ignite the dark, night sky. Or, the crashing of the enormous ocean waves along the coast because an epic hurricane is on its way. All of these were obtained because the photographer chose to “get out in it”! They did their research and placed themselves in a safe position to acquire a capture that will wow the viewer.

It’s not every day that we have these opportunities, but when they do come along, the research, timing and effort can pay huge dividends. Everyone loves a good story. And, everyone loves a beautiful photograph. To combine the two can be rewarding on many levels. Not only do you now have the story to tell friends and family, but you very well may have created an image that can never be duplicated. In addition, the circumstances that existed while shooting the perfectly timed capture can be a once in a lifetime experience. Tell the story! Bring the viewer in! Express yourself as if the photograph didn’t exist, giving as much detail as possible in an attempt to place the viewer right beside you as you grabbed the shot. Before you know it, your photograph will come alive to the viewer allowing for an unexpected, emotional attachment.

“How does an emotional attachment from the viewer benefit my photograph?”, you might ask. It allows us the opportunity to share the experience. Not every living person will have the opportunity to personally feel and hear when a tornado forms over the plains. Nor, will everyone have the chance to watch the seas grow and churn with such anger and force. While having the urge to escape to a beautiful destination seen in many photographs but never had the chance to visit can be enticing, an anomaly by Mother Nature, never experienced in person, can be just as alluring.

Let’s not forget about you. Think about why you wanted to be there. There must have been something that created the desire to plan and execute the attempt to capture Mother Nature in rare form. Something that created a spark that eventually grew into a roaring flame of inspiration. Those sparks, as tiny as they may be in the beginning, can grow into a never ending appetite to fill the cup of creativity. The desire to capture something unique and jaw-dropping is in all of us. But, it’s not going to happen until you’ve experienced it. Until you get out in it.

Are you itching for your next adventure or trip?  We are as well.  On a daily basis Keith is talking about us running away and photographing the mountains covered in snow.  This last month has been a very busy one for us.  We welcomed the editor of Landscape Photography Magazine, Dimitri Vasileiou to our home and hosted him for 4 days over Tiff’s birthday.

During his visit we had the opportunity to catch up, chat and talk shop about photography.  We also took him on a mini tour of the area which included the Angel Oak tree.

For those of you who have been to Charleston, the Angel Oak may have been on your list of places to see, or perhaps we took you there on a tour (although that’s not a common stop for us).  When we went there with Dimitri, we weren’t exactly excited about going there (just to be honest).  We’ve seen it a thousand times, and even more than that, we’ve seen it photographed from what seems like every angle.

That trip to the Angel Oak though was inspiring for one reason.  Tiff captured this image with this new perspective and it caused us to reassess the joy that can be had in the very familiar.

Recently Keith was chatting with a guest over how often he’s at the boneyard beach.  Watching Keith photography is inspiring because he never accepts the same old compositions and he’s always approaching the familiar with a new set of eyes.  He created Blush Of Dawn (shown here) out of a desire to challenge himself to see something new at this familiar location.

With the holidays surrounding us, you’ll likely be traveling to familiar places to be with friends and family during the season.   We want to challenge you to find your familiar places, step out and look at it with fresh eyes.  You never know, a piece of art might just be waiting for you to create it.

Yesterday found us in downtown Charleston visiting our favorite art gallery.  While there, we were so inspired by a new artist who is using acrylic, oil, and car paint along with gold dusting to paint an acrylic sheet.  The depth, color, shifting of the story when the light transitions across it was absolutely inspiring.  So inspiring that Tiff wanted to come home, grab her paints and order an acrylic sheet.

The inspiration that comes from seeing the unique work of another painter or artist is a beautiful thing.  The possibilities of what you yourself could create, knowing that although you might use the same materials, your personal fingerprint will cause a created piece to be uniquely your own in its own right.   Therefore, inspiration is an empowering emotion in creative arts.

Does this also apply to photography?  It’s a question I asked myself when I woke up this morning.  Our cameras are virtually the same, with the only difference being the range of light and amount of information that can be recorded for a single image.  That being said, if we stood side by side, with the same camera, same focal length we would in fact create the same image.   Where is the artist fingerprint in this process?

We’ll find our fingerprint in what I believe are two areas:  location and post processing.  Both take patience, exploration and time.

Finding a new composition or location requires a commitment to travel (either 30 minutes from your house or 30 hours), study maps and then it all comes down strapping on your hiking boots.  With your gear on your back and struggling past any pre-visualization, approaching a scene with fresh eyes and looking for that which captures your attention is an important part to the process of finding your fingerprint.

Post processing.  We believe that post processing is the brush (literally) and the paint of the photographer.  Similar to painting and other artistic mediums there are rules to be aware of so that you can create more powerful imagery.  Processing on the computer can be a deeply rewarding process that can genuinely place your own unique fingerprint on a piece.  Similar to paint, if you invest the time into knowing the possibilities, techniques and add in a dash of your own “what if’s” magic can happen.   This is great art.

The trap that we can often fall into as photographers is imitation that robs our creativity.  If you’ve picked up any photography magazine in the last 2 years you’ll notice the holy grail of images is the wide angle shot, mountains in the far background and a clumping of flowers in your foreground.  When one well named photographer created this shot, it seemed a large number of photographers started chasing a similar composition.   While beautiful, there’s something left wanting.  There’s no originality, and if we are left without a unique fingerprint, are we merely imitation artists who excel in producing replicas?

These are tough questions, and to be quite honest they are topics we constantly toss around in our conversations as we quest for inspiration that leads to great work.   Our desire is to bring powerful imagery that evokes emotion, similar to the artwork that we saw yesterday in the gallery.  It caused us stand before the work, exclaim with excitement about a new element found in the piece, and share that appreciation together.  This is our ultimate goal for our photography.  That a single image, created well, birthed from our inspiration would uniquely touch someone in a powerful way.   We firmly believe that level of photography can only be created when your heart is poured out and “what if’s” have been answered.

This is the excerpt for your very first post.