Image Retrospective: Lake Como, Italy

For those of you that have been to my house, you’ve seen this in printed version hanging on my wall. It’s always been one of my favorites images I’ve shot in Europe. Lindsey and I spent a few weeks together in Switzerland, Italy and Germany just traveling and visiting good family friends in eastern Switzerland, back in 2004. This was a very transitional time in digital technology and I wish I could have shot this either three years before or three years after. This was shot with a Nikon D100, which at the time Nikon only had 2 or 3 digital SLR’s, and the digital cameras then just didn’t have the tonal latitude like they do now, rendering a lot of noise in the shadows.

But, regardless of the noise, I still think it’s a strong travel genre photo.

The hotel we were staying at was right on the lake and we were walking back there after dinner and were lucky enough to have this beautiful sunset. This photo would not work if the boats were not in it. Having a pattern element in your travel photography is key - and so is lighting. I’ve got photos of this lake in the middle of the day and they are boring and pedestrian.

I say wait for the right light, don’t force what isn’t there. Do your sightseeing when the light isn’t so good, all the while scouting where you want to be when the light does get good. I remember walking by this spot earlier in the day and making a mental note of it. Later that evening, Lindsey and I were sitting in an nice outdoor trattoria, when the light started to shift. I remembered that this spot was pretty close and did what I could to finish dinner and get to this spot.

When ever you are shooting landscapes, don’t just think about the obvious elements of what make up the image. Think about how that place or scene makes you feel. What kind of emotions does it conjure up? Then figure out how to match that onto film.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Photography 101, The Archive, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.