Typically speaking, my photographs tend not to have people in them. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I am usually trying to portray the unspoiled and idealized landscape (which, to some extent, we all know is becoming rarer - visit a National Park lately? :) The second is that I am usually photographing alone or with friends who are also photographers and thus I have no ‘assistants’ to insert into the ‘photo’. Finally, I tend to be very slow and deliberate when I am photographing, focusing manually, etc. Therefore, if someone wanders into the photo I am usually unprepared to capture them even if they are doing something that I think might add to the composition.

So when I was recently photographing at Bandon, I decided to change my tune a bit and let some people in…into the photo that is. This was a first step anyway, as I decided not so much to set up and change my style of shooting, but, rather, to try getting some photos when people happened to walk into the scene. This would be instead of doing what I would usually do, which is to wait for them to walk out.

There are some very good reasons for having people in your photos. For one thing, they can give a sense of scale to what might otherwise be the main subject of your image. There are also many viewers that recognize that the pristine landscape, in reality, is rarely as pristine as photos tend to show and want a more realistic view. They enjoy seeing others in the photo and consider it a more ‘human’ touch. Finally, the presence of a person can add interest to a photo, particularly if they are actively doing something interesting.

So how did the experiment work. I have to say that I liked some of the results I got! Lets get to a couple of examples:

I wish I could say that I saw the bicyclist coming and carefully planned for her to be in the scene. The truth is that I saw her at the last second and wasn’t even sure she would be in focus. In fact, were I carefully planning I would have preferred that she be about a third of the way from the left of the frame, instead of the right, so that she would have space to ride into the frame, instead of out of it. The wave splashing directly over her head was a bit of luck as well. I did like the slight blur of her and the bicycle related to motion.

The point is that I am opening my mind to more possibilities and that has got to be a good thing! I will see what comes of it moving forward.

Letting People In (The Photo)

Get new posts by email: