North America, United States, Northwest, Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Denali, Senali National Park, Denali NP
Massive Denali, at 20,340 feet high the tallest mountain in all of North America towers above Wonder Lake in Denali National Park, AK.
We have long been used to the idea that our images improve as we gain greater familiarity with the locations that we photograph.
Well, maybe.
Pink rhododendrons blooming in the spring in Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park, CA.
I am so familiar with places such as Delicate Arch, Badwater and Old Faithful that walking up to each of them almost seems like coming home. It’s familiar; it’s comfortable.
Distinctive Totem and Yai Bei Chai in Monument Valley Tribal Park on the Navajo Reservation, AZ.
Having learned from earlier mistakes and had more time and more visits to study these special places, my most recent – actually my next – images of these and other places should be my best. Sometimes they are, but often they are not. When going back over some of my earlier photographs, I am often surprised to see that in so many cases, the best ones are those made on my very first visit to a location. Not the ones that I made after having become more familiar with a scene and having had a chance to study it over and over during several shooting sessions, but those made at first blush.
Huge giant Sequoia trees, some of the largest and oldest living things on Earth, abound in Sequoia National Park, CA.
Why does this happen? I don’t really know for sure, but I can take an educated guess. It often seems that when arriving at a location for the first time, I feel so imbued with the spirit of discovery and newness that I get a big rush of adrenaline and creativity. It is likely a part of the ability to react not only visually, but also perhaps emotionally to a scene that I find compelling.
Trees in fall color reflect in still pool at Upper Whiteoak Falls in Shenandoah National Park, VA.
After I have photographed a spot once (or perhaps twice), even though I then have the experience of what to include and what to avoid, I feel so accustomed to the scene that it has become almost the same-old, same-old and has already lost most of its novelty as a subject.
Crazy, huh?
Charming horse-drawn carriages take visitors for tours of historic Cartagena, Colombia.
Somehow, nothing can quite compare with the very first sight of a special place of which I have been thinking for a long time or, better yet, one upon which I just happen to stumble.
El Capitan is obscured by a rare lenticular cloud in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX.
Latest articles by Jerome Ginsberg (see all articles)
- High Dynamic Range – HDR - June 12, 2017
- The First Time - May 18, 2017
- Depth Perception - May 10, 2017
Jerome Ginsberg
Jerry Ginsberg is a freelance photographer whose landscape and travel images have graced the pages and covers of hundreds of books, magazines and travel catalogs and have been exhibited throughout North and South America. He is the only person to have photographed each and every one of America's National Parks with medium format cameras and has been a National Parks artist-in-residence.
Jerry's photographic archive spans virtually the entire Western Hemisphere.
More of his images are on display at www.JerryGinsberg.com
Or e mail him at jerry@jerryginsberg.com
See All Articles by Jerome Ginsberg
Leave a Reply