Patience in Photography
The setting sun illuminates the rolling fog over Shenandoah National Park.
When it comes to photography, there are a lot of things you must pay attention to if you want to create a beautiful photo. What shutter speed should you use, what aperture does the scene require or how high do you need to crank the ISO or how high you are willing to go. These three things are just to get the correct exposure for your photo. Then you also have to think about your composition, do you want a foreground element, or do you have leading lines. Do you have any distracting elements in the foreground? The background? Plus there is so much more that you have to worry about to make the image including how you’re going to edit the image. Before any of that, you also worry about what gear you have and what gear you want to buy that you think will get you to that next level.
The one thing that barely ever gets talked about is patience. Patience is a hard mindset to attain. We are always looking for that instant gratification to feel good now. But with some self work, patience can be achieved and it will pay off in your photography. Without patience, you may never get the best light on the landscape. You may never get the perfect crashing wave on a rocky beach. You may never get that once in a lifetime moment that makes the image amazing. Patience is the final ingredient needed to take you from a snapshot to a piece of art. Being patient will allow you to explore the area and find the perfect composition. It will allow the perfect moment in time to come along. Being patient when you are doing a long exposure will allow you to find that perfect shutter speed to make a waterfall look dreamy but still detailed. And yes, being patient will help you get the best light on your subject.
In my photo of the fog rolling over the mountain top in Shenandoah National Park, I spent over an hour waiting for the right light as the sun made its way down for the day. If I would have taken the photo when I got to the scene, the photo would have been ok with blue skies and white fog. Having the patience to wait that hour for the sun to illuminate the fog made this photo so much better. Also, the way the light is hitting the dead tree helps give the photo a more three dimensional feel. Having that extra time allowed me to examine the scene and find where I wanted to set up my tripod. It wasn’t the first, second or even third place I set up, but I’m happy with the final composition because I stayed patient and searched until I was satisfied.
A rock squirrel explores the ground for food along the edge of the Grand Canyon.
If you are a wildlife photographer, patience is even more important it feels. You can just walk up and take a photo of any wildlife but that isn’t going to be a great photograph. To make a great wildlife photo, you must have patience. Whether it is waiting for the animal to give you that special look that lasts a split second or the animal interacting with it’s landscape or other wildlife. Maybe it’s waiting for the sun to light up the eye to help give the animal life in the photo. Sometimes that special moment never comes but the time you spent waiting is also time you spent learning your subject and learning behavioral habits that will help you in the future to get the photo you want. You can never underestimate the power of knowledge and understanding the wildlife you are photographing. It may help you get a great photo or in a dangerous situation, it may help keep you safe because you recognize the signs of an agitated animal and know to back away. All of this just because you were patient in the first place.
My photo of a rock squirrel along the Grand Canyon is a great example of using patience. I took a lot of photos of the squirrel searching the ground for food but none of them were interesting. But I had the patience to wait for the photo that I knew I wanted. After about 30 minutes of working with a couple squirrels, I finally had one pop up exactly where I wanted. By having the Grand Canyon as the backdrop, this squirrel photo is now a lot more interesting. The squirrel has an easily recognizable home and the viewer can relate to when they were at the Grand Canyon or dream about being there if they haven’t been. That extra hook to the viewers emotions is what it takes to get a like on instagram or even better, for someone to buy your print because you made them feel.
So next time you’re out doing photography, remember, slow down and be patient and a portfolio worthy image may come your way because of it.
