When you find yourself sitting in a large, comfy bus on its way into the mountains, you have a number of choices: sleep, chat with the folks sitting next to you, read the safety pamphlet in the seat pocket, or stare out the window.
Since I hadn't ever been to this part of the world - this road snakes up from the Denver area and eventually connects with I-70. Eventual destination: Vail - I found myself staring out the window, fascinated by a landscape unlike anything I had ever seen before. Elements seemed to be bigger than life: flatlands, mountains and sky all seemed to dominate the senses. The only things that seemed smaller were things that were alive.
To wit, the cow and the tree in this image almost pale in comparison to the natural box in which I found them. And since it wouldn't look anything like this on the farmland a mere five minutes from my house, I shot through the tinted bus windows so that I'd be able to remember this very new, very cool scene.
Normally, I go in close. Distant, tiny subjects don't usually do it for me. Vacation images of tiny little people surrounded by gigantic scenes of nothingness seem to dominate my nightmares. But something about this composition compelled me to grab it. Sometimes, rules are meant to be broken.
Post script: After looking through the viewfinder in a moving vehicle, I turned as green as the grass you see above. Sometimes, photography really can make you sick.
Your turn: Do you go in close? Do you step back? Why?
I'm a closeup gal myself. Generally, for me, landscape photography never catches the feeling of BEING THERE.
ReplyDeleteHere by way of michele today!
A bus in Colorado.
ReplyDeleteI was in a bus fire in Colorado.
We were all okay, but we were stuck in Grand Junction for a while. It was worth it for the story.
I'm with panther. I need that level of intimacy and human/animal/plant element for my photos to work.
ReplyDeletePanoramas and vistas... yeah, they're okay but photos need a pulse or at least an 'up closee' look at photosynthesis.
here via michele today, pal.
p
I am photographically challenged. Nothing I snap ever comes out the way I think it will. Oddly enough, my middle daughter has a degree from RIT in photography and works as a graphic artist.Whenever possible we just let her take the pictures. Her older and younger sisters are no slouches when it comes to photography either.Go figure! Anyway, I really like that photo. The colors I guess are a little skewed from the tinted window , bu that is what I like about it.
ReplyDeleteI think it all depends upon what I am looking at. Sometimes, distance is better.
ReplyDeleteIs that a cow in the background?
Yup, it is indeed a cow. I liked the positioning of the cow and the tree. The geometry just worked for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm a closeup girl too. As u know I recently did my albums and I actually cut quite a few of them if they were too far off or too much surroundings for no reason. Kind of Collage effect.
ReplyDeleteThis picture is very cool - as usual. I love your photography.
Michele sent me.
Michele sent me, Carmi.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the east of the mountains in Colorado. I've heard it's desolate but your picture brings that home. I need trees and hills--not just mountains in the distance--around me.
My personal favorite type of picture to take is a macro. I like to be in close, but lately I've only been posting pictures with a more panoramic style. I guess it comes and goes.
Hppy Thanksgiving, Carmi. Although you are Candian, so happy Thanksgiving a month late, I guess.
ReplyDeleteUsually I do close up but it just wouldn't work here. The majesty of the mountain would be lost.
ReplyDeleteHere from Michele this time.
ReplyDeleteThis tree is probably pretty large. Why is it standing all alone in the vast open space? And why is the cow all alone in the field? And why is the cow not under the tree?
So many questions... so little time to find answers. Such is life.
OBTW those look to be the Flatiron Mountains in the background. I have some pictures of them myself from a recent trip. This picture speaks volumes about how BIG the west is.
ReplyDeletegood capture, carmi
I normally prefer up close, intimate shots, but this one is not meant to be that way, I think. We'd never really get how isolated and yet perfectly at home the cow and tree seem to be if we didn't get the whole landscape in there too.
ReplyDeleteOla!! Nice of you to drop in. I go close as I can or dare without disrupting, changing or scaring whatever I see there. But I will step back if the landscape deserves it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a close up girl too, but I do try to do landscapes
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I ever shared my flickr page with you, but you can see some of my photography here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moodylady/
Oh and Hi from Michele's
Back from Michele's...again!
ReplyDeleteThis photo is great...I love the comparison of the huge expanse and mountainous background with the one cow and tree just there!