“As the saying goes, we see in terms of our education. We look at the world and see what we have learned to believe is there. We have been conditioned to expect. And indeed it is socially useful that we agree on the function of objects. But, as photographers, we must learn to relax our beliefs. Move on objects with your eye straight on, to the left, around on the right. Watch them grow large as you approach, group and regroup as you shift your position. Relationships gradually emerge and sometimes assert themeselves with finality. And that’s your picture.” – Aaron Siskind, The Art of Photography
It can be difficult to find new perspectives when capturing images from those popular locations people flock to like this image taken on the Foothills Parkway in the Smoky Mountains. People will sometimes be elbow to elbow as the sun begins to rise. The morning this image was taken a photography workshop was in progress so we had about a dozen photographers with tripods. So I moved away from the crowd looking for another angle and used a Nikon 80-400mm lens to bring the scene in closer and remove distracting objects. This is my picture.
Not sure if it was that evening or the next that I dropped and destroyed that lens. Still makes my stomach turn. 🙁