Weaving your Images

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.
- Sir Walter Scott (Marmion, 1808)

Watching the weaver work is at first a mystery. All of those threads dancing up and down with, from a distance, little reason to behave the way they do.

The really hard work in weaving is setting up the hundreds of meters of thread before you can even begin to weave. It is the weaving that makes the image, and the easier part of the job.

Perhaps there is some parallel to photography. The really hard work happens before you press the shutter. Where do you postion yourself? What do you put in the frame and what do you leave out? What light do you wait for? plan for? When do you push the shutter. After that everything is easy.

I recall hearing Scott Bourne talk about taking 12 years for him to take one picture, "Cranes in the Fire Mist". It is a great shot and it took a lot of planning. How much planning do yo put into each image you make?


1/100 f/4 ISO 800 EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 105 mm Canon EOS 40D
Black Creek Pioneer Village,Toronto,Ontario