I have what I call my “one-picture promise". It goes like this: When you are in a situation, ask yourself, “If I could take only one picture, what would that one picture be?”. Think about the best exposure, best composition and best lens choice. Also try to visualize what you can do when processing that image.
Consider those choice and make a decision. Doing so will result in a much higher percentage of creative images and fewer snapshots. I promise you.
I thought about my “one-picture promise” while photographing the New Croton Dam in Upstate New York several months ago.
For the opening photograph in this post, I used ReeHeld on my iPhone 14 Pro (3x lens) and set the exposure time in the app to 2 seconds to blur the water. I chose a 2-second exposure to add some texture to the moving water - so the water was not a total blur.
I added the vignette and darkened the exposure using Snapseed (one of my favorite processing apps) on my iPhone.
Here’s a boring snapshot I took upon arrival at the Dam. This photo was taken with my iPhone using the .5 lens. When I saw this scene, and thought I about my “one-picture promise.” I noticed the little tree and knew it would be my main subject.
This is an image I made at the top of the New Croton Dam. Here I used ReeHeld and set the exposure time to 3 seconds to blur the water in the fountain and in the Croton Gorge. To create the painterly look, I used Topaz Impression on my desktop machine.
My wife Susan and I will be teaching iPhone photography on our Oregon Coast Photo Road Trip this September. I promise you: if come along you will learn a lot... and have a lot of fun. More info on this page: https://ricksammon.com/photo-toursworkshop
Rick Sammon
Website: www.ricksammon.com
"Explorers of Life" FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011002886955928/
