Wide Open Spaces: This photo was made in the panhandle of Texas. While the panhandle does have several unique features, it also has a lot of wide open spaces. This is ranch land which is not very picturesque but I believe the photo works because of the great contrast between the greens and browns of the land and the beautiful blue skies. There is a windmill seen on the horizon in the center of the photo and the simple arrangement of the few puffy clouds creates a pleasing scene. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Straight Ahead: The lines created by the straight highway in this photo make nice landscape composition. The lack of anything else for miles except for the late afternoon sun, which creates patterns in the vast open space to give it character. The few hills in the distance and the line of clouds and clear blue skies act as a backdrop for this photo of open spaces and a long straight highway. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
When we are on the road I am constantly looking for that next photo opportunity. The reality is I see far more opportunities and subjects to photograph than we have time to spare as we travel about. We always say that my two pound camera really slows our travels down because I am always seeing something to stop and photograph!
There are those times when I have thought there is “nothing out here” to photograph as we churn out the miles. However, sometimes I photograph a scene when there is not much to look at and I am pleasantly surprised at the results.
Sometimes less is best when composing a photo. A photo that is simple, has clarity and clean lines is the best way to illustrate a subject or scene. That subject may be a wide landscape or a close up macro photo of a flower detail.
When I was thinking about today’s Post from the Road theme I began looking through some of our travels and the photos that may illustrate the idea of less is best and was able to find several possible illustrations. For this post I am using five examples of this idea.
These photos are from past trips and are from different locations and even different seasons of the year but that does not change their ability to illustrate that sometimes less is best.
The next time you travel and are gazing out the window thinking there is “nothing out here” I challenge you to look a little closer and there may be a subject waiting to be photographed!
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Changing Weather: This photo shows a scene of a gentle hill in Wyoming with dark and ominous skies in the distance. One knows that a pouring summer rain is just minutes away. The contrast in color between the green and the dark blue sky is the first thing you notice but the train track that crosses the landscape and is visible for only a short distance as it moves across the photo creates another design element that helps support the scene. A lone windmill on the right portion of the photo adds yet another element of interest in this simple composition and scene. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Dusk: This photo of a scene in northeastern New Mexico was taken after the sun had set but there was still some light in the atmosphere. It was a very windy evening and not much to see except for one farm house near the center. Again the color contrast between the dark sky and the field of blowing grasses create this image. The soft clouds moving across the skies create another element, which make this simple photo more pleasing. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
The Open Road: This image was taken between the border of Texas and New Mexico and the town of Dalhart, Texas showing the highway leading through the image, which is open spaces except for the haystacks and related farm buildings and equipment on the left and the lone silo on the right side of the highway. There are a few more elements in this scene along with the swirling clouds above but not another car or truck in sight. This is why I love traveling the back roads across the western U.S. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com