My Featured Blogger this week is Leanne Cole. A fine art photographer and specialist in long-exposure imagery, Austalian-born Leanne has “been taking photos most of her life.” Now married and the mother of two adult children, she decided to make a career of it twenty-five years ago. Leanne is a professional with a degree from the University of Melbourne, but she still captures images for the sheer love of it, as well. And it shows!
I am not a normal photographer and I can admit that. One of the things that seems to set me apart is the fact that I don’t really like travelling.
I remember having a conversation with someone quite a few years ago and she was about to go travelling. She told me how she wanted to get a particular photo somewhere. I mean what she was hoping to get sounded amazing, but how realistic was it?
You can have all the great plans when you are travelling, but that doesn’t mean you will get the perfect conditions for the photos you want. So many things can go wrong and it is usually the weather that doesn’t cooperate.
I can remember that realisation when I first went to the USA in 2015. It was the trip of a lifetime and such an amazing opportunity, but I soon realised that I wasn’t really going to get the amazing photos I was hoping for. It just wasn’t going to be a photography trip. It was great for seeing things, but not necessarily an opportunity to get amazing photos.
Let’s look at some examples.
This is from the ghost town Bodie in California. We don’t have anything like this in Australia so it was incredible to go there.
For me the weather was terrible. It was a really hot day and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen anywhere. While many people might like conditions like this, I don’t. It was the worse time of the day to take photos and I always find light like this, it was September, is too harsh.
Here is another image.
I took lots of photos anyway, but they have always been disappointing to me because of the weather.
It was one of those things that there was no control over. Because I was travelling and this was the only day we could be there, we had to accept what it was.
After this, on the same day, we went to Mono Lake.
I’ve seen some really beautiful images of Mono Lake, but we were there in the afternoon and the light was the same as it was for Bodie.
The photos from there aren’t great. We were on our way to Yosemite and we didn’t have a lot of time to really explore and see the area.
I didn’t have a lot of control over the situation and what we saw. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just that I had to go with my friends and get what I could.
When you aren’t travelling with people who like to take photos as much as you do it is harder. I know that the best times for photos are first thing in the morning and early evening, but when you are seeing multiple things each day you can’t always do that.
It isn’t like I didn’t get some great images. There were some times that I got some great shots, here is one of them.
We did get up early in New York and I managed to get a sunrise with the Flatiron Building. That was a great morning.
I also loved this one that I got from the Staten Island Ferry.
I think when you travel you have to manage your expectations, as the saying goes. The reality is that people who get really amazing photos of places either live there, or travel there often, or they were very lucky.
I always loved this photo from New Zealand of the Wanaka Tree.
It was luck, basically. We were lucky that morning that we got some lovely conditions to take photos. It was very cold but worth it. We had been there the morning before and it was horrible.
The friend that I went to New Zealand with is into photography as well, so we planned lots, best times to photograph places. We worked out where we could the best locations to take the photos. Still, there were things out of our control. The weather, the tides, time, and so many things can go wrong.
The featured image at the top is the same.
So I don’t travel to get amazing photos. I hope I will get some, but I know that I will have to be very lucky to get some great shots. It is about seeing places, I suppose. Though, I don’t know that I will ever be a great traveller. I like being home too much, plus it is getting too expensive to travel now.
Do you like travelling? What about taking photos? Do you travel with ideas of what you hope to get?
Great pics especially the Wanaka tree. Lovely indeed. 👌
I like being home too much, too, to enjoy traveling a lot. I don’t normally carry a camera around, but I really love your photos!
Although I thought your pictures were great, I can understand your frustration with traveling with people who aren’t as passionate as you are about photography. It’s always easier to be with someone who’s on the same page and looking for the same things you are. I do hope you enjoyed your trip to the States and that you’ll come back. (The Great Lakes have some gorgeous scenes to photograph. 😏)
Love the photography…
Thanks for featuring, Leanne, Mitch. I have been following her for years and she is an inspiration to me. I have learned quite a bit from our conversations over the years. Leanne’s work is just awe inspiring. Thanks to you both.
Oh, Leanne is totally right about the traveling. I love to travel, but you must keep an open mind that sometimes the light just isn’t what you want.
These are nice early morning photos. I’m with you on the frustration of travelling with a person unable to see the potential beauty in a shot let alone framing what I see.
I understand your disappointment/frustration when you aren’t able to wait for the right conditions to photograph something. It’s probably a pleasant surprise when you take pictures under the wrong conditions and they end up being the right conditions for the “mood” for the picture. I enjoyed all your photos, Leanne. and I’m not a traveler either! Thanks, Mitch, for sharing your blog with Leanne today. 🙂
I love your photos, Leanne! I’m not thrilled by traveling a little is okay once in a while but I’m more content to be home.
The photos you say had bad light still look great to me
Best times are early morning and before or after sunset. When you travel with a group you will never get to be out at locations then.
Amazing pictures. I see how blessed Leanne really is!
My father was a professional photographer and I traveled with him some of the time.
It was fun and I got out of the house so that was good for me when I was young.
Good memories!
That ghost town looks interesting. I’m not exactly a history buff but I like finding out the history and mystery of abandoned locations
And I’m not much of a traveler myself. Mostly because traveling is never cheap and it’s tiring. If I have to travel, it’s usually either for work or move away
I actually worked in the Flatiron Building many moons ago 😊.
You’re an icon, Janice!
🤣
Thank you Mitch, that is so lovely of you to feature me. Though, just one small correction I’m not part of the faculty for the Melbourne Uni, I did my degree there, but that is all.
The honor is mine, Leanne. And sorry for the error regarding the facts.
Shooting the beautiful pictures while traveling and sharing your thoughts is worth reading. Love it.
I like travel, but I don’t love travel. Also, I feel like I am bad at travel. But so many people react as though saying you don’t like travel is absurd
Good point.