First Impressions

Our photography workshop was at the summit of Cadillac Mountain.  My first impression?  A lot of rocks, trees, blindingly blue sky, harsh midday light, and too many people everywhere.  I was not inspired, and that’s putting it mildly.  Our instructor made her way around checking in with each of us.  When she asked how I was doing, I told her I wasn’t sure yet.  I dutifully took a few shots and moved around hoping something would catch my eye.  Still nothing.  

As I wandered, a couple of things finally looked modestly interesting, so I composed a few frames. Then it was time to move on to the next location, still atop Cadillac, but from a different perspective, to wait for sunset.  The conditions weren’t much different there.  I kept exploring, hoping for a breathtaking view or some clouds to move in to create interest in the sky before sundown.  It didn’t happen.  I still took a few pictures, hoping to draw inspiration from something.​

When I got back to my room, I uploaded the day’s images from my camera to my laptop, flipped through them quickly, and went to bed.  I decided I had come there to learn, and I was learning, even if I wasn’t getting the stunning Maine photos I had hoped.  The workshop ended, my husband flew up to meet me, and we spent a few days returning to some favorite spots and hiking to new ones.  We even went back to the top of Cadillac Mountain - mostly so he could see it, not for me.

It wasn’t until after I returned home and took a closer look at those early images, that I realized some had potential.  One of the lessons I learned was to crop out things that aren’t contributing to the image I had envisioned, ideally in camera while composing the shot.  I can still hear one of my previous instructors telling me, “You don’t need the whole bicycle to know it’s a bicycle.”  Indeed.

That boring sky wasn’t adding a thing to my image.  With a couple of key strokes in my photo editing program, it was gone.  Ha!  That looked better.  I was rather delighted to discover I even liked a couple of them.

There’s a saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”  While that may be true, I’m glad I went back and took another look at those shots from Cadillac Mountain.  

Have you ever made a judgement based on a first impression and later changed your mind?

What helped you to see things in a different light?


© Shirley K. Weyrauch, 2020