The decisions that I make must accompany a test of logic and common sense.  It’s just the way it is. It works in life. Most of my nature photography begins at the same spot.  Logic works with photographic decisions. There does however arrive a point, when your artistic instinct literally becomes common sense. There are those serendipitous moments that require a visceral reaction.  When you add that response to the fleeting moment in front of you, emotional artistry becomes logical.

There is nothing like the time around sunrise/sunset to provoke an immediate emotional response.  The light will disappear quickly so go with your instincts.  Then again, given some time, methodical thought can also work.  Below are some images created from the right (creative) side of my brain, and then some where my left (logical) brain was the center piece of the photographic process.  Certainly both sides were employed in all of the images below, but my memories of these times are vivid, and some were definitely ruled by instinct, while the others were made through a logical procession of thought.

My initial view of the wispy, ethereal,  pre-sunrise colors along Lake Michigan caused me to grab my camera and tripod, and shoot.   Beyond exposure, I did make one logical decision.  I recomposed the shot to included a small portion of land in the lower right hand corner.  Everything else was automatic.  This photo was truly an emotional response to light.

On another morning as several clouds began to display brilliant colors, I simply began to point and shoot.  I made no attempt to rationalize any of the compositions that I made in the brief seconds I had to create imagery. It was really a matter of nature providing art and me making the decision to let that art pass through my camera.

On the surface this may look like a well planned sunrise.  In fact I was moved by my feelings and not logic. The shapes of these piers  became otherworldly to me.  If I had planned this shot logically the one thing I may have changed would have been to let those ducks in the shadows swim into the path that is lit by the sun.  Logical thinking can more often than not improve an image but sometimes it can ruin the moment.  In this case I settled for the moment.

I arrived at this location well before any sign of light.  I had planned for two days to photograph the sunrise here. I had much time to pre-think what I might do. As the light finally began to break I moved my camera, my tripod and myself to a variety of locations.  Locations and angles that made sense.  Common sense.  Emotions can be a strong director of image making, but logic and common sense have their place.

Much of the same logic pushed me to create the composition and use of light you see below.  In fact a long time (almost too long) was spent finding a comp that was different.  This is the same location as above but on a different date.

It took me forever to find a set of Pacific Ocean sea stacks with a hole that I could line up with the setting sun.  This was a very logical use of the art of silhouetting.  The pano crop is also logical as it is a post moment, digital crop. That decision was made many, many years after I first clicked the shutter for this picture.  I think if I would have merely reacted on this day, I would have come back with zero good images instead of just a few.  It was a perfect day for logic.

Even though I am sold on the benefits of logical thinking in life and photography, I would absolutely never turn off my intuitive side.  I have had my share of common sense epiphanies while in the field, but often times the instinctual, natural images that I create say more about light, shape and form than the logical ones ever could.  They also say a lot about the “other side”of the photographer.  That side also has a voice that needs to be heard.