When the light is on the move, the human instinct to move with it seems to overcome most people. Many choose to flitter about in an attempt to capture the moment. When that feeling makes you want to move, my best advice is to stay put. If you’ve already found that perfect foreground or that beautiful vista, then hold your position and wait for the light to change and the scene to unfold so you’ll be ready to capture the moment. I once saw a series of images Jack Dykinga showed during a NANPA conference presentation. He photographed a desert succulent as the light changed over the course of a full day, and each one had its own beauty—now that’s staying put!
For example, the scene below was taken on Whidbey Island one morning; I liked the three boats and the calm water in the harbor along with that early morning magenta light. As the sun rose, the scene changed and the magenta turned orange as the morning unfolded. I reframed the shot to include the sun, by moving my camera a few inches. Zooming a bit I then concentrated on the warm light as it struck the harbor-side buildings for another image. I liked the scene, so I stayed put while the light unfolded around me.
When I’m along the coast, I like to look for that perfect foreground and then stay in one place as long as the tide allows. For this image at Ruby Beach, I captured the golden light and rays well before sunset. While the sun moved lower towards the horizon, I looked for other scenes on the beach and caught the reflection of this photographer near sunset. I photographed to the north, reflections behind, and many other scenes before, during, and after sunset while moving no less than 5 feet in any one direction. I came home with a pocketful of usable images all by staying put.
To practice holding your place, throw a circle of twine into your backyard or into a field to mark your spot. Then stand in the circle and photograph only from there until you’ve exhausted your imagination. Try it—you may find the exercise enlightening. It’s rare that the first image taken is going to be the one you keep, so work the scene and milk it for all that it’s worth. Bend low, stand tall, look behind you, shoot north, and shoot south. And when that urge to flitter comes over you, hold firm and keep working the scene. There is a gem of an image waiting to be found.
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