Expectations Versus Reality

As you are reading these first couple of words, you are probably wondering why I was so quiet for the past two months? I am sure you missed your by-weekly dose of photography related content. I was so busy! The new year has brought me a lot of work so far. First off, I was co-hosting my yearly Winter Wonderland Workshop which was a massive success. We had great shooting conditions with epic winter light throughout the week. Our participants had a blast!

And then, as I had just returned home and was unpacking my luggage, it was already time to repack and leave for Norway. That’s right! I am just returning from a two week trip to Norway and what an adventure it was!

Two back to back trips is a great way to start the new year. As expected, Norway was once again a very challenging trip for many reasons which can’t be controlled. For some reason, we as landscape photographers seem to put a lot of pressure on ourselves when it comes to create portfolio worthy images. In fact, what is your idea of a portfolio worthy image? Must it absolutely have to have the perfect light every time you take your camera out? Is moody light ok? What are your expectations?

INSPIRATIONS SHOULDN’T BE EXPECTATIONS

When you travel, you should always look at images of the location you plan to visit to inspire yourself. You will want to know what there is to photograph at said location. It is important to train our eyes to see new things from that unknown and unexplored new turf. A mistake most people make is to set high expectations based on the inspirational images…you should never set such high expectations like that.

A friend of mine visited the Canadian Rockies a few years ago and was looking at my images as inspiration. He was expecting to see the same vibrant skies and the same crispy ice features… I then told him that I had been countless times to the Canadian Rockies and that these images were in fact the work of multiple years of trying and failing to get great images. Of course, you can get lucky and bag all the bangers in a single trip but that is very unlikely to happen.

I look at inspirations to help me prepare and get ready for a trip, to help me create an effective planning and schedule, to help me plan which equipment I will bring…but I know for sure that I won’t recreate the same images I found as inspiration. The light will never be the same…the weather will differ as well for sure.

KEEP LOW EXPECTATIONS

The first time I went to Norway, I had two things in mind: Photographing winter and northern lights. Did I get any of these two? Barely…winter was almost non-existent and precipitation was falling in a very liquid state! We had a lot of rain. You may be curious about the northern lights now? Let’s talk about something else… In fact, I was able to see some Northern Lights on a few occasions but cloud coverage was often an issue..

This second time to Norway, I tried to better prepare myself emotionally for a fail. This was my second chance at photographing proper winter conditions and northern lights in the Norwegian Fjords. And since my first time wasn’t a success, could that second attempt be worse? Nah…impossible I was telling myself! And boy was I wrong. There simply was no snow and the sky was cloudy most of the time which made northern light photography extremely difficult.

Could the trip have been better? Yes! Could it have been worse? Of course! Do I consider both my trips to Norway as failures? NEVER! Over the years, I have learned that every moment is unique…no specific moment will be replicated twice meaning we should always embrace each one of them to the maximum! Remember you could be seated in a shitty office working from 8AM to 5PM but you are instead enjoying some of the most beautiful landscape scenes in the world!

RELYING ON WEATHER FORECAST

Norway weather…what exactly does Norway weather look like? Oh My God! All I can say is that you can have five seasons in a single day. But how can we actually have five seasons when there are only four seasons? Go to Norway and you’ll understand what I mean here. Even though I have some pretty good ability to read the weather forecast from multiple apps presented to us in variable models, I was astounded multiple times by Mother Nature’s ever changing mood. You simply can’t plan anything much more than a couple of hours prior to the actual moment you want to go out and shoot. Check as late as possible and make last minute decisions.

I have tried countless weather forecasting sites and most by the time you reach your photography location, the weather has probably already changed! Sometimes it will change for the best, other times for the worse. If the weather forecast is that unpredictable in places like Norway, Iceland or Ireland, please do not look at the weather forecast weeks before you leave because you will end up being depressed even before you leave for your trip.

LIGHT COULD BE BETTER?

So you think the light could be better? Is there really such a thing as bad light? I don’t think so…don’t get me wrong, a beautiful colorful cloud display will always pump some adrenaline in my body! I get pretty excited when the sky displays a proper colour show but that’s not always going to happen. In fact, most of the time, the sky will be of very average quality.

I was one of those who would get mad if the sky would end up being boring. I would even refuse to take my camera out of my bag at some point. But then I realized a few things:

-First off, the sky will likely be boring most of the time. « Boring » is the actual word I was using in the past… Why wouldn’t I enjoy a « Boring » grey sky if they happen most of the time then? Why would I look like my cat just died every single time I wouldn’t get a colourful sky? If grey is normality, maybe I should enjoy grey flat skies too?

-Second, how much am I paying to be here? How much effort did I put into preparing for that trip, how much driving was involved in reaching that destination, how long did I hike to get my sporty little butt up here? Then why wouldn’t I enjoy the moment to the same extent as if it was the most beautiful sunset ever? Remember, you could be in a boring office working from 8AM to 5PM…

-And one last point, grey flat light won’t change quickly which means you will have plenty of time to photograph! See it as a blank canvas on which you have the pure freedom of creating something special. I often love to photograph texture or intimate images in those moments.

…IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I used to be guilty of all these previously mentioned points. I would even make my whole life miserable when it should have been the opposite! I am so happy I changed my way of seeing things years ago…and now, every time I come back from a trip, I am so happy with what I have achieved photographically speaking during that trip. I have the privilege to be able to travel often and to see everything with a more positive eye makes for memorable moments everywhere I point my camera at!

As my good friend Gina says: We get what we get and we don’t get upset!