Pursuit of a vision
Persistence is a firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition (as defined on Lexico.com).
I’ve discovered that the quality of persistence is essential when in pursuit of a creative vision — especially in photography, an art form that involves countless variables beyond your control, like weather and lighting. Even so, it’s not impossible to envision a specific photographic scene and then actually capture it. What follows is the story of my two-year endeavour to take a photo of Edmonton’s skyline that was “just right.”
Location
My journey began when I first laid my eyes on the below view of downtown Edmonton in winter 2018. The view is stunning and many Edmontonians agree with me, as it is easily one of the most popular photo spots in the city. When you drive past, you can always see people taking pictures with their smartphone or dedicated camera. When I discovered this location for the very first time, I got very excited and started taking pictures from different angles. At this point, my creative vision for capturing this scene was completely uninfluenced. The fact that I don’t have any social media accounts also helped me make sure I didn’t develop any precencovevied notions of an ideal composition.
The first ‘likeable’ shot I took was the one below, with the help of some LEE Sunrise filters. It’s a perfectly good shot. I liked it and so did some of my friends. However, as I returned to the location, I grew bored and I started thinking about how I would like to see this place.
Developing a vision for the place
It took awhile for me to practice photography visualization. Having past experience of continually returning to the same place to hone my skills and make progressive improvements helped me to determine my vision for capturing this skyline photo. My vision for this place was a dramatic sky, (probably overcast), but with a mix of light and dark clouds. Thes scene would also have a bright foreground. I felt that the combination of these elements would make for a compelling photograph.
I knew this vision might take a while to realize, but what I did not realize is that it would take me almost two years.
Improvements to the vision
With my vision in mind, I started visiting the location as much as I could to refine it. At times my visits weren’t as frequent as I would have liked — I have a day job and my weekends are usually packed with family time. After taking many pictures though, I stumbled across a composition that had potential to make the picture better. I generally like to include a principle called “punctuation” in my photos — something that is often talked about by Bob Holmes, one of my favorite photographers lately.
In an interview with Marc Silber. Holmes explains:
“Punctuation in writing tells the reader when to pause, stop, or really pay attention. They separate elements and clarify meaning. Photographs can also have “punctuation” points that draw your viewer’s eye to the subject and add an additional note that highlights your composition” (Silber, 2019).
Until recently, I was applying this principle subconsciously, without understanding its impact on the viewer. To add punctuation to a photo is to strategically add a point of interest that brings a photo to life.
Now that I was consciously aware of this technique, I was hoping to apply it to the project at hand. I also wanted to include a reference to the place I was shooting the picture from: Edmonton’s picturesque river valley. I also determined I wanted the Stantec Tower (the tallest in the city) to be in the center of a storm’s “eye.” Finally, I wanted the image to get gradually darker towards the top of the frame. With that in mind, I knew I would need to pay attention to the weather to find the right opportunity.
Pursuit and persistence
I liked the above location and the composition. The tree adds the element of punctuation that I was looking for, as it contrasted nicely with the cityscape. The clear morning sky also gave this particular photo a peaceful feel. However, since it was the end of the fall season, there weren’t many leaves on the tree nor the fall colors. I even used the AI powered Luminar to make composite to visualize the final results.
My goal was to get as much cloud coverage as I could, and to get the overcast, stormy look. Three of the above four images made excellent 40”x30” prints that live in my house, some of my friends’ houses and a friends’ office.
By then, I was very familiar with the location. I knew exactly what should be included in my composition and even had pinpointed a specific tripod location. However, as the Albertan winter returned, some of my attempts to capture the city view didn’t turn out the way I wanted.
Refinement and the wait
Through this process of repetition, I further refined my vision to specify that the shot must be taken in the summer. I wanted the trees to be filled with green leaves.
Towards the end of the winter, I started looking into panoramas and I had a feeling that a panorama would make my final image even better. I also decided the image should contain another punctuation element: a small tree at the right side of the frame to counter the tree on the left side.
Getting closer
I was now 18 months into pursuing my creative vision and was eager to get back to the spot. Spring had returned, and with it, the lush greens of the river valley.. One evening while relaxing in my home, rain started pouring and I contemplated whether I should make the 30-minute trip from my home. The rain clouds were soft and didn’t have that dramatic, stormy feel. I decided to try anyway.
The rain stopped for a brief moment and I rushed outside the car, set up my tripod and took a few shots. I waited for the cloud to form on top of the Stantec Tower for about 30 minutes and eventually I gave up.
One final push for the season
Before I went out for another attempt, I decided to purchase “Really Right Stuff MPR-CL II Rail with Integral Clamp” for the panorama shots to avoid an unwanted parallax effect in my image. And now, the wait began for the right kind of cloud.
It wasn’t just me watching the skies either. I had talked about “the cloud” often enough around my wife and kids that they were also on the hunt for the right conditions. One day as I was driving home with my family, my wife pointed out at the sky and told me that a storm was on its way and that I should go to the spot for another attempt.
I hesitated first, and then eventually decided to go. I rushed home, picked up my pre-packed camera bag and hurried over. There were a good number of people in the area, but thankfully, everyone stayed away from the tree, since they were interested only in the cityview. But everyone liked what they saw, including me.
Realizing my vision
As I set up my camera, I knew this was the moment I had been waiting for. First, I took a few regular shots from my established l spot, but I wasn’t satisfied with the end result — I would need to capture a panorama. I knew I had to rush, as the “eye of the storm” was already beginning to form, a few metres to the left of the Stantec. It was just a matter of time before the clouds aligned perfectly with the top of the tower.
Half-panicked, I started debating between a panorama and the traditional composition I had been shooting all winter. Eventually, I made up my mind and went for a panorama. Mounting my camera in portrait mode, I took four shots from left to right. Unsure of whether the extreme bright light and the dark overcast would make post production more challenging, I quickly mounted the Lee Adapter and the filter holder onto my camera lens, loaded a LEE Circular polarizer and then a 0.6 medium graduated ND filter to darken the top of the cloud just a bit. I wanted to keep the middle as bright as possible, even to the point where the highlights are blown out.
I took one more batch from left to right just to be safe and then I flipped the camera to landscape mode and took a three-shot panorama. I continued shooting for the next hour and eventually it started pouring.
Excitement
Feeling ecstatic, I headed home. I shortlisted the best images in Capture One Pro 20 and it was clear I had got what I needed. Unable to contain my excitement, I made a quick panorama stitch in Affinity Pro and then on Capture One Pro before doing some AI-assisted fine tuning in Lumar. The end result was spectacular and I posted in Reddit’s r/edmonton group.
I left the image alone for a few days and then came back to it to redo a more precise panorama.
It was perfect.
The lone specatator
Staring at the image for quite some time, I resisted my urge to desaturate the blue hue of the clouds. Finally, I decided to retain the dark blue sky and instead made some minor adjustments in Capture One Pro using the Color Editor to layer up the sky by adjusting their contrast. It looked brilliant.
Conclusion
It is a wonderful feeling to have your creative vision realized, even if the process takes two years. Returning back to the same place repeatedly can get painfully boring to even think about it. However, when you persist, you will eventually realize your vision.
Now that vision has been realized, the question is “what’s next?” I’ve decided to take this scene to the next level. Perhaps in the next few years I will capture this cityscape scene with storm clouds and lightning. I am looking forward to the day I accomplish that.
I will start putting these images for sale very soon on this website. Please check out my store in the next few weeks to find these images and order. You can also subscribe below to receive updates.
All the images in this article were shot using a Fujifilm GFX 50S camera and a Fujinon GF 32-64mm F/4 R LM WR lens.