Compositionally, the above image has a lot going for it. The strong vertical lines of the spruce trees create an interesting repetitive pattern with varying degrees of weight. The ground cover creates the perception of a smooth plane up from which the trees rise. It all seems very geometrical. The lighting is soft without being too flat, and the texture and colors are interesting to look at and see how they play off of each other.
While this picture has a lot of compositional strengths, I did not take it just to take a picture of a stately spruce forest and flowering ground cover. The green plants with the little white flowers that dominate the forest floor are called garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). It is an invasive species that was likely brought to the New World during its colonization. In just 140 years, it has managed to spread aggressively through most of the east and midwestern states. Garlic mustard dominates native species that reach their maturity in the spring seasons. The result is that plants, animals, and insects that rely on the native species for chemicals, pollination, and food are deprived of these necessary elements. Seeds from garlic mustard plants can remain viable in soil for up to five years. Managing such a resiliant plant is difficult at best, and failure to do so can forever change the ecology of a system.
The image here shows a soft and subtle sunrise over a scattering of rounded rocks on the shore of Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin. The jumble of rocks makes a nice textural and elemental contrast to the water, clouds, and sky. The overall purple cast imparts a feeling of tranquility and peace.
This picture would be impossible if the water level in Lake Michigan had not dropped to a near record low in 2008. Less precipitation and decreasing polar ice cover are two of the main causes for such a drop. The effects of this range far and wide from fishing and maritime naivgation to damage to the ecosystem. Without significant increasing in precipitation in the coming years coupled with a lesser rate of evaporation, the water levels for Lake Michigan will not be rising anytime soon.
So what does all this mean? If I were to take away the explanations behind these pictures, I would be left with two artistic nature photos. Some people, when they look at a picture only see the light, shapes, lines, composition, and colors. Sometimes that's the reason we take the picture in the first place. But then there are times when the real picture is the story behind all of that. It is a story about the ecosystem, or the animal or plant or enviromental condition that we place in our viewfinders.
When one photographs nature, one has a responsibility to understand it.
COMING SOON: What makes a Quality image?
