Younes Bounhar Photography

Seizing the moment

2:30am wake up calls don’t usually sit very well with me.

You’ve got to be slightly deranged to take a 100km drive at 3am to shoot star trails. My buddies on this trip reassured me that it was perfectly normal behavior…for some people at least.

Sh…we missed the trailhead! Did we? We couldn’t have…Turns out we did. So instead of making it at 4 and shoot star trails, we didn’t get started until 45 min later.

It’s pretty much daylight at 5, so much for the star trails!  That’s when we head out to the little lake hoping that the cold night would bring some mist along. At the lake: no mist, but some great looking tree stumps. So I am shooting away, trying to get some nice reflections and panning shots.

As I am completely absorbed in the task at hand, I almost missed the faint mist that starts to rise from the surface of the lake. I only have time to compose one shot, fire away and it’s gone as if it never happened. That was the end of the mist…gone…Funny enough that is my favorite shot of the day. Is it because of the fleeting nature of the moment, because of the inner peace that I was feeling back then or is it actually a decent shot? I will probably never know -unless you insist on telling me it’s gorgeous. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

So where am I going with this you might say?

Well, there are two take home messages from this post:

1- Don’t set any expectations for your photography, just go out there and immerse yourself in the experience. It is only by letting go that you will be able to see beyond the cliche. Had I stuck with the thought of shooting star trails + sunrise, I would have never gone down to the lake, and not been able to make these shots.

2- Be aware of your surroundings and be ready to respond to the changing elements. Light changes, well at light speed, and elements that may not have been visible or appealing at one time, could be brought to the forefront in an instant. Always keep an eye on everything around you and let the light be your pilot!