Join the conversation
Subcribe to comment rss feedHow to hone in on what we love to photograph
Matt Payne
Matt Payne is a landscape photographer and mountain climber from Durango, Colorado. He’s the host of the weekly landscape photography podcast, “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen,” co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, and co-founder of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. He lives with his wife, Angela, his son Quinn, and his four cats, Juju, Chara, Arrow, and Vestal.
I recently heard a fellow landscape photographer express his disdain for smaller scenes like trees or bark, stating they only enjoyed photographing the aftermath of storms in epic light. This comment got me thinking about how we develop our preferences for specific subjects and how this discovery process makes photography exciting and enjoyable. While I love photographing a wide array of subjects, I have found myself gravitating more and more to smaller, intimate scenes over the years; however, I’ll photograph a clearing storm any day of the week, too!
On a recent podcast recording I did with Michael Rung, we discussed this subject along with many others, and I thought it was worth a deeper dive, specifically relating to Michael and his fantastic photography. In our conversation, Michael discussed the nuances of his journey, which started with him using a phone camera to capture wide-angle scenes in Ireland while on vacation. His preferences are now multi-faceted and have been developed over many years, with his work slowly improving in quality and consistency. I think further examining how this happened is worthwhile and may help other photographers who may be struggling to find their voice and vision.
Like many of us, Michael’s journey began with photographing whatever he came across, with a focus on what the kids call “epic bangers” (who comes up with this stuff, anyways!?). Michael went on workshops with photographers he admired and quickly understood that many photographs he had seen and admired were “manufactured” in the digital darkroom. Like many of us, this realization came as a bit of a surprise and cast a shadow of disillusionment on what he had thought were authentic images representing actual moments captured by his favorite photographers. This led him on a painful soul-search to rediscover what to capture and how. What I love about watching his journey is that it resonated so deeply with my own experience, and he’s bared it all for us to witness on his YouTube channel.
One of the things he challenged himself with this process was to not photograph a single sunrise or sunset for a year, which forced him to focus more intensely on subjects he was more naturally drawn to. He also spent countless days photographing local parks close to his home in Forth Worth, Texas, a location not typically known for its landscape photography potential. These two acts combined into a synergistic mechanism of discovery for Michael, leading him to develop a profound predilection for photographing trees.
By honing his vision and preferences on local haunts, Michael developed a keen understanding and instinct for composing and capturing certain subjects (otherwise known as practice!), which he could later leverage on his travels to more exotic locations such as Southern Utah. This deliberate practice prepared his photographic muscle memory to be easily leveraged in higher-stake situations while on a limited schedule away from home. It also made him more prone to naturally select subjects that he is more fond of and enabled him to capture them uniquely. Equipped with this knowledge, experience, and self-awareness of what Michael loves to capture, he can show up at a location and find a way to capture it without extensive planning ahead of time. This is also something I have learned to leverage in my shooting style. I highly recommend others develop it, as it helps release a lot of internal pressures we naturally place on ourselves as photographers.
Discovering what we love to photograph might seem simple enough. Still, we often fall into the trap of trying to capture scenes or subjects that others have done before, thinking this is the straightest line to finding success in photography. I think Michael is a good case study where it might make more sense to experiment with a lot of styles, subjects, and scenes with the goal of “failing fast,” which will help one develop a more personal style and preference for subjects we love to photograph in any location or light.
It is important to remember that whether you determine you love photographing tree bark, crashing waves, clearing storms, or all three - it is the process of discovering those preferences that make this journey worthwhile, and it is why I keep picking up the camera. Lastly, if you find your preferences shifting over time, I think that’s also a wonderful thing we should lean into and see where it takes us. After all, photography is all about personal growth and expression!
If you enjoyed this article and want to listen to my conversations with other great artists, consider subscribing to my podcast, “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen,” on your favorite podcatching application.
Do you know someone you feel has yet to be discovered and should be featured here? Reach out and let me know - I look forward to hearing from you. I’m especially interested in showcasing photographers with unique stories and backgrounds.
