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(This article was previously
published in the August edition of Nature
Photographers Online Magazine.)
The second law of
thermodynamics states: "The entropy of an isolated
system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over
time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium."
Simply put: entropy (chaos) tends to increase over
time. Even more simply put: a crystal vase will
eventually break.
So what's my point? Too often
photographers prove the negative. Rather than
tending toward entropy, we seem to gravitate instead
toward the established order. From the beginning, we
are indoctrinated with "rules" of photography:
always use a tripod, shoot during the golden hours,
compose using the rule of thirds, etc. We may find
ourselves setting limits on the types of photographs
we make: shooting only bird pictures, or only
landscapes, and so on. And over time, we learn to
control our photographs: we control our exposures to
avoid clipping of highlights, we carefully compose
our images, we control our depth of field to avoid
out-of-focus areas, we control our shutter speeds to
stop motion blur. As a result, our personal entropy
has a tendency to decrease; we develop distinct
shooting styles, and our work becomes more uniform.
To some extent this is a good
thing: chaos, for the beginning photographer,
usually manifests itself in the form of sloppy
technique, poor composition, and unfocused creative
vision. By exerting control over our technical
skills and developing our vision, we improve our art
and craft. Why, then, should I advocate returning to
entropy?
Because chaos is the
life-blood of art. Without it, we'd all still be
painting stick figures on cave walls. It is too easy
to be seduced by order, to follow the ready path
laid before your feet. In doing so, however, you end
up with a body of work that looks like everyone
else's. And getting too mired in the tracks of your
own personal style is ultimately a creative dead
end. Only by shaking things up a bit—by injecting a
healthy dose of entropy into your system—can you
create something intensely personal and unique.
For most of us, chaos does not
come easy—we have to go searching for it. Finding
entropy means shattering perceptions, pushing
boundaries, and being willing to unlearn what we
have learned (I know, somewhere Yoda is rolling his
eyes). It means challenging ourselves to break free
from the limits we have self-imposed. And most
important, it means making a lot of bad images
before we can learn to start making great ones.
Now, I don’t mean that we
should abandon common sense and reason: good
composition and technique still apply, and always
should. But we should strive to be more creative.
What this really means is that we should strive to
be more abstract. The problem with most nature
photographers is that we really love what we shoot.
We love the waterfall for its own beauty, the eagle
for its grace, and so forth. So we get real excited
when we get a picture of what we love. But the flaw
in this approach is that we just end up with
pictures of beautiful things, when instead we should
be making beautiful pictures. We need to learn to
view the waterfall or the eagle as not an end in
itself, but rather as a means to an end: the
creation of art. They must be viewed as a
compositional abstraction: a waterfall is no longer
a waterfall, but rather a shape or line that must
interact with other elements of the scene.
Learning to think abstractly
is an important step to finding entropy, and in and
of itself it will greatly improve your compositions.
But it is only the first step. Once you are able to
successfully view elements of your scene as
abstractions, you are ready to start creating
abstractions, by transforming your subject into
something other than what it is. Basically, it's
time to push the crystal vase off the countertop.
OK, so what does all of this
mumbo jumbo mean in a practical sense? It means
giving up control and seeing what happens. It means
breaking the rules and inventing a few of your own.
Here are a few ways to add a healthy dose of chaos
to your photography:
Photograph something never shot before—a new
location, a radically different perspective.
Following the beaten path only leads you to someone
else's vision.
Zebra Canyon, Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Photograph in the dark—not being able to see what
you are shooting opens your mind to new creative
possibilities!
Thunder Hole Stars, Acadia
National Park, Maine
Go
with the flow—let entropy have its way. Is the wind
blowing hard when you are trying to flowers or ferns
in the forest? Instead of increasing your ISO,
choose a longer exposure and make your image a study
of movement.
Difficult Run swirls, Great
Falls Park, Virginia
Intentionally overexpose images—the high-key results
may be to your liking.
Sugar maple, Blue Ridge
Parkway, Virginia
Take
your camera off your tripod every now and then.
Shooting handheld will force you to make
compromises—which may channel your creativity into
unanticipated directions.
Pelican blur, Chesapeake
Bay, Virginia
Photograph chaos in action—anything that shows the
randomness and energy of nature. Waves crashing on
the shore, storms raging, animals fighting to
survive in a harsh world: chaos is all around us.
Coots, Potomac River,
Virginia
Forget about planning and just wander about with an
eye (or two!) open for creative possibilities—who
knows what you might find?
Sunburst, Mammoth Hot
Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Find
your own path to entropy! Invent a creative
technique that is entirely your own.
Eventually, the experiments
will become less trial-and-error and more planning
and pre-visualization. Not everyone will like the
results — heck, you may not even like the results —
but you will become a better photographer simply by
trying. Only be opening ourselves to more creative
possibilities, by letting a little chaos (or a lot)
enter into our orderly lives, can we grow are
artists. Either that, or back to the cave walls. |
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