Waking Up:

After a cold night sleeping in my car trunk, the gloomy cold morning was not a sight for sore eyes. The combination of cloudy skies and morning fog is not the best recipe for capturing images of expansive landscapes. But, I learned through my years of photography that mother nature doesn’t really care about photographers’ plans. Landscape photography forces you to be creative, as you always need to adapt to the conditions at your surroundings.

Time to Explore:

So, drawing from my own past experiences, I decided to put on my brave face and go out to explore nature. It was a damp walk, and my wet socks quickly made my feet cold. The adverse circumstances helped to quickly jump-start my creative mind – maybe because I wanted to get back to the warmer car and change my shoes. After exploring the surrounding for about an hour, I decided that enough as enough, it was time to get back to the car and drive back to civilization.

Retreating:

I got to the car and quickly changed into a pair of dry and warm socks. With warm feet, I was ready to drive to Jasper to grab my favorite cup of coffee. During the drive, I start to mentally assess my photography options. I was not read for cloudy-gloomy-greyish days, but it was no use getting upset about the weather.

The finding:

It was important to adapt my plans, looking at the scenery using a different perspective. Fortunately, we live in a digital era, and experimenting with photography is as easy as pressing the shutter release and immediately reviewing the image on the back screen. So, I decided to experiment with creative ways to use the fog as an element to enhance the image. During my drive to the city, I kept forcing myself to think outside the box. Suddenly, after one of the many curves, this scene presented itself in front of my eyes.

Creativity pays off:

I stepped outside the car into an empty road. The gloomy weather drastically reduced the traffic of this otherwise busy road, and I could capture this image worry-free. I loved how the fog and clouds created different layers in the frame, the sense of depth helps the viewer to connect with the moment. It was a happy finding that just happened because I forced myself to think creatively.

It is a winner:

Fast forward a couple of years, and today this unplanned and unexpected image won a photo contest. This morning, I got informed this image won the MK Envision contest, and now it will be available for sale at the art gallery.

Moments like this reassures me that creative life is worth, and all the sacrifice and cold feet just make the experience more memorable.