Earlier in the year I blogged about originality and the trend of taking photos of heavily photographed iconic subjects in Originality – A Matter of Perspective. I was reminded of this post when I saw a brief YouTube video titled “Out of Control Bridge” (see below). For some this scene induces a panic to head in the opposite direction, while for others it’s merely a reminder to get your spot early.
With so many people interested in photography I’m not surprised to see this mass flood of people on the bridge at Zion National Park. It’s a common sight in numerous parks in fact. I can’t fault anyone for wanting to get their version of a popular scenic vista, but I also can’t help but remind other photographers not to be blinded in the pursuit of the icons. Landscape and nature photography holds so much more potential than just these select vantage points.
That being said it would be interesting to see how similar or different the images turned out by all these photographers on this particular evening. With all the post-processing options available these days I bet there might still be a decent amount of variation, but you never know.
[tags]photography, time-lapse, Zion National Park, Zion, National Park, originality[/tags]
Hi, Jim. Yes, this video is certainly interesting, and I’ve seen the same sight before in Zion, as well as in Yosemite, Death Valley, Canyonlands, etc…
My own opinion about originality is that its the composition, the subject matter that makes an image original. This may be hard-edged, but shooting at Sentinel Bridge during an amazing sunset doesn’t necessarily make you original…it makes you lucky. The image, though, might be gorgeous. I guess therein lies the rub.
David Hyde and I cross-posted on each others’ blogs yesterday about this very topic; you might enjoy the read:
http://www.alpenglowimagesphotography.com/blog/2011/12/make-your-own-tripod-tracks/
http://landscapephotographyblogger.com/guest-posts/moving-past-the-repertoire-by-greg-russell/
Cheers,
Greg
That bridge is certainly “out of control,” as I’ve seen elsewhere too. It may not be an all bad sign for landscape photography though. Part of what is happening in this process, spurned on by the internet and the photo blogosphere, is that the leaders and visionaries are only getting better and better at finding new icons that everyone else can immortalize with hype and copying. It is like having the photographic community as ready made paparazzi. Find the decade’s next new most copyable image and you hit the jackpot.
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I agree, David. You have people leading workshops to the same locations, and you see the same exact images in everyone’s portfolios. There is very little originality amongst the more popular photographers in my opinion because they are all doing the same thing.