Art Wolfe on Finding the Shot Within the Shot in Yellowstone
In a Technique Tuesday excerpt from his book 'The New Art of Photographing Nature', photographer Art Wolfe demonstrates the process of refining a composition by zooming in on a subject. Starting with a wide-angle shot of Yellowstone National Park that includes sky, horizon, and landscape, he progressively eliminates distractions like cumulus clouds and cars. The final image abstracts the Grand Prismatic Spring against weathered pines killed in the 1988 fires, creating a strong graphic composition. Wolfe emphasizes making the subject unequivocal and finding order within chaos when a new vantage point is unavailable.
Key facts
- Art Wolfe published an excerpt from 'The New Art of Photographing Nature'.
- The technique is called 'Finding the Shot Within the Shot'.
- Wolfe used three photos of Yellowstone National Park to illustrate.
- The first photo is a wide-angle with sky, horizon, and landscape.
- The second photo zooms in but still includes cars.
- The final photo abstracts Grand Prismatic Spring and charred pines.
- The pines died in the great fires of 1988.
- Wolfe advises making the subject clear and unequivocal.
Entities
Artists
Locations
- Yellowstone National Park
- Grand Prismatic Spring