mood/mo͞od/

 1. a temporary state of mind or feeling.

 

I get quite a few people asking how they can create a mood in their photography. Interesting question, really.

 

It’s not an easy thing to define in words – or to illustrate, but we all ‘get it’ somehow. We often feel something when we look at a picture. Maybe what we feel is a bit different from what the photographer intended, but then other times we feel what they felt. With animals, people and some travel photography, it’s gesture, and expression that can set the mood – or tone, of a photograph.

Waiting.

 In this bear image from Lake Clark Nat’l Park, the bear was patiently waiting for a sign of salmon to be in the stream. It just decided to plop down on a very thin gravel bar and watch. The feeling is one of relaxation, or perhaps watchfulness…but sometimes the story behind the photo defines the mood!

 

In landscapes, it’s often the atmospheric conditions and the light that sets the tone.  The contrast of light here created something we feel when we view this image from Zabriskie Point in Death Valley by my partner Jed Manwaring. It’s not easy to describe, but we feel something.

 

With this woman walking in Morocco – something about the black robes, and the way the robe billows out, too, suggests she’s in a hurry – and to where? For me, it has a feeling of mystery to it.

 

Just something to think about in your own photography. What constitutes mood for you?

 

Thanks for visiting.