I’ve had an idea for some time about a few photos I’d like to make. But, in order to make them, I have to go and take a few first.

You notice, I say “make” and “take.”

There is a difference between taking photos and making photos, enough that I could spend many hours discussing the subject with people.

In this instance, I have an inspiration for a landscape photo taken from, of all things, a beautiful set of forward-thinking fashion photos. As I looked at those photos, my mind jumped from what was done, to whether there was a way I could do that, to what I could do using that technique, to our area and what I could shoot. At the end of that series of thoughts, I had a photo I’d like to make.

I’m not simply going to go out to the place I want to shoot, set up a tripod, and take a picture.

To begin the process, to make the photo that I want, I have to first take some pictures to gain a better understanding about the process I want to use.  The above photo is my first ever, and one of two star trails photos. I got a nice exposure and learned a lot of things from the experience. I took away from it everything from which exposure combinations work, and which don’t, to thinking about where to position the landscape in relation to the stars.

Now, I’ll have to go take a few more pictures and think about my first steps in order to make the pictures I want.

I can’t wait to make the pictures I have in mind now. I also can’t wait to take it another step and introduce yet another technique to it.