Canon 1DsMKIII, 24-70mmL @ f/16, 3.5-second timed shutter, 100 ISO, Singh-Ray Vari ND Duo, Lexar Digital Media.

Flow as a concept is simply a means of allowing the viewer’s eye to move through the frame. In Part 4 of this series, I discussed relationships between elements and the importance of allowing for pathways to move the eye through the scene. When I talk of flow, I relate more to the concept of visual movement, either through the careful placement of elements in our frame or by allowing for literal movement such as in this scene of the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean. Flow can transcend an image from a literal capture to an artistic interpretation. Instead of simply capturing a series of waves and a setting sun, I opted to drag my shutter (3.5 seconds) with the help of an 8-stop neutral density filter to allow for the waves to soften as if a painter applied brush strokes to a canvas. In that amount of time, the sun held relatively still and the scene transcended for literal to interpretive. The final image relayed more of my feeling about what I was photographing rather than simply capturing reality. The final image also imparted a sense of softness and sensuality.

But flow doesn’t have to be limited to just water. I have created images where I allow clouds to move and paint the sky, foreground flowers to bob and weave and paint my sensor’s canvas and grasses to wave and paint my foreground. But can we create flow with objects that are not moving? Of course. When it comes to doing this, I look for lines and shapes in nature that direct and move the eye through the scene. In a recent image I captured at Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, an inanimate scene became alive with motion as I matched a foreground element with the bend in the Colorado River below unifying the two planes of my scene. There is flow between the foreground juniper snag and river, and there is flow in the U-shapes of both elements.

Canon 1DsMKIII, 16-35mmL @ f/16, 1.5-second timed shutter, 200 ISO, Singh-Ray Slim Polarizer, Singh-Ray 2-stop hard edge GND.

In order to open our minds to the possibility of flow, we must stop looking at the literal; instead, we need to start thinking in a more creative manner. I try to reduce my scene to shapes and lines – simplify. I tend to cross a bridge mentally where I am no longer seeing reality (trees, rocks, streams, etc.) but instead, I’m seeing movement and interaction between elements. Then the game is on. It becomes more about finding unity and harmony between these elements. Relationships is a key here. If elements don’t relate, I simply cannot make an image. Once the pieces of the puzzle connect, then compositions start to come together and flow is an end result.

In this final image, I literally saw sunflowers, but a persistent wind prevented me from freezing them, so I let them dance! I feel this resulted in a better image.

Canon 1DsMKIII, 300mmL @ f/7.1, 1/13th second shutter, Singh-Ray Neutral Polarizer, Lexar Digital Media.