Conquer your Nemesis!

Many of us suffer from having at least one photographic “Nemesis”…a subject that we try to photograph but it never seems to come out the way we want or had imagined 🤷‍♂️😠.

It’s really easy to keep photographing what we are comfortable with…after all, we’re so much more likely to experience the thrill of that #PhotoOfTheDay! Like this photo on Mull, for example.

In that photo, though, I knew in advance that the composition was good and I just had to persevere to wait for the right light.

Sometimes it is more than just chasing the right light, though; I had three particular Nemesis subjects this year. I found myself occasionally having a go at them but, if I’m being honest with myself, mostly ignoring and filing them in the “instead of what?” drawer 🙄😂:

Foxgloves - I love foxgloves and think that they MUST be really easy to photograph…but have never managed to find the perfect macro or woodland landscape composition that works when I get the camera home.

A small waterfall near my house - it is really lovely and I’d love to take a long exposure shot to smooth and flow the water but again, I haven’t yet managed to get the perfect composition and light to coincide at the right time.

And finally, Harebells - my wife loves harebells and keeps encouraging me to photograph them for her. Over the years I’ve managed to get “ok” photos but never great ones…that changed on a recent dog walk when she asked me to photograph a group of flowers next to the Lochan in Griffin Forest near Aberfeldy. My first reaction was to avoid what would inevitably be yet another disappointment and just keep on with the lovely walk we were having…but my second reaction was “hang on, give it a go…try something different…how about getting really close and going for a macro shot with lots of Bokeh…”

That’s what I did…and I now consider that particular nemesis conquered, the perseverance paid off!

One down, two to go -maybe the waterfall this Autumn as the trees change colour and the foxgloves next year when they come back again…watch this space!

What is YOUR photographic Nemesis? What do you find most difficult to frame the way you want it? Please share in the comments below 🤨😀