Mark Watson

Last week, F-Stoppers posted a behind the scenes video of photographer Mark Watson taking aerial photography and extreme sports photography to some very impressive country shooting Australia’s morning glory cloud phenomena.

To me this really captures the keys to great photography in a single spot.

1. A unique perspective. So much of photography to me is about finding a unique perspective on something, even if it’s common. Shooting with an ultra-wide or fish-eye lens is one way to achieve that.
2. A unique experience. Macro photography, astro-photography, underwater photography, and flying on a hang glider all have one thing in common. They aren’t things most people experience or experience regularly. When you share that in an image, it stands out immediately simply on the grounds that it’s not an everyday sight.
3. An awesome location. Even with out the extreme sports and aerial aspects; the the clouds and landscape are unique enough to stand on their own.
4. Great light. Not mid day sun but early morning light. Of course this is was dictated to them but the weather conditions they were attempting to work with. That’s not to say stop shooting at mid-day, but you have to get creative in ways to tame the harsh light.

The video is worth a watch just to see the scene, but gets into a bunch of other behind the scene considerations like not cheeping out on your gear.