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Paul Gabay
@gabaypaul
Best of the week 23 at #nomadict 2021
I started photography because I was curious how I could stop time and look at an action or a landscape at a particular moment for as long as I wanted. In a way I am a bit scared of time. Of how things that you love change, disappear. With my photos I try to capture a moment I want to remember because of the beauty of this exact instant or because of the story that comes with the picture. Today, many are scared of how much our environment is transforming and, in addition, I don’t want to forget the places I grew up in, the friends I’ve loved, the efforts I took just to look at a sunrise or a sunset, and the places I discovered. And the same goes for the winning shot.
I live about an hour from Mont Saint Michel and I went there a few times. However, I never really knew how to photograph it in a unique manner. This place is very famous and the number of pictures taken there is huge. I didn’t want my photo to be just one of those shots.
"Thus, I started by choosing an idea for my photograph with which I eventually won the Nomadict Best of the Week contest."
If you walk for about 20 minutes off-road there is a land, a spot that is known by some photographers because sometimes there are sheep in this land which can be great for pictures, and my idea was to go there. After checking the weather forecast to find the perfect morning, I woke up that day at 4 am to be there before the sunrise.
When I arrived, I had the pleasure to see a sea of mist partially covering the mount. I walked to the spot and positioned myself where I wanted to take my shot. The composition was really nice with the sun coming from the right and the mist covering the bottom of the mount; it seemed like the mount was coming from the clouds. I really liked it, so I started getting my camera ready while I was still sitting in a little land hole.
"At that moment, I heard noise coming from behind me."
At first, I thought it was the wind in the trees but when I turned around I saw a roe deer about 50 meters away from me and coming in my direction. As an animal lover myself I was so thrilled! I had never heard that there were roe deers in this area and the fact that I was alone with the animal at such an iconic location was unbelievable for me. She noticed me after a few minutes and stopped at about 20 meters, after which she decided to turn around and go towards the mountain. That is when I had like a flash and prayed that she would pass between me and the mount.
"So I tried doing the least amount of noise and sat in the grass waiting for this moment to come."
And then it happened! I shot a few photos as my fingers were shaking to get the focus right. I took the shot at 210mm which is the most that my lens can do. That is something I had not really used in the past and I kind of discovered the power of it that day. In fact, using a telephoto lens made the background and the subject seem close, as if the mount was just right behind the deer even though the mount was about 2 km away. When I saw that the photo was in focus, you can imagine I was tremendously happy!
This was probably my best photography experience so far. Being the only one in this world-widely known place while about 2,5 million people come to visit the place each year. Admiring the beauty of a magic moment – that only happens at the time, at that place – in peace and silence. That is the reason why I do photography. In almost all of my photos I try to capture an emotion, a feeling that I felt when I took it. With this shot, I wanted to show what I felt: A fairy that took my breath away for a few seconds, a deep appreciation for how gorgeous nature is when you take time to immerse yourself, a reminder that being alone at a remote location is indescribably pleasant and all that we need sometimes.
"With regard to the editing of the photo, I knew I was not going to do a lot because the light was just right."
The only thing I tried to do was make the roe deer pop a little bit more by applying contrast and color corrections. In general, when I do my editing I first and foremost think about a combination of what suits the picture and of how it would match with the Instagram feed I’m creating at that moment.
About three years ago I started structuring my feed with a three post-photo line in which would be written either the location or a style of photography of the series of photos below the “title”. I did this because I was experimenting with photography and didn’t want to do only one style of photography. Moreover, I wanted to have an esthetic feed that would be pleasant to watch and be able to edit the photo in the style that suits the ambiance of the moment. Using this technique allows me to experiment with new styles like black and white photography or create a mood that I want to share such as forest mood with wildlife, nature, trees etc. or sea/surf mood, without mixing colors and styles in the feed which could make it look less organized and less pleasing to the eye.
"Doing this and not sticking to one genre really helped me develop my photography skills."
Furthermore, I think it enhances my creativity. To be honest, I surprised myself when applying black and white photography tools I had just learned to wildlife photography. For example, I discovered the importance of the light when I was shooting black and white street photography and how you can use it to create shapes. Maybe someday I will find a style that I really love and I stop mixing up different styles. Time will tell! But one thing I know is that I will keep on shooting everything that crosses my path as long as I can to make memories, whichever style that may be.
To finish, I would like to take the opportunity with this article to speak to other photographers and nature-lovers. If I had one advice I’ve learned through my young journey as a photographer and as a Man, it would be to appreciate the luck we have when we see a beautiful sky full of stars or a magnificent forest with birds singing as if they were welcoming you to their world. Enjoy the little things that you might never witness again – and why not take a photo of it to frame it forever?
In the end, I think that everything you’ve done, the mountain you climbed to see the sunrise, the cold water you jumped in to photograph a friend catch his dream wave, the eye contact you made with a wild animal before he disappeared, the places you discovered for the first time, and the moments you know you see for the last time… Everything has led you to where you are right now and it’s incredibly powerful to truly appreciate and enjoy all of it, recognize its value, even minimum. And to be able to do so – you need to really stop and dedicate your thoughts to some reflection.
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