Guest - Terje Hellesø

- Look at the world with the curiosity of a child to get unique wildlife perspectives

It’s often said that the art of wildlife photography is capturing the art of the moment. However, each individual photographer brings more to creating an image than a fortuitous knack of timing. A photograph is created in my mind long before the shutter is tripped – it begins as an idea or emotion. The creative photographer seeks a deeper identity with the scene or animal in order to create an image that’s more than just illustration.

It becomes much easier to create different kinds of photographs if I’m not entirely basing my images on the appearance of a scene or animal. When I transform a scene into a photograph, I’m creating an image that expresses my emotions for it and my opinion on it. In a way, I’m trying to transform the scene into what I want it to be. The technical aspect of the photo is important, of course, but never decisive. I have to control the technique so it can integrate naturally with my personal intentions.

We all treasure the times when something comes along that’s quite fascinating and gives us enjoyment. But entirely working under these conditions is in many ways like a gambler hoping for a jackpot! Really, it’s not often that everything unites to give me the perfect photograph.

I’m at my photographic best when I’ve been doing most of my photographic thinking before venturing out into the field. The artistic vision is something that comes from within me, and it’s not limited to times when I’m out photographing. Ansel Adams referred to this as previsualization - I have the photograph in my head before I ever depress the shutter button.

In the realm of wildlife photography, much less has been made of previsualization than in landscape photography. For me, however, the very same principles apply in both. I try to have the image of the animal in my mind’s eye before I even set out into the field. This previsualization doesn’t mean that you have to be rigid. It’s a process of always learning and evolving my internal vision so that I can adapt for a given situation.

Please visit my website at www.helleso.com or my personal blogsite at www.terjehelleso.wordpress.com