I was a professional fine-art landscape photographer selling prints, doing commissions, etc., for 8 years or so. Then, in 2013, I got a head/brain injury, and my life changed abruptly; pain, losing weight down to 32 kg, and I was living in a chair, not going outside, and had a hard time speaking for the first year. My website and business faded away, and I had no energy to maintain anything. I disappeared, it would have seemed.

Last autumn I slowly started to photograph again, and I was surprised that the way of seeing is so different, yet the same, now than it used to be. Of course, now I photograph only for myself rather than professionally, but I discovered a much deeper, more personal approach to photography that I was not able to cultivate before. This gives me great joy.

Walking the dog, I always bring my camera with a fixed 50mm lens, which is my lightest lens and therefore the most practical choice on a dog walk. I like this focal length when I photograph what’s encountered and not planned for. We have passed this backyard many times before; it never stood out. On this particular evening, though, I felt the fog transformed it into something strange; like a crime scene or like something secret has, or is going to, happen here that I will never be allowed to witness.

I always look for things out of place, scenes with a certain mood, or anything that looks like something is hidden there. I allow my dog to sniff and explore at his own pace. Many of my photographs would have been missed if it wasn’t for me standing still for a while, sometimes several minutes, at one spot and just looking at what is actually around me.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

The fog: due to the mood, and because it hides busy things. The open gate, which invites you into the scene and, at the same time, gives a feeling of human presence.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or differently?

I spent probably around 20 minutes here making 10-12 photographs, trying many different angles, trying to include more of the playground, but the lit windows of buildings on either side of the frame diverted my eyes. I chose this particular composition to be the best compromise. If I experience the same scene once more in the wintertime in the future, I would like to include more without introducing the distractions. But, I probably won’t. If I feel a photograph told its story, I am finished and move on. In the past, I often found that trying to perfect one particular photograph tended to make me forget why I originally made it.

Erik Hijweege shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Karl-Johan Vasstrand, Oslo, Norway

INSTAGRAM

Equipment and settings

Canon 5D Mark II full-frame body with a Canon 50mm lens.
Handheld leaning against a tree for support.
ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/125 sec.