Shooting Gnomes

Putting a willing subject in the best light

Synchronicity and creativity are two things that make shooting outside so engaging. You never know what you’ll find, and the conditions are oftentimes complicated and unique. Like this chance encounter with a woodland inhabitant. Susan and I were walking on one of our favorite trails near our home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, the Fort Ward Blakely Harbor Trail. Suddenly, Susan spotted a tiny wooden gnome resting in a mossy curve of a Big Leaf Maple tree. He was less than two inches tall; some talented craftsperson had carved him and left him here in his natural habitat. 

Susan asked me to get a photo of him. The forest was dim in the morning light and the sky was gray. Not the best light for shooting anything, let alone a small piece of wood in a shady alcove of a large tree! But, Susan insisted, so I considered my options. 

I decided that my best chance to capture this new inhabitant of the rainforest would be to isolate it from the darkness by choosing a higher ISO (400) and opening up the aperture (f4.5). I kindly instructed the gnome to be still, pressed the shutter and this smiling fellow was immortalized!

I walk past this little guy a few times a week, and I’m sure I’ll try to get his portrait again. I doubt I’ll see him any time soon on a sunny day, with the light perfectly on his mischievous face, but a photographer can dream. Meanwhile, I enjoyed finding a way to capture this chance encounter with such an elusive forest dweller.