Sometimes we just think of the beautiful.  We see that wonderful sunset, the vibrant colors. When we are in this frame of mind we can miss any opportunities that the dreary may have to offer. At times a somber mood can make for a nice image. Mood can give an image character. On a recent trip to Namibia we found ourselves in Sossusvlei one afternoon. The conditions were less than ideas, to state it kindly. The dust and haze posed a significant problem. We did not give up. I slapped a long lens on and started to look for mood.

          When photographing people, mood most often comes from the subject's facial expression or the situation he or she finds himself or herself in. Landscape photography is a bit different. Mood is most often created by atmospheric conditions such as fog, haze, dust, rays, mist, etc. Just like people images the landscape subject itself can help to provide some mood. The trick is to match the mood that the subject provides with that of the atmospheric conditions. In other words, when you see moody conditions start looking for matching subject matter. Great moody subject matter are things like a hanging willow tree, a fence in poor condition, a tree with no leaves on, and so forth. Telephoto lenses are often helpful to create great mood. Here is an example:

You can see that the tree on the left is pretty dreary. The atmosphere clearly helps. Everything is covered in dust. The mood speaks of hardship. The composition of this image is balanced. The tree on the left is balanced by the sun on the right. The layers formed by the sand dunes in the background helps to transition the viewer's eyes up and down in the image. We almost always prefer vertical eye movement than horizontal eye movement of our viewers. We want them to look into our images (depth) rather then from side to side (flat view).

          When conditions do not match your desire for beauty go for mood. Look for it. Isolate it. Capture it.