Capturing a Peak Moment

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: October - 2022

Cynthia Strain, well-known regional photographer, author, businesswoman, and instructor, documents iconic images from Highlands to Toxaway and beyond. She shot this dramatic color portrait of Whiteside Mountain’s reflection in Holly Berry Lake in the 1990’s. It appeared on the cover of The Laurel in September 2003. In case your inner science geek is wondering – reflections in water are typically darker than the subject, because only some of the light is reflected. The rest is transmitted into the water. Cynthia captured the peak moment at the perfect site at the prime angle. And that is not as easy as it looks. Let’s dip our toes in the water, a metaphor for an insightful discussion of Cynthia’s work, employing a 4-element critique re: balance, contrast, focal point, and line. Balance: do mountain, trees, water, buildings, and boat feel balanced? If you hung this photo on the wall. would it feel like it has a heavy side, making it tip left or right? If not, the visual weight is correctly distributed. Contrast: Is there a wide range of deep darks and bright lights with a full spectrum of mediums in-between? Focal Point: Is our eye drawn to a point of interest? Does that point direct our eye further around the piece, perhaps to a secondary focal point? Line: Are there a variety of lines to keep our eye moving? Diagonal, horizontal, vertical, wavy, zig-zag, some with interesting soft and hard edges? In this writer’s opinion, answers are a string of yeses. And there’s even a boat in which to float across a ripple-free lake. It invites the viewer to merge with supreme serenity whilst taking in the beauty. It’s the ultimate reflection. Some would say that a photograph is at its best when it tells a story. This is what Cynthia’s work is all about. And the more the image preserves history, the more she loves it. For over a century there have been only a handful of photographers who have captured the Plateau’s essence beautifully, and most of them were men. Cynthia takes joy and a modest personal pride in photo-journaling as one of those resident/photographers. With this photo she says, “I don’t remember the details of the shoot, but my photo log serves as my back-up memory.” She laughs and says remembering details of shoots has never been her forte. She’s too busy moving on to the next challenge. But, lucky for us, she photographs the world around her while cataloging it carefully. About the Whiteside photo, she says, “This photograph was captured on film, completely undigitized. There’s no computer tinkering, just the pure truth at the right angle, with dramatic morning mist, and Nature’s light. If you want to see photo-journalism at its best, look for Cynthia’s new coffee table book, out in 2023, with photos and a remarkable history of the high land on which Cynthia would say we are honored to dwell. Contact her at [email protected] for more info as 2023 unfolds. by Donna Rhodes