From an early age I've made photographs a certain way: compose and wait. The pleasure of working this way goes back to outings with my father and his easygoing advice on how to see ("Look for the diagonals"). Working this way means "seeking the setting" and composing the setting as though it were the subject, then waiting for the actual subject to appear and finish the photograph.

Kerry Trapnell's photograph captures me near the end of this process. I'd been stopped by the arrangement of termite towers and dry grass and took a position slightly above the scene. Using different lenses on two cameras I made two predetermined compositions, then waited.

The sequence of pictures shows the setting being consumed by the subject with such intensity that new content is created. But beneath the flames the transformed landscape is still the same.

In Kerry's picture I'm about to switch cameras and compositions, but just for a moment I'm taking in the scene.