This was once the largest chest of drawers in the world. Built in 1920, it stands 38 feet tall in High Point, North Carolina. Now the tallest stands at another end of town, at 80 feet. As of this writing, I haven’t seen that one yet.
The alligator’s nostrils and eyes poked up through the water’s surface as the beast lay in wait for its next meal. Just 20 feet from us, it was as still as the glassy water.
“I’m going to get a picture just to show J there are alligators here,” J said.
“Sure. Me, too,” I said and lifted my camera to my face.
(click any pic to enlarge)
He stands on the balls of his feet between the poolside ladder’s safety rails, heels hanging over the water, facing me. The artificially turquoise waves dance below, waiting eagerly to envelop him.
He covers his mouth and nose with one hand and falls backward without bending. His back smacks the water loudly, muffled slightly by his swim shirt, and as he sinks the water quickly sloshes back in to complete his temporary translucent burial.
I review my results on my camera’s LCD.
His head breaks the surface and he rubs his fingertips over his eyes to clear them. “Did you get that one, Dad?” he asks through a wide smile.
“It was pretty good, but can you go again?” I say.
“Yep!”
Rarely when you miss capturing a moment do you get to try again. That moment at a wedding when the groom kisses the bride — sure, you can do a set-up shot, but it just isn’t the same. Same goes for that hug between a diploma-wielding graduate and a teary-eyed, seldom seen relative.
You miss those moments and, well, they’re just gone.
When taking action shots of a seven-year-old jumping into a swimming pool? Opportunities abound. My wife certainly took advantage while I threw the boy up in the air.
My son loves the water and all the wet fun it brings. He wears a swimming shirt that I’m certain must deaden the impact, because he has virtually painlessly performed several huge belly flops and more than one Nestea plunge. If it hurts, then he hides it very well.
Ah, those lazy, crazy days of summer.
(Click any pic to enlarge, and just click the “play” button to listen)
I parallel park Homer along a city street just two blocks off McKinney’s downtown square. Alvis and I grab our cameras — similar Nikon DSLR’s — and meander across the road.
As I step onto the opposite sidewalk, I see a dejected clown coming right for me. He is not smoking a cigarette, but he looks like he wants to be. We sidestep Sparkles and stroll along to a street barricaded at one end by a stage.
(Note: This is the fifth post in my San Antonio Riverwalk Series, shot during a recent work trip.)
(click any pic to enlarge)
Sometimes you have to look up.
My co-worker, a design major in her former life, pointed up at these grotesques while we walked along at street level. Four different faces repeated at various points, but I’m not sure how I ended up with pictures of only three.
I converted these to black and white because the color had nothing to do with their intrigue. The building’s identity remains unknown to me.
Details:
Camera: NIKON D50
Lenses: Nikkor 200mm 1:4 and MicroNikkor 55mm 1:2.8 (manual everything)
F-stop: f/4 and unknown
Shutter Speed: 1/60 second
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 200mm and 55mm (about 300mm and 82.5mm on the digital body)
ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Manual
(Note: This is the fourth post in my San Antonio Riverwalk Series, shot during a recent work trip.)
While strolling along at river level, I saw these umbrellas and liked the color they added to the somewhat drab scene. I scaled the nearest staircase and shot this from a street bridge, with my hands steadied on the concrete guardrail. (click pic to enlarge)
I later researched the Riverwalk online and found that the umbrellas are at Casa Rio, established as the Riverwalk’s first restaurant in 1946. The picture on Wikipedia’s entry was taken only a few steps from where I stood, but the timing makes the lighting more even in my photo. Had I been there a couple hours earlier in the day, my picture would have been plagued by random rays of bright sunlight. Shadows definitely can add interest to a photo, but the mottled look was not what I needed.
An outdoor wedding I shot recently started at 2 p.m., when the lighting makes harsh shadows a real problem. I might feature some shots from that here in a future post.
Details:
Camera: NIKON D50
Lens: AFS-Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED
F-stop: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/15 second
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 18mm (about 27mm on the digital body)
ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Spot
(Note: This is the third post in my San Antonio Riverwalk Series, shot during a recent work trip.)
(click pic to enlarge)
I like panning shots. For one, they allow me to fudge a bit when using a shutter speed that’s too slow to stop the action. For two, they blur the background so that the subject stands out better. My camera’s movement matched the boat’s speed closer than it did the still objects around it, but not as precisely as I wanted. Still, that one guy’s face makes this one work just fine for me.
How much more relaxed could he be?
Details:
Camera: NIKON D50
Lens: AFS-Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED
F-stop: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/15 second (a little too slow for most panning shots)
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 18mm (about 27mm on the digital body)
ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Spot
Sometimes planning goes into candid shots; sometimes they are just dumb luck.
In the first, my son makes his way toward me after washing his hands, and a picture he drew and colored hangs on the refrigerator. I composed that shot quite on purpose, with my son as the focal point, and the drawing carefully in the foreground. I tossed two other attempts, different only by his state of motion, in favor of this one.
In the second, my wife leaves the photo to the left, while our neighbor and his loyal dog make their way across the room. In that case I was just sitting on the couch while the burgers grilled, playing around with how still I could hold my camera. I got a few without people in them, a few with folks sitting on the barstools, but this one I liked best.
Candid shots are my favorites. When I look back at photo albums or magazines, the pictures of people in everyday action speak more loudly about them than any posed picture with perfect studio lighting.
A grin spreads across my face when I see a picture of a friend or family member laughing at what someone, often unseen in the photo, said or did. A posed picture can evoke feelings, but not with nearly the impact. The latter also tells little of the person’s true feelings or thoughts in that moment, or about the space in which he or she lives.
Although a flash sometimes is in order, using existing light lends more credibility to the candid concept. This can result in blurred subjects, but sometimes if it’s just enough to demonstrate motion, and doesn’t fuzz faces beyond recognition, that isn’t a bad thing. I think that in these two photos it works well.
Ben picture details:
Camera: NIKON D50
Lens: AFS-Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED
F-stop: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/25 second
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 18 mm (about 27mm on the digital body)
ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Spot
Neighbor’s house picture details:
Camera: NIKON D50
Lens: AFS-Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED
F-stop: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/15 second
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 18 mm (about 27mm on the digital body)
ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Spot
(Note: Those reading “Shootings” may continue with Part Thirteen)
I had Saturday night to myself. Despite knowing about it at least five days in advance, I waited until the night before to make plans.
Hint: if all of your friends are married, and especially if they have children, DON’T DO THAT.
Sure, I could have called up one of my buddies who also were without their wives (because they were coming to my house to hang out with mine), but then we would have been indoors. It was about 70 degrees and sunny, with a slight breeze and no humidity — the kind of day we get few of here.
My child was with his local grandparents, and I wanted to go out. Alvis and Peter, whose wives were available to watch their children, already had important plans, so I ended up going it alone.
I got a few nice images, enjoyed live music, and ignored the advice of a table of four when they highly recommended the coconut cream pie. It’s a texture thing with me, so I ordered chocolate instead.
It happened to be Art Walk night on the square, so I wandered around enjoying the works of local artists. A young woman hoping to attend the University of Texas was raising money by playing her violin. An older man, probably her father, walked over to her and whispered in her ear. The next song she played was “Eleanor Rigby.”
I hung around long enough to hear the whole song, and then turned and headed back to the car to follow my original plan. A couple walking down an alley caught my eye — and made me wish just a little that my wife had ditched her friends — but the scene quickly became cluttered with vehicles before I could get more than one shot with my manual focus lens.
Miles from the quaint feel of downtown, I barely got a ticket to the 8:30 sold-out showing of Iron Man 2, and while it wasn’t perhaps as purely artistic as what I had witnessed earlier, it was worth seeing with our without a friend.
Indubitably.
Questions: What food textures bother you? What did you do the last time you went out alone?
