Photo
Nov, 2019Views
56
Likes
Awards
Chatter Award
Contender in the Visual Poetry Project
Gem Award
Achievement in Originality
Top Pick Award
Staff Favorite
Halfway22 Award
Curator's Selection
Jewel Award
Judge Favorite
Hidden Gem Award
Spring 21 Award
Treasure Award
2020 Choice Award
Peer Award
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
On these kind of lazy, wandering, light drizzly days, I always invite god to come have some fun with me and take some photos. this was taken in a park in Arkansas? maybe TN?? . I had to climb onto the base of bell and hold on as I blind snapped the photo. I call them God shots because it is only God looking through the lens as I click the button. hence the invitation to god to take a break and take some photos. I knew what I wanted to get when I climbed onto the base holding the bell. I could "see" it in my mind. It was a matter of will I be able to stretch far enough and will my arm be long enough to get them both into the photo? and before I was caught, lol luckily, it was a weekday and no one else was around except my companion, who freaked out and grabbed me to make sure I didn't fall off as he made me get down.Time
It was on 03/27/2009, I was just beginning my photography exploration. it was around 4;30 pm, on a cloudy, sprinkling rain kind of day. we had finally managed to get to the end of the path to the cabin and bell in the park. I was playing with a micro lens to see what it could do. That is why it is wrapped in a black circle. I had to use a lens for my camera that left me with a black circle to use the micro lens. I took off the micro to get this shot. I climbed up on the base, reached out as far as I could and aimed the camera towards the cabin and bell i was hanging onto. only god saw the shot as it was taken. I knew what I wanted, this shot. it took me 3 to get it. and yelled at by my companion for climbing onto the base of the bell.Lighting
God did the lighting this day. Rainy, cloudy, with a touch of sunshine to bless this scene.Equipment
I used a Nikon D80, my first real camera. With a nikon lens, i forget which one, but it wasn't one I should have been using, except I was exploring the micro lens, which would only fit on this lens, so I worked with the black circle area to get shots I thought would look good in a black circle. I was practicing breaking the photography rules in using this lens knowing it was the wrong lens for the camera I was using. I was challenging myself to work with the camera, even knowing I had the wrong lens.Inspiration
I could "see" this photo before I took it and knew what I wanted when I climbed onto the base. It was one of my first "seen before taken" photos. I worked in industrial x-ray and "see" things in a straight line. I knew if I could get the right angle I would be able to include the bell and cabin in one shot. No one was looking through the lens when the photo was taken, I was holding onto the post holding the bell with my left hand with me stretched out like those stretchy toys and my right arm reaching out as far as I could with the camera. I managed to get it after 3 shots before my companion noticed where I was and what I was doing. Hanging from a pole like a wild child with a expensive camera, lol he grabbed me and made me get down. luckily, not before I got the shot i wanted!!!Editing
I cropped a lil bit of the black out on both sides. that's all. it's basically a straight out of the camera shot. I always try for that.In my camera bag
i try to carry as lil as possible. my camera with a zoom lens of some kind, usually a nikon 70mm - 200mm on the camera with a 50mm kit lens in pocket, just in case of lens failure or drop and 2 extra batteries with 2 extra memory cards. i always clean prior to leaving and always have cleaner and a dustless cloth to clean with in the vehicle if i have to clean while out. i also wear glasses so we keep that in the console of the truck. I rarely use a tripod, but do carry either a tripod or a mono stick in the truck so i have one if i decide to use one.Feedback
don't forget to have fun with your camera too! don't be afraid to try different things like snapping a photo your not looking through the viewer to see when it is taken. climb up on things, snap a shot while your arm is stretched out and your holding on to something like a pole, break all the rules! (safely) every one of them! it makes it easier to learn them if your intention is to break them. dance with your camera! enjoy it! try moving when you take photos, like, while taking photos of lights at night, move you, zoom in and out and spin or move the camera while you take photos with extended shutter time. you'd be amazed at what breaking the rules will get you!
