Photography Revival

Some of you know that I am something of an amateur nature photographer (my website is www.mvpol.com). It is a hobby that at one time I was looking into how I could actually take pictures for a living. This had kind of fallen off of my radar the past couple of years because of two primary reasons: 1) going to seminary full time took most of my attention, time and resources and 2) in July of 2006 I broke my favorite and most used lens in a freak hiking accident (instead of unclipping my backpack’s sternum strap I unclipped one of my camera strap buckles and the camera went crashing onto some concrete).

The lack of that lens really hurt my ability to take the photos that I wanted to take. One of the lenses that a landscape/nature photographer needs is a wide angle lens (technically speaking anything under 50mm is a wide-angle lens, under 24mm they become more “fish-eye” wide-angle lenses). The lens that I broke was a 28mm-90mm zoom lens, and because of its wide-angle capability as well as everything up to 90mm I found it very useful in composing my shots. I have a 50mm lens and a 70mm-210mm zoom lens that I used, but very much missed my 28mm-90mm zoom lens. All that to say, I was quite depressed and never felt like going out and taking photos because I knew I couldn’t do what I wanted to do.

This past weekend I went camping at Joshua Tree National Park. We had been there two times before I always thought that this would be a great place to take some nice photos. Well, this time I actually decided to do it. I borrowed a 28mm fixed lens from a professor (thanks Dr. Clark!) and bought some film (I didn’t even have any in the house, how sad is that?!). I was going to be arriving at the park a couple of hours earlier than everybody else so I knew I would have some time in the late afternoon to get out.

Needless to say, I loved every minute of it! Just going through all my equipment trying to figure out what I needed to carry along, loading film, cleaning lens, was such a joy! Then I started walking around actually taking photos trying to remember all that I had learned in the previous years about exposure, depth of field, composition, etc. I was having so much fun setting up my tripod again, figuring out the best composition, and determining exposure. On my website I talk about the moment that got me really hooked on nature photography, and I experienced that again in a similar manner. The first time was looking at a processed slide on a light box, this time it was looking through the viewfinder. I had been walking around mainly taking photos of some climbers who were scaling the rocks in our campsite. Once I got away from them I saw a composition of some Joshua Trees framing a rock formation in the background, I put on Dr. Clark’s 28mm lens, set up my tripod, looked through the viewfinder, and BAM!! I was hooked again! I had a polarizing filter on the lens which made the sky a deep rich blue, the green of the Joshua Tree leaves was verdant, all contrasted with the harshness of the rocks and hills in the background. That was all it took for my heart to start racing and my love of nature photography to come flooding back!

Now I have no idea if that photo I took actually turned out (the film is being processed right now), but even if it didn’t – I know that I am able to take the photos I want and just need to get back into practice again. I do hope that I get some good photos out of this weekend (or else I might be posting again soon as to why I hate photography!) and I cannot wait to throw them on a lightbox and take a look!

One thing that frustrates me concerning nature photography is that I see a lot of people displaying and selling photos that, in my opinion, stink. So many times I see prints being sold that are out of focus, horrible color (usually from being over-exposed), poor composition, and the like; but yet they are trying to sell the print for $150! Obviously there are those photos that I see that absolutely blow me away and confirm that I am in a different league, but yet I am relatively new at this and am proud of most of my work.

In the future I will talk more about photography since I have been “revived” again (hopefully I can actually get out and do it more!), but I am thinking of getting a little more technical as to how to take good photographs. In the past couple of years people who know I am into photography have asked me questions about photography, but also I have heard people who don’t know how to use their digital cameras. Having a basic understanding of photography and its principles helps to understand what your camera is doing and why and might even get you to the point where you are telling the camera what to do instead of the other way around. Also some thoughts about composition and taking photos that will take your photos to another level.

So if you are interested in me doing this let me know so that I can have some motivation for pursuing that endeavor! Also, if you are in my area, let me know and someday we can go out and shoot some rolls or memory cards as the case may be!