Photography Is About More Than Images
Fun With Cameras XLI
I promised more woodland photography at the end of the last Fun With Cameras. My chance to make good on that promise arrived 10 days after the uncomfortable first trial, which I shared last time.
The area was the same, but the approach was different. Instead of bringing the kitchen sink, I packed a light bag containing one camera and two simple primes. I didn’t bother with a tripod, second camera, or autofocus lenses.
I didn’t want any complications. Going out for a walk was all that mattered. Besides, a new pair of shoes provided enough headaches. But more on that sidenote later.
Of White Trees & Health Pyramids
The footpath underneath the shiny fire-orange entry-level trail runners I bought intending to use for longer walks wound up into the forest/park at the border between Oberhausen and Bottrop called Health Park. The sky was dreary, not top-tier conditions for fall photography.
My nature photography trials are marked by impatience if I’m being honest. But I know I can’t expect to find great images moments after leaving the urban business behind.
I was hesitant to grab the camera when I stopped and eyed a white tree just a few paces from the footpath.
Was it worth it?
No, the images aren’t worth much. But the time I spent in the tree’s vicinity was.
I looked closely and tried to isolate it. My goal was to translate the tree’s meaning that was forming in my mind into an image. That mental exercise is a valuable activity even if no image comes out of it. And that’s why I’m happy I did stop.
I could already see the centerpiece of that section of the park from where I had stopped for the tree inspection. The pyramid-shaped wooden structure is labeled a health pyramid, fitting into the park’s theme of health-boosting installations and a nearby rehabilitation facility that utilizes Mother Nature to boost human well-being.
The bland lighting didn’t make for good pyramid portraits. But I still tried a few frames from far and close, from the front and from behind, in landscape and portrait orientation.
The front (front as in from where I was coming) included the path as the leading line. But, apart from that, the composition was bland. The other side offered a bit more foreground interest.
Between the frontals from both sides, I tried to frame up the top parts of the pyramid.
Besides struggling with sorting the visual clutter of Mother Nature, I also fought the camera a bit because I was trying something — auto ISO (while in manual mode). I didn’t like it when I last gave it a chance a couple of years ago. But I wanted to see if that impression had changed.
Some people love that approach because it keeps you in control of shutter speed and aperture while reducing the changes in settings when lighting changes dramatically.
That’s the theory. I guess I prefer to be in control. Every time I try this, I forget about shutter speeds. I am constantly confused when the camera overexposes because it’s already reached the lowest ISO setting, or it underexposes because it’s reached the other end of the spectrum, or I have pictures with ISO 10,000 just because I have an unnecessarily fast shutter speed set (and forgot about it).
As counterintuitive as it may sound, the less the camera can interfere, the easier it is.
Of Musical Ponds & Amusing People
I crossed the road that intersects the park south to the north shortly after the pyramid and found a well-curated woodland park, almost too controlled for the type of photography I wanted to do.
I saw beautiful but uninspiring paths, an unphotogenic music spiral that is supposed to cleanse your mind when you walk through it, and a musical stone that is said to produce therapeutic tones if you dare to put your head in a dark, less than confidence-inspiring hole.
When I noticed a curious pond to my right, I had already started to feel the first signs of discomfort from the new shoes. Was it a mistake to take new shoes on a + 10 km walk straight out of the box?
Well, there was no turning back now. Besides, soothing music was in the air courtesy of a young family somewhere in the distance of the forest.
I worked the pond from all sides, starting from a tiny bridge that offered me an elevated viewpoint. The most interesting aspect of that position was the fall foliage. The visual characteristics of a 1970s Nikkor added to the short blip of soft-ish sun backlight powering through the clouds and trees.
I had my favorite picture from an afternoon that emphasized looking, seeing, exploring, and feeling the soothing qualities of photography over pursuing specific images.
Somewhere in the middle of photographing from the bridge, heavy clangs interrupted the calm, distant music. Was that a bicycle?
Yes. But not any old bicycle. A mountain bike, maybe? I wouldn’t exactly classify that park as suitable for that. But who knows?
No, a man in his thirties commandeered a heavy cargo e-bike down the path.
Plonk. Down another stair of the descending path. Almost at the pond level now. Plonk. Another landing of the heavy machinery accompanied by audio confirmation.
The toddler in the front cargo compartment kept remarkably quiet.
As I continued to swap lenses, the thunderous plonks slowly grew quieter, and the cargo bike veered off into the distance, continuing its peculiar journey.
Of Foot Pain & Visual Relaxation
I left the pond feeling the first problems approaching. The heel collar on the right, and particularly the left shoe, felt like I had a pair of pliers applied to my heels. Ugh.
Maybe it was the discomfort, the time’s progress, maybe both that rushed me through the remaining walk, feeling the inspiration fade.
I had started an hour later than planned, narrowing my daylight window.
I stopped for a log that sent interesting visual signals from the path’s edge. Without giving anything away, that image is a sign of what’s to come in the Fun With Cameras that follows the next one.
I included a few outtakes, if you will, pictures I tried, but that show more the troubles of decluttering nature than anything else.
Despite the heel troubles, which got worse and resulted in achy heels for the next few days, and the abandonment of the final loop through another part of the forest, I felt oddly at peace when I hobbled back to the train station.
Photography is about more than chasing pictures. It’s the process that counts.
That’s all the photography for now. The next Fun With Cameras will follow in 2 ½ weeks with a calm river morning. I’ll finish this week with a few lines on running.
