To me, photography is an art
of observation. it’s about
finding something interesting
in an ordinary place…I’ve
found it has little to do with
the things you see and
everything to do with the way
you see them.
– Elliott Erwitt
Over this past weekend i have had the privilege of being best man as well as wedding photographer to my best friend, now at first i thought yeah, i would be able to manage good shots of him and his newly to be wife with my Nikon D7000 and the kit lens that comes with it (Nikkor 18-105mm) then my buddy said i could use his 35mm prime F1.8 Nikkor glass on my camera. Without him having to say more i was hooked on the idea and so my 18-105mm moved to his Nikon D3200 and his 35mm lens moved to my Nikon D7000.
armed with my high speed sync flash i now had the capabilities of shooting ridiculous shutter speeds with this fast lens, and boy oh boy did i enjoy using that 35mm , it has definitely moved to a very high position on my lens shopping list for the Nikon D7000. so we went about shooting the wedding photos and i seem to believe that i have now out done myself (pictures to follow soon). Anyway, as the night progressed and the standard formalities came to an end along with the party vibe as the bar called last rounds, my girlfriend and I made our way to my Land Rover to take the route home, with my camera on the back seat and my lady sitting next to me we were driving along and talking quite a bit then all of a sudden my photographers mind takes over just as we reach home.
from nowhere i suddenly see this jewel of a mushroom standing proud from a piece of broken tree on the side of the road, now instantly i come to a stop, grab my camera and I start to creep up to this magnificent find. In my mind im calculating the angle that i would be needing and so decide to keep the 35mm lens on my monster, using the car lights for some focus help i manage to line up the angle. from there its all about the settings, I shoot manual mode so im thinking to myself lets try this as i flicked the switch on my speedlight to HSS and went down to ISO 100 and f1.8 as i bumped the shutter speed above 400th of a second.
the moment of truth as i click the shutter release button…my heart races as i reach for the playback button to see my shot…….
a moment of silence went by as i smiled like an idiot towards the back of my camera, i managed the shot, great D.O.F. the colours pop and i have my focus right where i want it to be.
Right there it made me realize that the life of a photographer is ever observing, we see things in ways that most people just ignore and miss out on. We simply never stop “working” as we look to see, we seek to find and strive to perfect the world we live in.
Its up to you as a photographer to always keep a camera at hand to document those amazing moments! also thanks to my girlfriend for supporting me in these times where i just zone out and go all photographer-overdrive-mode on the world, for standing me by in the cold nights and spending time with me as i crawl up to small things.
happy snapping!
i…