When my hair grows down to my shoulders and my hair gets in my eyes it’s time for a haircut. So this week off I drove to see my friend Matt who owns the Salmon Arm Barber Shop. I put off going to a barber as long as I can, but I like Matt and we always talk about cameras.
This time we talked about a little 360-degree video camera that he owns. I am planning a trip to Vancouver Island in late May or June think that kind of camera would a fun addition to my regular DSLR. It’s so neat and it comes with a brace that allows it to be placed on a car’s dash to photograph the inside and outside scenery.
After covering the barbershop floor with my hair I said goodbye to Matt and drove over to the big lake and the Salmon Arm Wharf. Now that spring as finally arrived everything is becoming so colourful and green and that is especially visible along the lake in Salmon Arm.
Anywhere I go is a photo opportunity and it’s rare that I am not carrying a camera in my car. I know that cell phones have become convenient and popular for travelling, but I prefer devices that are only designed to take pictures…for this trip I had my little Fuji with a 55-200mm lens. I left my car just a bit past the park (to save parking lot fees) and walked out to the wharf.
The day was a bit windy and the clouds were moving making isolated bright spots in in the scenery but my subjects weren’t moving so I could set my shutterspeed as low as 1/60th of a second.
Spring is a great time to just wander with a camera. I had chosen a telephoto zoom lens, I could have chosen a macro lens and photographed plants beginning their bloom or I could have used a wide-angle lens for wide scenic photos of the lake. I like the lake and I could have my short 18-55mm instead and wandered the city streets like I did when I was in Vancouver. But for this photo walk I wanted the telephoto.
As I walked out to the lake a fellow that was doing landscaping in front of a building said hello and mentioned that he also had a Fuji like the one I was holding and fitted it with an adapter so he could use his old manual Minolta lenses. He was walking to his work truck as we talked for a bit. Talking with people (photographers) that I meet when I’m out with my camera is a regular event. Photography is a friendly pastime.
For me, anytime I go somewhere or stop some place I think about making pictures. Anywhere I go is a photo opportunity.
When I was talking with Matt he asked me if I ever printed my photos. Yes I do. I enjoy making an 8X10 or 11X14 prints to stick on my wall or give to someone. Jo’s children get pictures of themselves all the time. Holding a picture in my hand or thumbtacking to the wall is the finale to that photo opportunity.
I’ll finish this with some words from renowned French photographer and painter Jacques-Henri Lartigue. "I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost--that is important. If they are art objects at the same time, that's fine with me."
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
