Photography to Explore
It was December 24, 2022. Our plan, by way of yearly tradition, was to travel north and visit family for the holidays. Nature’s plan, though, was to make the Michigan roads as undriveable as possible through a weather assault of wind, snow, cold and ice. …
Tell someone you’re going away for a weekend to Saginaw, Michigan to take photos, and you may receive puzzling expressions—I certainly did. The responses of wonderment I received were mostly from the people I encountered in Saginaw, too. Saginaw is often on lists, but they’re …
These days it’s almost impossible to be interested in photography and equipment and not end up down the rabbit hole that is the camera forum. Talk of DxO scores, sharpness, aberration and, of course, megapixels, dominate the subject matter.
None of that matters.
My first internship after graduating with a degree in photojournalism was at the Monroe Evening News. At that time, it was a newspaper that cared deeply about capturing the best images to tell the story.
The camera gear I was issued was a Nikon D1, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, and a flash.
It was perfect.
One day, upon noticing the camera I was using, someone asked,” How many megapixels is that?” I had no idea. I was so busy navigating the nuances that are required to visually document a story, day in and day out, that I never cared to look at the specs.
Immediately after receiving that question, I went back to the newspaper and looked up “How many megapixels does the Nikon D1 have?”
The answer? It has 2.74 megapixels.
So, fast forward to recently. My Canon 6D has been a faithful companion and tool for many years. Seriously, this is one incredible photographic tool. I’ve photographed numerous assignments and personal work using this camera and it has never let me down.
However, when working as a freelance photographer, it’s important to have an adequate backup camera. While looking for one, I knew I needed to buy a Canon (this is only because I have a lot of great Canon lenses. There are lots of fantastic camera brands out there).
Canon 1-series cameras are built like tanks so that’s the direction I headed. After doing a lot of research, I landed on the Canon 1DX. It’s full frame and weather sealed, which is really important. But, one of the most important specifications of this camera, to me at least, is that it’s shutter is rated for 400,000 cycles. This is incredible.
This number tells me that some serious research has been done on making this a tough camera. The next most important thing to me is autofocus. After using other Canon 1-series digital cameras, I was confident that the autofocus of the Canon 1DX would be just fine.
Recently, I was commissioned by downtown Traverse City to make some images of downtown Traverse City. I’m really looking forward to this since I’m usually walking the streets of downtown Traverse City anyway, as it’s one of my favorite areas for street photography.
Walking downtown with the Canon 1DX recently has proven to me that this camera is a more-than-capable camera. It’s autofocus locks on blazingly fast and the files have been wonderful.
Since, Michigan has all kinds of crazy weather, I’m confident this camera will hold up to whatever weather it encounters since it’s weather sealed.
So, I’ve brought up weather sealing a couple of times now. Why? Here’s why. One day while on assignment for the Traverse City Record-Eagle, I was supposed to make winter photos of downtown scenes. It wasn’t just winter weather that day though. It was rain, quickly turning to ice.
While walking downtown and making photos, there was a layer of ice on my camera and lens. It was so much ice that I said to myself, “If this camera still works after this day, I’ll commit myself to Canon cameras.” The camera worked flawlessly, so I stand by them to this day.
Just because the Canon 1-series cameras work great for me, obviously doesn’t mean that they’re right for you. The purpose of this post is to explain why this camera can be amazing and why it’s the right one for me.
When I’m looking for a camera that I know won’t impede my ability to get a photo, I’m reaching for this one.
And, it has 18 megapixels. But, that doesn’t matter.
As photographers, we obviously would like to photography when the light is optimum. The golden hour, the blue hour, sunsets, sunrises—these are all times of day when the light can turn gorgeous and can result in exquisite images. But, what do you do when the …
When you open your email’s ‘Inbox’ to find that an editor has reached out for you to take photos, it’s exhilarating. Making pictures, being creative, having access to photograph interesting people, places, things, etc., and making money—it all can be as thrilling as it sounds. …
On our most recent trip to Denver, Colorado, we stayed in the recently-opened Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver. The rooms are beautiful and it’s within walking distance of Union Station, which is where we depart the train after arriving from the airport.
Downtown Denver is fantastic for many reasons: there’s a lot to do; the variety of diners are seemingly innumerable; and, the architecture is impressive, just to name a few reasons. For those reasons, I like to wake up early and take a quick walk around to “see what I see” as I like to say.
Walking with no plan is sometimes the best plan because it allows one to be open and receptive to whatever one comes across that might make a good picture.
Denver receives many, many days of sunlight throughout the year, and this particular morning was going to be one of those sunlight-receiving days. For this reason, it’s nice to get an early start at photographing because the light is at a lower angle to the horizon, which makes a more pleasing quality of light, I believe.
Not far from the hotel, I had crossed an intersection and looked to the my right when I saw a sign with the word ‘Paramount’ on it. I actually walked passed it. Then I stopped.
More and more I’ve been listening to the voice inside that says, ” Maybe you should photograph what you just saw.” It might sound silly, but it can be easy sometimes to pass by a potential photographic subject because it might not seem interesting enough. This is especially true, at least for me, with film.
Putting my steps in reverse, I soon found myself in the same spot with the same viewpoint of the ‘Paramount‘ sign. Since I was definitely going to make a picture this time, I wanted to wait for a person, or people, to enter the frame. This is because I feel like a human presence adds aesthetically to pictures, especially street photography.
Finally, a person entered the sidewalk with a bicycle and I made a picture.
It’s not an earth-shattering image, but I was proud of taking the picture and working a little bit to get it.
Having a feeling of regret in regards to photographs you didn’t take can be disappointing. It’s inevitable, I suppose, for photographers, but I’m at least making a conscious effort to minimize those regrets.
Next time you’re out and about taking pictures, listen to the voice inside you that says “Maybe you should take that picture.”
It can be the most difficult surrounding to photograph. Out of nowhere, you may find yourself stopped in the tracks of creativity before you even know what hit you. Or, it may hit you right away. You may walk, or drive, for hours looking for …
Detroit has stolen our hearts…again. With its history, character (and characters), food and architecture, it won’t be the last time, without a doubt. And, that’s ok. Steal away Detroit, steal away. After visiting there for a weekend earlier this year, I wrote a post here …
Few things are as enjoyable as loading some film into a camera and exploring a small, unfamiliar town. It’s the basis for how I came upon the name ‘Village Voyager’, after all. The, often, slow and methodical approach to composition and the new elements of a village not-yet-explored is an almost meditative process. It’s definitely fulfilling.
Last summer, film photography and exploration was exactly what I was embarking upon one morning in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Subdued light was streaming through the bedroom where we were staying and it was so lovely that I couldn’t stay in bed, even though my eyes said that sleep was what I needed.
There wouldn’t be a lot of time for me to photograph based on the schedule of the day, but I don’t think there would ever, or will ever, be enough time to photograph.
Days prior, we’d traveled through a small town called Lake Linden. It was picturesque, small and quaint and had all the characteristics of a Normal Rockwell painting.
So it would be that on a free morning I would travel to Lake Linden to “see what I could see,” as I like to say.
As soon as I started driving through Lake Linden, there were construction workers and orange road barrels everywhere. They were repaving the main street. The unsightly visual elements and my sleepy brain weren’t ideal for making pictures, but this can often be the case. One of the great hurdles of photography is overcoming these challenges to make pictures. For me, at least, if I had to wait for perfect conditions to take pictures, I’d hardly photograph at all.
So, despite the conditions at hand, I decided to park and travel Lake Linden by foot, since this is the best way to explore a place. An open parking space between a couple of pickup trucks presented itself so I situated my vehicle there, felt the warmth of low, summer sun though my driver’s side window, and turned the car off. With camera and light meter in hand, I exited my car.
Photography isn’t completely about visual elements, I feel. To me, it’s a multi-sensory event. A place can have a feel and you may feel a certain way also, and all these variables can, and should, play into how you make images. In fact, the feeling you have is maybe the most important factor in making images.
So, as soon as I exited my vehicle, I could hear the clanging of silverware and the clattering of dishes. I parked across the street from a restaurant. The distinct smell of bacon wafted through the air and besides the restaurant, along with the road repaving, this place was quiet and peaceful.
It’s easy to overthink a photograph so I made every effort to not do that. I walked to a street corner and saw what I felt was a pleasing scene. It included the town, the restaurant, the main street and some buildings in the distance. Sometimes, it’s nice to make a simple photograph without putting too much thought into it, just intuition.
Once that photograph was made, I turned around and saw some writing on a building. As often is the case, I thought, only for a brief moment, about whether or not I should make an image of the building. And, as often is the case, I made the image since I never like to regret not taking a picture, even though this does happen from time to time.
After that, I walked a short distance and was content with the images I made. My time in Lake Linden was up and even though it wasn’t a lot of time, it was time.
Time spent photographing, or creating anything at all, is time well spent. If you don’t have much time to do it, try to be appreciative of the time you do have and take full advantage of it. It’s always worth it.
There are times when the need to create burns inside. If that need, that feeling, wasn’t there, life would be so much easier. But, life wouldn’t be as beautiful and fulfilling. I suppose this is the artist’s dilemma. One of them anyway. If I haven’t …