Out Playin'

I've been under a fair amount of stress for one reason and another recently, beleaguered by my nightmares as usual, so I've been going out photographing to kind of get away from it all. Trying to make friends with the Fuji 55–200mm, which I keep in the car.

On the one hand, I don't photograph very often and don't work very hard at it when I do. On the other hand, I "photograph" all the time...because as I go around the world I'm always looking and noticing, always sort of evaluating possible pictures even when I don't have a camera with me. I see a lot of pictures go by. I just don't take them is all.

I pulled into a parking space meaning to spy on a few of the ice fishermen with the long lens, and this guy is standing right in front of the windshield. I expect the car to startle him, but does he fly away? He does not. He gives me the gimlet eye, tucks one foot away out of sight, and continues to survey his domain. Every now and then he casts his eye back on me as if to say I'm watching you too, buster. And every time he does I take another picture of him (or her, I don't know). I was amused. Species stinkeyeus, genus peglegidae.

I should have had enough d-o-f; ƒ/8 at 128mm on APS-C (this is cropped). I guess the blurring is due to the angle of the windshield I was shooting through. Any self-respecting bird photographer would scoff. If he was going to stay put (and he sure did—he was still there when I passed on the way back out of town), I should have eased back out, moved 20 feet away, angled the car the other direction and shot out the open window. I'm just not that dedicated. It's only a seagull.

Lazy, in other words. But birds are hard. And insects—I've never liked photographs of insects, but I'm in complete awe of people who can photograph them well. That takes some serious skill and dedication. And landscapes are hard, too. I feel like I'm only middling good at them. I've always liked landscapes, but not always when I take them.

This isn't a picture, but it was cool to see. For a short time just after dawn, the treetops were covered with a thin coating of ice, brightly illuminated by the sun, which is just behind the snow-covered rooftop in the foreground. Every time a puff of wind hit the trees, a cloud of ice crystals would bloom off the treetops into the air, accompanied by a very faint tinkling or crinkling sound like thousands of tiny distant bells. I watched it for a while, and took a picture as an afterthought. Half an hour later, all gone.

What would it take to actually get a good picture of that? I have no idea. I might as well be assigned to take a picture of a jumping spider in mid-air.

As I always say, I should either go out shooting more, or less.

Mike

Book o' the Week
Eye and Brain by Richard Gregory, Fifth Edition. "As far as I know nothing in the past 50 years is a better explanation of how humans see." —Hugh Crawford

The link is a portal to Amazon. Thank you kindly for helping support The Online Photographer!

The following logo is also a link if you click on it:

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Craig Yuill: "You were doing what blogger Robin Wong would call 'photo therapy.' Good call! You mentioned that your 'ice crystals' photo isn’t a picture, but it may be the photo of yours that I like the best so far."

xf mj: "I treated myself to a lens rental of the 40–150mm Olympus a couple weeks back. Like you, I'm not used to its kind of shooting. But it was fun trying bird pics for once. They are tough! I have a much much greater admiration for good bird shots, and almost just as much admiration for decent ones. Even so, despite all my misses and no real hits, it was fun to try. It was also fun seeing what landscapes I could now get. Much different than a 40mm-equivalent or 90mm-e gets of course. It was like a different world opened up to be photographed.

"This was all prompted by a stitched landscape I had taken of an open river area near me where birds tend to hang out, and where I regularly photo walk. While I was panning and shooting, one of the residents of the neighborhood said 'ahh...you must see that bald eagle that's always out there, huh?' I nodded politely, agreeing with them, having no idea whether what they said was true and not wanting to waste their time explaining that my camera lens wasn't really for that.

"Sure enough, I walk home, zoom in on the shots with my computer and there on the screen is this little white dot head off in the distance. A bald eagle dead center of the pano! When I got the long lens and went back daily, the eagle was there nearly daily too. Some days with an eagle friend. Still far away, but it/they sure had my attention.

"Funny what you can suddenly recognize that's always been there to be seen."

Keith: "I like going out with a camera because then it gives me an excuse to walk at my pace, and pause to think about potential shots whenever I feel the desire. I don't measure the success of the walk or drive by the number of shots I took, it's how much I enjoyed the process."

Comments

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Maybe I’m going simple but it looks to me like you had a pretty good photo excursion. It also looks like you already got a very good image of the morning ice on those trees. What more do you want?

Photography can be an excellent therapy for ailing minds, particularly in the winter. The ice, the snow, the light and shadows enable the eye’s imagination to run wild, and push out all other jobs in the mind’s queue. When I’m photographing I feel no pain, have no problems. I’m completely immersed in the scene I’m working. It’s the best medicine I’ve ever found, albeit short-acting.

[Tom Passin]

"I might as well be assigned to take a picture of a jumping spider in mid-air." This reminded me of the work of my late cousin, Dee Breger. Dee was an electron microscopist, and in the latter part of her career learned how to extend her work to the highly artistic. She brought an artist's eye to the lighting and composition of her subjects.

Although her web site has not been maintained, it was captured by the Internet Archive. One capture is at:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101124235036/http://micrographicarts.com/gallery.html">http://micrographicarts.com/gallery.html">http://web.archive.org/web/20101124235036/http://micrographicarts.com/gallery.html

These images are extraordinary and well worth looking at.

[Wonderful, interesting work. Seeing it makes me existentially angsty, though--is that work going to be lost now? I hope it's been preserved somehow. --Mike]

[CP]

It absolutely is a picture

[darlene]

Your photos make me want to visit my friends in PA and take pictures of their small towns and barns in the snow. Stay warm up there, and thanks for the views.

[Bill Tyler]

For a guy who isn't a landscape photographer, you certainly could fool a lot of people with those shots. About the bird - you've demonstrated something every bird photographer knows. A human in a car is not threatening. A car, despite all the glass and the fact that you're clearly visible inside, makes an excellent blind.

[Jeff]

You might consider a post (although one or more is probably already in your archives) on what makes a photographer (aside from professionals deriving income from the activity). Does one need to regularly make photographs? Does the tool matter (or no tool at all)? Does the quality of the photographs matter? Once you’re a photographer, are you always one, regardless of output? And so on. In the age of cell phone photography, maybe the definition has evolved. Or not.

[Ronny A Nilsen]

Photographed a capercaillie today. This bird is a local celebrity, as it is a bit out of season to play now. I first went on a ski trip without my camera as I did not think the bird was there anymore (it was not there last weekend when I had a camera with me), but when it appeared I had to go home and get a camera to take pictures. An extra 10-12 km ski trip. Worth it. :-)

[David Dyer-Bennet]

The ice crystals blowing off in the wind are fantastic! And...they need the contrast, or something, of the top of the car, but that's not close to the right object to provide it. So yeah, I think I see what you mean. But capturing what must be the rare ice crystals themselves is still something!

[MarkB]

Both photos in this post are keepers in my book (the second, in particular). However, your statement, "I don't photograph very often and don't work very hard at it when I do" makes me wonder about the value proposition of the work I recently purchased from your print sale... ;) I suppose it is a bit long after the sale for this emptor to caveat (?), and I'm still looking forward to receiving my prints. (Feel free to put that snow-blown trees shot in a future run!)

[Joseph L Kashi]

The photograph of the barn is very nice and it's evocative. It rather reminds me of the mid-2oth Century barn series that Minor White did in upstate New York, "Rural Cathedrals".

[Jernej]

I'd say that's one of the better photos you've ever taken. This coming from someone who is usually not impressed by what you consider a great photo :)

[Tom Passin]

With respect to Dee Breger's work (see my comment above), Mike asked

"[Wonderful, interesting work. Seeing it makes me existentially angsty, though--is that work going to be lost now? I hope it's been preserved somehow. --Mike]"

It's as sad fact the modern life, isn't it? The Internet Archive is often the only record.

In Dee's case, one book is out of print but used copies can be found:

https://www.amazon.com/Journeys-Microspace-Art-Scanning-Electron/dp/0231082525

There's another one:

https://www.amazon.com/Through-electronic-looking-glass-microscope/dp/0942927907

And there's this page, which is not archival but will be interesting to photographers, about how and why she colors some of her images:

https://www.tmsoc.org/colouring-in-micrographs/

[Bernd Reinhardt]

I am attempting a "one photograph a day" 365 project, no phone pictures. January is not even over and it is proving even more difficult than I expected, and I thought I was pretty realistic about it. But I'm also learning a lot, and hopefully developing good habits.

[hugh crawford]

“This isn't a picture”
Nor is it a pipe.
Has sort of a Swedish Expressionist / Thomas Hart Benton thing going, but with more optimism.
The “I saw this, it looked amazing, and it sort of looked like this given the limits of the medium” is what photography is all about in my opinion.

[William Furniss]

Think you were ice fishing with that last shot, that is actually a great picture; contrast, graphics, light, sense of moment. I think it's very cool.

[David]

I just heard a nice piece of advice. Think and feel benevolence as you fall asleep - and you will carry that with you into your sleep.

[JimH]

When we lived on the farm, I kept two cameras ready, one with a long telephoto zoom, the other with a short zoom with macro capability. I shot thousands of photos of the birds and other creatures with the tele, lots of insects and plants with the macro. (I used to tell people we farmed black widow spiders - ever see a spider catch and kill a mouse?).
I have a suggestion for the springtime. Build a small pond with a section that acts as a birdbath - we built ours as part of a flagstone patio and used a large stone with a hollow side that filled with water. Add a birdhouse or two and several feeders. You will never be without something to observe and photograph.

[ed berger]

So, a simple question re storing gear in your car. You'd mentioned keeping your 55-200 in the car and I'd like to know if there are any concerns with expansion/contraction, perhaps even condensation issues given the change in temperature over a period of days. Mayhap your car is stored in a garage and so somewhat protected. It can get daily cold where I live - nothing like you but even so once the sun comes up there is almost a 20 degree swing and the car can become almost greenhouse like. Are temperature swings of concern?

EB

[I worry more about heat than cold, although if it gets really cold, like 10 below zero F or colder, you need to be careful about bringing a cold camera into a heated house; put it in a plastic bag or two so it can warm more slowly. Otherwise you could get internal condensation.

So far I have not experienced the cold affecting the battery in the X-H1 adversely.

I do garage my car in cold weather as well as hot. But sometimes not in temperate weather. --Mike]