Summer in the City and Why Giving Back Feels So Good

Summer in the City and Why Giving Back Feels So Good

It was July of 2009, I had just bought myself a nifty new toy, called a Canon 5D, and figured it was time to re-learn some of the basics. I signed up for a “How to Use Your Digital Camera” class at MECA, the local art school, not the gathering place of millions in Saudi Arabia; although a recent visitor from Saudi’s eyes lit up the other night as we drove past the sign.

After I got over the super weird fact that our instructor’s true passion was photographing dead light bulbs; I jumped into f-stops, shutter speeds, and ISO settings.

On Saturday mornings, the class explored the city practicing our new skills while shooting random tourists (with our cameras), bustling marinas, historic buildings and public parks.

One morning, we headed over to the Farmer’s Market in Deering Oaks Park. After getting the quintessential farmer-in-overalls-standing-next-to-vegetable-stand shot, we walked down a small hill to the kiddie wading pool. On hot summer days, the pools are packed with local children jumping in and out of mini geysers that randomly shoot water straight up in the air, sending the kids into hysterics.

A little girl in red struck me. I asked her father if I could take a few photos, he nodded politely. English was not his first language. Shy at first, she quickly warmed up to me and gave me cute smiles as she walked by posing for the camera. She and her little brother laughed as they splashed, jumped, and frolicked in the cool water.

As we were leaving, I asked her father if he wanted me to email him the photos. In very broken English, he told me he didn’t have a computer. I told him I would be happy to mail them to him. Excited, he scribbled his name and address on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

I spent the next few days creating a photo book on Shutterfly. When the book arrived in the mail, I flipped through it with pride and then carefully placed it in a manila envelope and with a big smile sent it off to the family.

I won’t likely see the Pang family again, but knowing that they have memories from that fun-filled day in the park, makes it all ok.

When you’re out and about, remember those who don’t have cameras or computers or modern day gadgets. Share your photos. You can give people a gift that others can't. Memories.

Tattoos, a Great Dane, a BMX biker, a Punk Rock Wedding at Genos and Why You Should Never Leave Home Without Your Camera

I remember feeling restless that day. I wasn’t really in the mood to take pictures. It was grey and overcast, so the idea of sitting in a café and people watching seemed more appealing to me. At the last minute, I grabbed my camera and threw it in the car.

I wandered around downtown Portland taking a couple of random ‘nothing’ shots. Just as I turned the corner onto Congress Street, I came upon a wedding. Not your typical fancy, long white dress wedding, but a real-live punk rock wedding; complete with tattoos, faux tuxedo t-shirts, and black, lots of black. 

I grabbed a couple of quick shots, took a few more steps, and looked across the street to see a freakishly large great dane taking a stroll with its owner. Another block and a salty sailor with a full white beard stood in front of his shop, followed by an Edward Hopper scene emerging in front of Anna’s Used Furniture Store, a chick in green cowboy boots, a BMX biker, and a rasta skateboarder. The day quickly turned from grey and overcast to colorful and alive.

Don’t let the next grey day discourage you. Get out there and explore. You never know what surprises you might run into.

Breaking All The Rules. Or, “Go ahead! Put the cows and the horizon smack dab in the middle of the frame.”

On a recent drive through the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, I came across a half dozen cattle grazing on a hill. I hit the breaks and took a daring cow-in-the-middle-horizon-in-the-middle shot. I felt rebellious. I saw two cows standing proudly on the hill. For me, in that moment, there was no other option. Front and center was the only composition I could see. I came away with a powerful image; one I never would have dared back in junior high.

I was only 13 when I took my first photography class. I was in the 7^th grade at Masconomet Junior High School in Boxford, Massachusetts. (Boxford is 30 miles north of Boston - home to the winners of the 2013 Major League Baseball World Series – just thought I’d throw that in there). I had a ginormous, clunky Canon. Film, of course. I’m pretty sure the camera was a hand-me-down from my Uncle Bunk or maybe, Uncle Buster. Both were avid photographers. And, yes, my mother’s brothers’ have funny nicknames. (Their real names are Benjamin and Arthur).

The teacher stood at the front of the classroom and told us about the rules of photography. Rule number one: never-ever-ever, place the horizon in the center of your frame. I learned that if you divide the shot into three equal parts, the horizon should be close to one of the two lines that divide the shot. Just don’t, under any circumstance, split the frame in half with the horizon.

Rule number two: the well-known rule of thirds. That is, you should divide your shot into thirds, both horizontally and vertically - imagine a tic-tac-toe board. When shooting, place your horizontal shots (like the horizon) on the top or bottom line, and your vertical shots (like a person or a tree, or a person in a tree), on the left or right line. “This will make for nice composition,” she told us.

I find that these are generally good guidelines for, say, a 7^th grader. After that, they seem pretty arbitrary and should probably be taken with a grain of silver halide (shout out to the venerable dark room geeks). Instead, try experimenting. Throw a tree in the middle, the horizon in the middle, a cat, a bird, a goat in the middle. Why not a toaster, or a pigeon, or even a donkey? Heck, throw the whole kitchen sink in the middle!

Have fun with it. You just might come away with an image you really love. Rules or no rules.

Street Photography: Standing in the Same Spot, on the Same Street, in the Same City, Til Someone Totally Cool Walks by, Cuz That’s a Bad Ass Background.

Street Photography: Standing in the Same Spot, on the Same Street, in the Same City, Til Someone Totally Cool Walks by, Cuz That’s a Bad Ass Background.

It was a warm afternoon last August, when I stumbled upon a really cool mural on the corner of Brattle and Church Streets in Harvard Square, in the home of “Our Fair City” as Click and Clack refer to it. (That’s Cambridge, Massachusetts for those of you ‘from away’, or who have yet to experience the joy that is Car Talk on Public Radio).

The side of a building was painted a deep purple with an intricate white schooner painted on the right side. Tons of converging lines and shapes and interesting details created what would become a perfect canvas for the day.

As I stood on the opposite corner watching walkers unknowingly pass right through the artwork they were helping to create, I noticed that their silhouettes popped. The scene became less about the subjects and more about how they interacted with the shapes in the mural behind them: The stunning red head’s hair blowing in the wind, the young blonde with her funky top and oversized bag, the buff dude in his tight t-shirt and ripped biceps. Alone, these young urbanites would have made for interesting shots. After all, interesting people are typically what make interesting street photography.

However, by sticking to one background for all my shots, something quite different happened. Something unique. The photo now focused more on the personality of the person. The background now acted as a canvas for a new mural, one created by the photographer and the subject.

The next time you’re wandering around town looking for cool street photography subjects, remember sometimes the best subjects actually start with the best background. Don’t be afraid to chill on a street corner waiting for your perfect canvas to emerge.

A Bird’s Eye View. Or Not.

A Bird’s Eye View. Or Not.

Birds fly. And, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, they just sit there.

Some amateur photographers get stuck in an ‘I’m totally the next NatGeo Wildlife Photographer’ mindset forgetting that some of the coolest wildlife shots don't come from pointing their lens up to the sky waiting for the once-was-but-no-longer-is endangered bald eagle to take off from his roost. Sometimes, you should just sit down with your feathered friends and hang out for awhile and see what happens.

This is what I did on a recent trip to the Fishing Pier on Sanibel Island, Florida. While all the other photographers were capturing birds in flight (bif), I sauntered over to a group of Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula-for those especially geeked out on hanging on to Latin names for no apparent reason) and sat down among them on the shoreline.

I was very quiet. I moved slowly. I didn’t lift my camera for a good ten to fifteen minutes. I just sat there, as if I had been invited over for a late-morning iced tea. I watched them scratch and sniff and taunt and tease and flutter and flit. They took off and landed. They walked in and out of the water’s edge no less than a hundred times. I waited. I let them get used to me. And, me used to them.

When the light was right and the orchestra of birds had aligned themselves in front of me, I picked up my camera and took a few shots. Then, I waited. And watched. And waited some more. And when a new configuration caught my eye, I took my shot.

After checking out some ‘just ok’ shots in my viewfinder, I realized that positioning the bright blue sky behind their snowy white feathers would give the photos that added punch they needed. I focused on the bird closest to me to get some nice depth of field on his friends behind him and set my camera down on the sand (don’t freak out), and took a couple more shots. It turns out these were some of my favorites.

In a moment of sheer delight, an enormous Egretta thula (just making sure you’re still paying attention) flew in for a landing right in front of me. I captured a unique bird-coming-in-for-landing angle that I wouldn’t have captured had I not been sitting on the sand.

When shooting birds, just remember -- Sometimes they fly...and sometimes they just sit there.