Category Archives: photography

Changing My Lens

Most of the time when I take photos, I use the same lens. On my iPhone, it’s the lens that comes with the phone and on my Sony a6000 I usually use the 16-50 lens that came standard with the camera. They are functional and work in most situations…and they’ve become familiar, I know the distances they can handle almost instinctively.

On Saturday I decided to use my zoom lens as we headed out to the beach for a walk. I’ve used it before and know that it is great to zoom in on things in the distance, but it works differently than the lens I use regularly. I knew when I made the decision to use another lens that it would mean looking at the beach differently. I would have to look further out because of the change in range. And I would have to pay attention to focus since the zoom doesn’t lock in as quickly as the other lens does.

The zoom definitely brings birds in close…if you can lock in a focus quickly enough. I didn’t quite get the bird crisply here, but I like the way the background is crisp with the out of focus bird flying directly into my line of sight.

With the bigger than usual surf this week I found that the zoom brought it up closer, helping the camera see the impressiveness that is hard to capture with my usual lens.

And this one brought the rusty color and fluffy texture of the red algae alive against the foamy whiteness of the waves crashing in the background.

Seagulls let me come pretty close, but these little sea birds are pretty skittish, making it hard to ever get them in a photo. Here you can see just how much smaller they are compared to your average seagull.

You can see how much of the reef has been exposed as the sand has been washed out by the winter tides and how often it is covered with water by the lush algae growth exposed only at low tide. (Notice how the zoom not only captured the surfer, but also the seagull taking off just to the side of him.)

I noticed this rusty pail wedged in the rocks. At first I wasn’t sure I could take a photo using my zoom lens, but standing back a bit I was able to shoot this. I’m liking the colors and textures most about this photo.

As I headed out on Sunday, again with my zoom lens, I was optimistic that I would see and capture interesting photos using it. After stopping at our favorite donut shop for some donuts and the local coffee shop for some coffee, we pulled along the side of 101 to watch the surfers on the big waves. The guy with a massive lens nearby was probably getting more interesting shots than I was, but I enjoyed the movement I captured in this shot of a surfer on a ride with another right below him.

And I’m not quite sure what to do with this one. I like the view of the pelicans right above the surf, but the composition is not ideal. Could I edit it some way to make the image more interesting? More appealing in some way?

What I do know is that when I look through a different lens, I see the world differently. The colors change, what seems prominent through one lens recedes with another. And what I didn’t notice or couldn’t see with my “regular” lens suddenly becomes visible when viewed through the zoom.

While the camera lenses are interchangeable and it certainly isn’t difficult to change them, it’s often inconvenient to change them “in the field.” And at times I find myself wishing for the one I am not currently using, finding it frustrating (and annoying) to be looking through the one that doesn’t allow me to see as clearly as I would like.

Changing lenses reminds me just how important it is to get beyond my usual way of seeing things. Sometimes I need to pull in close and get a macro view…exploring the small details while other times I need to step back and take the long view with sweeping vistas and full context. And then there’s the zoom, bringing the far closer, limiting the context as I find that distant focus.

I can change my lens without physically changing my camera lens. I’m optimistic that I can make the effort to look in different ways and try to see through the eyes and experiences of those around me. Just knowing that there are other ways of seeing makes a difference in the ways I look and see. And what I see can make a difference in the way I act.

And then this short video appeared on my email today. Stop, Look, Go! Might just change your lens…and maybe your day too!

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=6991

Erosion: Reading Nature’s Text

3 Replies

One of my favorite things about hiking is spending time outdoors, up close to nature’s beauty. Today I found myself pretty close to home, at a place I have been a number of times before. We’d been thinking about venturing further out, but were having trouble finding the information we needed for the unfamiliar hike we wanted to try–so we decided to save that for another day and decided to head to Torrey Pines Reserve instead.

Apparently our idea wasn’t an original one…there were tons of people there! After waiting in a line of cars to enter the park and making our way up the hillside to park, we headed out onto the trails. I noticed right away the deep trenches in the trails, a visible impact of the heavy rains over a week ago.

It was clear that the rangers had employed sandbags and other tools to limit the damage, but nature is strong and water’s power is amazing. I noticed erosion around me, thinking about the differences in this place over the years I have visited. The landscape is constantly changing, pieces of the cliff are undermined by the wind and water and drop off to the beach below. Pathways move and are moved–directing the public away from danger and protecting sensitive ground and plants.

In spite of human intervention, the edge of the cliffs keep changing, moving east away from the sea. As we continued our hike toward the ocean, I noticed all the ways people have worked to shore up and protect access to the beach. Steps replaced the scary ledges I remember traversing on a field trip years ago.

Deep grooves become pathways up and over the cliffs, creating access to other less crowded stretches of beach.

This natural process of erosion creates new landscapes, new spaces to explore and to adapt. It’s a reminder that change is not a choice, it is a natural consequence of our interactions with the natural environment, with people and places, and with ideas. The rains and the wind and placement of our feet forge landscapes that didn’t exist before–some subtle and barely noticeable and some dramatic and barely recognizable.

And as much as we resist change and warn about its dangers, it will come. So maybe nature’s reminder is to pay attention, appreciate each moment, and adapt to the changes…maybe even anticipate the changes, allowing us to work with them rather than against them. Read the environment, nature’s text, the alphabet of rock and soil, as a way to understand both the story of the past and the one that will be written by those to come.

Change is constant, change is natural…so look for opportunities to notice change, to adapt to the changing landscape, and even to sculpt your vision for tomorrow. What will your story be?

Find it! January’s Photo-a-Day Challenge

1 Reply

Keeping myself motivated to take photos and to write are dual challenges. Some days it seems that I’ve already taken photos of all the things around me, that everything feels the same–ordinary, boring, done–without inspiration. But then I zoom in, turn my camera, snap from another angle, find a different frame, crouch down or climb a hill…and everything changes.

I’m lucky to live near the beach, just a short drive takes me to the beauty of the ocean, the waves, the birds, and endless sunsets. But sometimes it seems that I have hundreds of images of those very same things. Yesterday I decided to use my zoom lens at the beach, hoping for some pelican and other sea bird sightings. The birds were scarce, but as I looked up I noticed this wind flag against the brilliant blue of the December sky.

The monotony of long car rides makes me prefer planes and other modes of transportation. Some motion sickness keeps me from reading or using my computer in the car…and face it, there’s only so much to talk about on an eight hour drive! So I started playing around with taking photos out the car window. It’s not the best of photographic environments. You have to dodge the bug splats, the reflection through the window, the rear view mirrors…you get the idea! But sometimes, you can catch a moment that turns that monotony into something beautiful like the glow of the coming sunrise as we headed away from Walnut Creek toward the I5 to head home from a visit to my son and daughter-in-law.

Or the sun peeking above the horizon, illuminating the power lines that stretch out along the long, straight freeway that connects northern California to southern California.

Sometimes I find that I have to open myself up to the serendipity of noticing something usual in a new way. Finding kelp on the beach is usual…noticing the curve that reminds me of a smile is something quite different. I got down low, kept my camera field large, and found this!

beach smile

And anyone who follows this blog knows that I take tons of photos of seagulls. Seagulls in flight, seagulls in silhouette, seagulls alone, seagulls in groups… And sometimes you find a pair of seagulls sitting on a railing that you simply can’t resist. I love these seagull butts!

seagull butts

So for the month of January, take our your camera and find it! Find that new angle, the light that casts the magical glow you hadn’t noticed before. Find the treasure among the things you see everyday and take for granted. Find inspiration. Find perspective. Find ways to make the ordinary extraordinary, find the interesting in the mundane.

Here’s some prompts to get your creative juices flowing:

1. look up

2. crouch down

3. inside

4. through the window

5. beneath

6. find the light

7. on top

8. move closer

9. reflects

10. on the go

11. find a natural frame

12. movement

13. climb

14. something you can smell

15. a new angle

16. zoom in

17. seek color

18. play

19. get close (macro if you can)

20. texture

21. monochromatic

22. above

23. weather

24. people

25. a worm’s eye view

26. ordinary

27. under

28. try a filter

29. black and white

30. everyday

31. right in front of you

As always, our challenge will allow us to learn from each other as we shoot our own photos and study the photos others shoot. The prompts are there to help you find new ways to look at your world, to find the unexpected in the ordinary and the beauty in the mundane. You can use them in order or pick and choose as you like–you are welcome to add a new prompt into the mix if you are so moved. You can post every day, once a week, or even sporadically throughout the month…whatever works in your life.

Be sure to share and tag your photos with #sdawpphotovoices so we can find them! You can share on Twitter (follow me @kd0602), on Instagram (@kd0602), in the CLMOOC community on G+, on Flickr, or even link back to my blog here.

Let’s find it as we focus our camera lenses in January…whatever “it” might be that inspires, motivates, and keeps us all learning and growing–one photo a day!