While reading through the foot high stack of magazines in an attempt to whittle it down, I found myself re-reading a Photoshop User magazine from a few months back. I often re-read magazines and find hidden “nuggets” (as I call ’em). These are fodder for blog posts right here, and last night, I came across an oldie but a goodie. It was the April/May issue of this year so not too long ago. Ed Greenburg and Jack Reznicki were talking about this idea that companies will often lowball or no-ball a photographer in an effort to get their pictures.
Tag: backstory
The Backstory of the Bridge
With what was probably a pretty evident “no-blog” Wednesday yesterday, and what appears to be a no-show for the Thursday Thoughts series this week, I decided to promote the Backstory for next week and share that with the reading audience today. What makes this particular image unique is that this was taken in my pre-SLR era. Just prior to entering the SLR market, I had a point and shoot Olympus and while it took pictures, the shutter speed wasn’t as responsive as I was looking for. Nevertheless, it went with me pretty much everywhere.
My nephews were in town for a vacation a while back when we were still in South Carolina, and that visit happened to coincide with the grand opening of the Ravenel Bridge. This was a HUGE project that took several years to complete, and the new bridge encompasses 10-12 lanes over the 2-lane bridge that previously spanned the Cooper River (coincidentally known as the Cooper River Bridge) that connected downtown Charleston, SC to all points west (Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms, and Myrtle Beach). The economic benefits of increasing the traffic flow over 200% are astronomical. As a part of the festivities, the weekend before the new bridge was to open – the general public was given an opportunity to walk across the bridge en masse – in the middle of the highway. We decided the event would be a fun event for the boys, so off we went. Amidst the increased the width of the new bridge, tens of thousands of people traversed the roadways over the weekend. Having an opportunity to walk down the middle of that now insanely busy highway lent itself to photo opportunities that are rarely available afterward. So, we trekked the 3-mile bridge on foot, and I took several pictures with the point-and-shoot camera.
Most were pretty blase as I was clearly very early on in my understanding of photographic composition, but a few did have a fun perspective. At one point I actually found an opportunity to lie down in the middle of the road, and point the camera upward to the gray sky to capture this one:
I guess, as the old saying goes, even a blind squirrel can find a nut occasionally! 🙂
Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
The Show Must Go On…
While the folks at Personal Life Media continue to work behind the scenes at getting the show re-branded, I’ve been encouraged to keep producing podcasts so, this week, the podcast returns. I have a couple fun segments including a more detailed back story from The Boneyard Beach post earlier this week, the Think Tank Photo Review, and some blog/podcast housekeeping including the inside scoop on how you can win the Streetwalker bag I reviewed! Be sure to get this week’s episode so you know what to do. The bag is valued at $140!!!
As you may have noticed if you’re picking up the feed, I am also uploading all the “What’s This” images to the Canon Blogger Flickr Pool. As that content arc has ended, I thought it might be fun and of interest to see the entire gallery of photos that have gone up on that subject over a period of roughly 23 weeks. (Almost half a year of images there to rack your brain on!)
As we head into the weekend, be sure to take your camera with you -never know when a photo opportunity will present itself, so as the Boy Scouts always said: “Be Prepared!” Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here Monday morning!
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The Boneyard and the Backstory
I realize that photos should stand on their own merit without any back story, but in this case I am making an exception.
This island is called Bull Island, and is most well known for the dead tree trunks on the eastern shore that died from the assault of the Atlantic Ocean. Bleached white by the sun, salt, and sand, the beach area is called the boneyard because they look like bones.
I was organizing a trip to this island off the coast of SC which is only accessible by boat…so to the east of the island is the ocean and to the west is the mainland. We had gone once before during a regularly scheduled transport (10am), so knew the next time we would have to get them to make a special trip if we wanted any light.
Based on our estimated departure time and arrival on the west side of the island (you can’t dock at the ocean side), I suggested to all that they rent bikes in case we cut it close on sunrise…
So, we set off (already 20 minutes behind schedule due to one member tardy – total of 10 of us) in a skiff, because only one of us ended up bringing a bike. About halfway out to the island, the expert tour guide cuts the motor and stops in the murky light and stands up as if to get his bearings. We’re all cold, wrapped in jackets, with probably about $10 grand of gear (not to mention our lives) in this guys hands and he gets lost!
So, he finally gets his bearings, sits back down muttering something like “Sorry, never been out this early before – too dark.” So this has never been done before? Uh oh…
But, we arrive at the west side of the island without any major additional concerns…except light is rapidly gaining on us
As we dock, I realize I have a decision to make – do I stick with the group and probably lose any chance of catching sunrise on the east? Or do I mount my bike and take off like a bat outta hell? Given that this apparently had never been done before (and to my knowledge has not been done since) – this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. So, I take the latter and bail on the group.
I make it to the edge of the wooded paths, and have to ditch the bike (no riding on the beach), and start jogging through the heavy sand to reach the shore. As I pull into view of the ocean, I see the sun is already crested. Then, I see where the sun is, and realize it will cross between two “bones” as it rises. So, I set up the tripod to frame that and snap off probably 5-10 different comps before the sun gets too high.
About twenty minutes later the rest of the group shows up and asks “Did you make it in time?” I smiled…
So, does the story help the image? What about others? Anyone else have any compelling images they have some backstory for? Share yours in the comments! In the meantime, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow with a multimedia filled Wednesday! Until then, I hope all your shots are good ones!