photography: July 2009 Archives

Working on a story about how honey bees are being affected by "Colony Collapse Disorder", we drove to Newberry Township to photograph beekeeper Mike Thomas and his bee hives.

Honey bees are cool. They don't mind their photos being taken, they're entirely too busy tending their work to worry about distractions. If you let them do their job, they'll let you do yours. Unless you catch one in your clothing or sit or step on one, you probably won't be bothered. Being stung is not a major problem-- it's kind of like a pinch that hangs on for a while. Thomas says he's been stung about 500 times this year.

This was taken with a 105mm macro lens, 1/500 at f11. Pushed the f-stop higher to gain depth of field. Even with it at f11, notice the bee's antenna is out of focus, but its eyes were sharp.

With all the excitement recently about the solar eclipse, I remembered a lunar eclipse in York many, many years ago that was shot for the York Daily Record.

Taken from the top of the Yorktowne Hotel, the photo was made by a camera (film, not digital) that was opened for probably an hour or two (it's been so long ago, I can't recall the exposure times) and cardboard was held in front of the lens for a few minutes as the moon moved across the sky.

So while it was one exposure on the film, it was actually multiple exposures. With film cameras, it was an entirely mechanical shutter-- no battery needed. It's a bit tougher with digital since the batteries, I think, would probably die before the two hours were up. Shooting lightning was also easy with film, since you just opened the shutter and waited for Mother Nature to put on her light show.

I'm sure there's a way around the battery problem, but I'm not aware of it. If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

Sleeping recharges one's batteries. But no matter how hard I try to pull the covers over my head, this digital machine of shutter speeds, ISOs and f-stops won't let me sleep. Fog, grazing horses and a guest house/chapel in the mountains of West Virginia calls. The chapel along the Greenbriar River Rail Trail has been converted to a guest house, and it was a perfect place to lay my head.

Scenes like this remind me that the light at sunrise and sunset is just about as good as it gets for photographs.

Kinda makes it all worthwhile.

And why are they calling me Mom? Just a shot found while cruising through southern York County on Monday. It was a beautiful day for shooting, what Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood) in the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" called "cloudy, bright". Few shadows to deal with, but still plenty of light.

Wednesday afternoon's huge multiple row-home fire in York no longer smolders. Some of the 53 residents who were displaced by the largest residential fire in the city's recent history -- 15 row homes-- are today combing through the wreckage.

As they rummaged through soggy drywall, carpet and lumber, it presented a surreal scene. From across the street, the back rooms, generally the kitchens, were untouched by the flames, smoke and water, while the families climb over the fallen homes.

On one kitchen table was a bag of Ruffles potato chips, a box of white rice and and a can of peaches. Below, a coffee maker and microwave oven made it through the fire without a scratch.

Some of the residents were cracking jokes -- "it's easier to laugh, and I can't cry anymore", says one-- while looking at old pictures, birthday cards and even bills.

A bag of ammunition was found Thursday afternoon, long after police took away dozens of guns that were held in a locker. Fighting a fire is one thing, but fighting a fire in which there are guns and live ammunition is an entirely different story. But a firefighter will be happy to remind you that no matter what the fire, there are always dangers.

This bag showed me a couple dozen reasons why I have nothing but praise for those folks.

When trying to capture an entire week in one picture -- it can be done-- you might want to stray from the obvious.

Duane is working on Prince Edward Island at a crab processing plant. His first impression upon visiting PEI was that of "a pasture in the middle of the ocean". Now, PEI isn't neccesarily known for its lavish beaches and constant fun in the sun like Florida's Key Largo or Fort Lauderdale. Vacationers land here and like PEI's relaxed atmosphere. And certainly, as is proved by this photo, crowds aren't a problem. And the beautiful reddish sand is fascinating.

Shelly and Frances Wright have collected hundreds of old farm vehicle wheels, and use them to decorate their beef farm. Together with the lupine, it makes for another tranquil scene that's typical of PEI-- but far from the more popular and touristy Anne of Green Gables house.

Use repetition to draw a viewer's eye into the picture.

In these photos of Prince Edward Island and Cape Cod, the patterns are different-- one the boat houses, the other the ripples in the sand-- but still repeating.

Use colors, sizes, shapes or patterns to draw attention to your pictures.

Whether shooting for the media or your family, there are some events you must record every week, month or year-- birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. The fireworks on the Fourth of July is one of those. But how do you capture a fresh look every time? You want something new, different and interesting, but not so unusual that the subject is obscured because of the picture's uniqueness.

At the same time, remember what one of my mentors once said -- "Excellence is always excellent." Meaning, of course, that's if it's a terrific picture, it'll be terrific again next time, and on and on...

Since Jason Plotkin was scheduled to photograph fireworks Saturday night, I was free to experiment, to look around for possibilities. And if nothing worked, it didn't matter. Jason's got it covered.

There was no one watching the fireworks from the overpass at Penn Street Street as I had seen once before (railroad tracks and silhouettes), so I moved to Kiwanis Lake, hoping for reflections. Trees there hid most of the color.

Rushing across the street was an intersection where the stream of car lights on the ground added color to the fireworks in the sky.

Don't think it worked-- too much of a stretch. Maybe shot from a higher vantage point would have shown the car lights better, and that would have helped. Jason's photo on C1 of the York Daily Record was excellent and that's good.

The next time I'm scheduled, I know three places from which NOT to shoot.

One of my many shortcomings is that I have the patience of a cocker spaniel puppy.

But sometimes, a photographer should just sit for a bit, enjoy the scenery, and wait for another element that makes a photo a lot stronger. It might hurt, but maybe it's worth the wait.

Either of these pictures would be OK without the seagulls, but the Confederation Bridge in Prince Edward Island would be just a bridge, and the sunset, well, just another beautiful sunset on Cape Cod.

For more travel information and tips, check Jen Vogelsong's travel blog.