Photography, making do with what you have

**************************************************************************

Getting Creative

Photography has changed over the years with newer and fancier cameras on the market every day.  My first camera was pretty basic with a flip open back for some speed of film long since forgotten.  I say it was "my" camera but more likely it was my parents and I just "acquired" it.  I collected a few cameras during my childhood, usually at a garage sale or from some family member's junk room.

One cool one was the kind that hung from your neck and you looked down thru the view finder to take the picture.  Probably belonged to my camera geek of an uncle.  Film for that camera became hard to find and the flash bulbs nonexistent.  It was stylish though.

I have only had two cameras that were truly mine from the time they were purchased, not counting those included with today's cell phones.
The first was a Kodak 110 that fit in the back pocket of my 501s.  Seems everything has a number attached to it.  What I loved about this camera was not its great quality but its durability.  When I finally retired it to the recycle bin, that would be the trash can, it was held together with masking tape.  A very  simple camera that took a beating.

My actual Cannon AE-1 Program

My second camera I still use today, a Cannon AE-1 Program.  For a 35mm camera there could be no more basic and manipulative camera made.  At least that's what I have been told by "those in the know".  I have owned the Cannon for some 27 years, give or take.  The actual time line depends on who you ask.



Over the last few years I have taken less and less pictures as a direct result of film availability, cost and quality.  Quality in both the film and development.  Long gone are skilled developers of 35mm film.  And if you luck into finding one, be prepared to pay a premium.  Even still, the number of quality prints one can get from a roll of 24 is usually less than ten and that makes it all the more expensive.  

SO!  What is one to do?  Buy a new camera?  Well that would be the simple solution.  It would also be the EXPENSIVE solution.  Yes, you can buy digital cameras for less than a hundred bucks but I have found that my fancy i-phone takes pictures equally as good.  To buy a decent digital with zoom and other features such as panoramic or action shots it appears as though one will spend $600 or more.  Not all that bad when you consider my Cannon ran approximately $300 over 25 years ago...if memory serves.

There is another option.  GET CREATIVE.

Having moved back to the PNW I find myself longing for a way to get the panoramic view or zoom in on some of natures action.  Not wanting to spend the money just yet on a new digital as I am hoping Santa will remember me for next Christmas....  I have started experimenting with the various tools around the house.  With out giving away all my secrets, here are just a few of my new photos....

Mt. Mcloughlin getting some snow

My first attempts at the capturing the view of Mt. Mcloughlin from our living room window have been in vane as the distance, approximately 30-40 miles away, was too great.  So with a little creativity these two pictures were taken.  But as Mother Nature would have it the clouds moved in as I set up.  While unable to clearly see the mountain they make for interesting shots.

Mt. Mcloughlin as the sun tries to break through

As the weather cleared a few days later I once again attempted to capture the view from our living room.  Success was finally mine!

Mt. Mcloughlin

Mt. Mcloughlin

Side note:  you can click on any of the photos for a larger view!

With success comes a desire to take it a step farther, at least one step farther!  On a short run/hike on the trails above our home I once again startled a few deer.  By the time I returned home the deer had decided to move their grazing to our back yard followed by a short evening nap.

************

The daily deer, J'ville, OR

Family Nap Time

 These two photos are with my i-phone, one not "zoomed" and the other zoomed in.  As you can see, in the first, the deer are difficult to see and in the zoomed photo they are just a wee bit blurred, to say the least.  Thus the challenge became how to over come the distance and blurriness at the same time.  In the pictures that follow I may have found a solution.

This is a small doe out our kitchen window.  Nothing fancy, just normal i-phone photo.  See, this is what talented writers call building suspense.

Doe, J'ville, OR
April 3, 2012

GET READY!  GET SET! HERE WE GO!!!!!

No, not a buck, but the tree branches made you wonder....

 and the deer start to graze.....

 One of the more centered pictures.  Two of the deer moving into the high grass area.

 


A few of the deer were not feeling the mood and chose to hide their faces.

with my ears you would think I could hear everything...

gettin just a little tired, thinkin about laying down next to this here stump...

No I am not Rudolf's cousin, the black nosed reindeer!  Just leave me alone!

I see you staring at me!  (by the way, I was inside the house when I took this one)

 

 Throughout Jackson County the black tail deer population has grown significantly.  In some neighborhoods it has become a "slight" problem.  Thus far they have chosen to ver away from me and the dawgs, although on one occasion one large doe contemplated making a charge.  Fortunately, she chose wisely and decided  against such actions.

While I have not quite perfected the panoramic and action photos with the "new technique" I like to think the videos ratchet it up just one more notch.  Using the same basic approach of the photos I was able to switch to video mode and with some planning of what and where the deer might head I was able to capture the following.  Nothing like living in the "wilderness"!

The first video is the deer in our back yard about half an acre away, taken out the living room window.  The second video is out the kitchen window, front of the house with the deer across the street.  A small truck came down the side street startling it at the end of the photo.  Oddly enough the deer in this area are not all that easy to startle.  They notice when you walk or drive by, especially if you have dawgs with you, but they don't immediately run they way you would typically think.  

Next I will try and capture a few of the turkey brood that passes the house daily.  This should prove especially challenging as they move around even more than the deer.  I'll be curious to hear who can figure out the "creative" approach I have taken to capture the up close photos.  It's not really all that new as I have seen it done before but interesting the response I have gotten thus far.  I hope you have enjoyed and hope to share more nature pictures soon.  

"Dear Santa, a nice digital camera......"

as always, 

bkd

"You shouldn't take life to seriously. You'll never get out alive."   van wilder

************************************************************************************