Journal
Changing perspective is something I still have to actively think about while I’m taking pictures, but I think it’s a very easy way to make pictures more interesting. Living in the suburbs can be challenging in terms of finding interesting subjects. Finding a different way to capture more “boring” or “obvious” subjects has greatly increased my enjoyment the last few months. And something I will continue to try to improve on.
I’m old enough to have grown up in the film era, and was in high school when digital cameras were still very new, though I never had what I’d describe as a “serious” film camera. That changed when I inherited my grandfather’s old Nikon F and Agfa Isolette III, and after getting them repaired I’ve been experimenting. Film photography has been an interesting experience with a fair amount of frustration, but worthwhile. A recent trip to Colorado was a fun opportunity to try out the medium format Isolette. Getting the exposure and focus right on this camera feels extra satisfying, but I need to increase my success rate a bit given there’s only 12 shots on a roll of 120 film.
There’s a quality to film that digital still can’t quite reproduce. Carrying one along with my digital camer has been very satisfying because there’s more options to get they type of picture you’re going for. Although my family would probably prefer I not carry around 2-4 cameras on any given occasion.
We’ve lived in Chicago for over a decade now which is definitely a baseball city. However, baseball had been a background interest for most of my life until about 3 years ago. There was a combination of factors that brought it out of the background sports noise (shoutout the Secret Base and Foolish Baseball YouTube channels), though the biggest reason was my son’s passion for the sport.
We’d tried a few different sports and it didn’t take long to gauge his interest. Soccer and basketball were unable to hold his attention, however when we tried baseball he immediately connected with the game. Anytime a 7-year old asks you to practice more you know there’s something happening. Since then we’ve gone to a number of MLB games, but Pete Crow-Armstrong’s breakout season this year was the first player he’s really connected with. I’ve been impressed with PCA as well, he always acknowledges the crowd before games and this gesture is emblematic of his attitude which I (and most of the rest of Chicago) have greatly appreciated and was the inspiration of the above shot.
I don’t quite have the camera to get the fidelity I’d like from that far away but it was a great moment to capture.
As my kids have gotten older it’s become easier to go out on small excursions during the weekends. Their increasing interest in photography has definitely helped.
Fishkeeping is another hobby I’ve gotten more into the last several years. I had some fish as a kid but never got too into it at the time. As my son got older, I decided one day he should have a pet and one that stays in a box seemed to fit the bill perfectly. That single betta has grown into 4 tanks in the house, much to the chagrin of my wife. I’ve found creating somewhat self-sustaining ecosystems with fish, plants, shrimp, snails, and any other tiny critters to be extremely enjoyable. It was only a matter of time before I tried to take pictures of the denizens of these boxes of water, which has proven to be another difficult but fun challenge.