Paul Lester Photo

Something different: What is it?

This week was a very busy week, regarding work. As I had some work that I needed to complete, I had the opportunity to work from home this week. It’s much more conducive to productivity than loosing nearly an hour each way driving, parking, walking to work, etc. Not only does it save the commute time, but it saves on getting ready for work.

Since I had spent the entire week at home trying to finish my assignment, which I did, I was getting a bit of cabin fever. About 5:30 PM, I decided to remedy that situation with a road trip. I got my camera gear, got into the car and headed northeast, towards Asheboro, NC, home of the NC Zoo. The zoo was already closed and Asheboro is about 65 miles away and I had no plans to break into the zoo. I just wanted to get out of the house. I planned to follow the road until I got to the Pee Dee River, which is about 1/2 way, some 35 miles out. Then, I’d photograph whatever I happened to see. I cross this river each time that I go to the zoo, but have never stopped.

On the way I saw some promising clouds, but for the most part, it was a gray day. When I got to the river, it was pretty boring, actually, so I decided to take a side trip along one of the roads near the river. Some minutes later I ended up at the Tuckertown Dam fishing access road, which is owned by the Alcoa-Yadkin Power generating plant. Heck, might as well explore it. It’s on the back side of a dam.

The new territory

So, away I went down the hill, shorts, t-shirt, D40 in hand. Guess what?! There are a lot of mosquitoes down there! I’m still itching!!! However, there were lots of photo opportunities as well. I saw dozens of egrets and herons perching upon the rocks fishing in the swirling waters that were being released by the dam. I only had a 200mm lens with me, so next time (today) I’ll have to bring something a little more powerful!

I only stayed about 10 minutes because the mosquitoes were having their way with me, but it was worth the adventure. Now I’ve found a new place to photograph and can visit there quite often as it is only about 40 minutes away. I like discovering new places, at least new to me.

Today, I’m off to the zoo. I’ve not been since February! I can’t believe it!!! I’m all excited and what not!

Yesterday, after I arrived home, I spent a couple of hours looking at the various pictures that I took while I was in California. I have a wide variety. I have lots of pictures with people in them, as well as some shots of the Carmel Mission, and some shots of the cliffs. I rearranged my gallery , added some pictures, and spent a bit of time pondering.

I was very happy with the shots of the mission and of the people, especially the shots that I got in Monterey. There were some great opportunities for photographing people, which is in an entirely different category/style than shooting landscapes.

My most disappointing batch of pictures, though, were of those few shots that I took of the cliffs. Here, I had some amazingly beautiful vistas, but fell short in capturing them and portraying them in all of their magnificence.

On the street!

Some thoughts about this:

1. I was there on vacation, and thusly, didn’t apply my normal method of photographing such marvels. I didn’t go out alone, walk around, get a sense of the place and take my time.

2. I am not very familiar with the locations. There were so many beautiful locations, but I didn’t know which to choose. I wasn’t familiar with where the sunset would occur, nor access points that I could climb down to and get better shots. Familiarity.

3. In all honestly, I am a morning person and this is not the place for it. The sun rises from over the mountains, to the rear of the cliffs. Most evenings, we were doing something else.

4. This is really more of an expansion on #1. When you are with others, you must consider their time and desires, so I didn’t take the car, sneak off by myself for a couple of hours, explore, and take pictures.

5. Most of the time I was going around like a crazed-lunatic-psycho-Paparazzo-on-probation taking 95% of my pictures without a tripod, thereby inviting ‘flitting’ about. This is very appropriate for street shooting, but not for landscape.

The number of pictures that I took was still small, but, as I said, the quality of the landscape shots left me wanting.

I really wanted to capture the magnificence of these cliffs, but failed to do so. I learned a lot of valuable lessons, though. So, it was a worthwhile adventure. This was only my second visit to the area. The first was in April 2006, when I saw it for the first time, but was there for only 2 days. This time, I was there on vacation. The next time, lesson learned, I will be there to photograph. Tripod firmly planted, mind fully engaged.

BTW, Richard and I are planning a trip to New Mexico. I’m not sure when, but, any takers? Make sure that you stop by Richard’s blog and have a look. He’s really developing that eye!!! I’m impressed.