Sometimes I take small voyages home for brief intervals in time, it is during these ventures that I find most of my photography is done while enjoying the solitude of me, myself and I. South Florida is perfect, with its serene laid back vibes and breezy beach side living; on occasion I’m quite convinced the sun just gleams brighter there too. You know, I’m even certain my camera is stunned by the melodic rustling of palm leaves and the exfoliating sea salty air which always seem to hit the right notes.
On one such visit I decided my quality bonding time with the city of my childhood would be nice with a bit of companionship. Spontaneity led me to meet up with a fellow photographer who also happened to be an acquaintance from my middle school days. Most wonderful about having a photographer as a friend is the camaraderie and understanding you share, because we all identify with patience being of good worth.
You are thereby capable of taking a suitable amount of time necessary in both scoping out landscapes and capturing a precise scene. Photography is based on foresight and is as unpredictable as the blossoming of acquaintances into friends. Nina runs Ninaru [link here] and she’s a budding freelance photographer, much like Ashley and I also trying to carve her niche in this much saturated market.
What is an artist without a bit of practice? We took to the streets of sun-drenched Riverwalk in Ft. Lauderdale where we unreservedly strolled, cameras on straps dangling from the nape of our necks soon passing waterfront dining, shopping and cultural attractions. Most of the beaten paths we skipped on were deserted midday so the images we took were without flesh and skin, atypical of each of our work.
The challenge thereby presented itself in capturing nature and structures, in a quiet yet still vantage point. In fact shooting landscapes required me to step out of my comfort zone of performing with a narrow depth of field; here, I had to ditch this technique. I was forced to lessen the amount of light entering the camera, done by increasing to higher apertures thereby permitting everything in the scene to come into focus. It was definitely a learning experience and one that I am aching to experiment more on with Ashley.
We traveled within buildings, over railroads and beneath overpasses, until Nina and I stumbled into the jackpot location for potential shoots as the panorama of said scene was spectacular. Here there were colossal rock formations in the shape of perfectly rotund cheese wheels. The brilliant reflections bouncing amongst the encircling buildings were awe-inspiring, make-you-want-to-reach-for-the-bright-blue-sky kind of dazzling.
How gracefully the sun decided to bathe me with its light while that sea salty breeze coyly lifted the hem of my skirt making it dance about. We ladies shared boisterous laughter knowing the people behind those glass walls were very well scrutinizing our playful antics. We just as soon ran through the empty, grassy core between the cheese wheels and austere structures to chimp behind each others’ cameras.
From tips to tricks we covered those topics we had both been itching to discuss; photo walks are such a beautiful necessity. No sooner had I safely come to the conclusion that photographers utilizing Nikons make just as good of friends as those who fire off Canons.
Thanks for the play date Nina, let’s do it again soon!
