Tag Archives: travel

Just do it

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“If you want it, you get nothing. Just be receptive and it happens.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

I was just watching a documentary on the old man and this is the line that stood out. I have felt this for sure, but never tried to express it. And yes, it’s true. Going out with a preconceived idea of a photograph almost never works. No matter if I’m hiking in the wilds or strolling city streets.

It happens, most of the time, when I’m not looking for anything. Call it serendipity, call it luck. I call it keeping my eyes, mind and heart open. Being an intuitive observer. It’s almost unconscious. You feel it when it’s happening.  And you begin shooting. Really shooting… like mad. Because at that point there’s no other way to shoot. It is a kind of madness. An instinctive, visceral condition with little control. And man it feels good.

waitress in washington dc

iPhone photograph. Waitress in Washington DC tavern.

 

washington-national-cathedral

Washington National Cathedral visitor. Shot with iPhone.

And, by the way, Cartier-Bresson would love the iPhone.  (or any other smart phone with a good camera inside)

White Ibis

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I was somewhere in the Florida Keys. It was mid-afternoon and hot as hell with harsh, ugly light. But the White Ibis is such a cool looking creature there was no way I could resist. It may appear as if it is looking for a good spot to dig up a few crustaceans for lunch, but in actuality it was just seeking shade. Which is what smart creatures normally do.

 

White Ibis, Florida Keys

White Ibis, Florida Keys.

 

Really smart creatures seek shade that also has beer!

photograph by Rachel Klein-Kircher

 

Friday Photo Tip: Get Close

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One easy way to improve your photos is to get close to your subject. Then get closer. And just when you think you’re close enough, get even closer!

Birthday parties are perfect for this. Also, parades, backyard picnics and weddings. Occasions where cameras and photographers are expected and embraced. Get out there and shoot. But no sitting across the room comfortably clicking away. You need to walk over and sit down among the screechy children or get out on the dance floor with the celebrants. If the barbecue smoke isn’t burning your eyes, you’re not close enough.

And no big, heavy, long lenses. They have their uses, yes, but creating a sense of intimacy is not one of them.

Don’t be shy. Get close.

Climate Action

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Every other summer for almost 20 years my family has vacationed on the mid-Atlantic coast of Florida. We’ve regularly gathered down there to enjoy each others company and all the diversions the place has to offer: Early morning beach-combing, tracking loggerhead turtle nests, body surfing or boogie boarding, evening surf-fishing, photographing the great variety of shore birds (ok, that’s just me!), or just generally kicking back and letting it all wash over you for a week.

Romance at New Smyrna Beach, FL.

Now, I would like very much for this little cutie to be able to enjoy the same stretch of beach as that young couple above when she’s their age. But I’m not the least bit optimistic it will be the same place. Changes in our global climate are being ignored by far too many in our political class. And attention needs to be paid. These changes, which are well documented and easy to find, will grow significantly in size and in scope over the next 50-100 years if we take no action. The shores we have enjoyed will become unrecognizable if we take no action. In the future homes on the bayside will be beachfront property if we take no action.

It is now an almost daily occurrence that I read about a new climate record being set. I read about extreme weather events, coastline landscapes changing, Arctic ice disappearing, long term droughts… the list goes on. Here is the most recent: U.S. On Track for Warmest Year on Record.

Climate change is happening, it is bad and getting worse, and human activity is largely the cause. But our actions can also be the fix. We can make it possible for future generations to enjoy what past generations have enjoyed. It is still possible to leave a better world for them. But the climate clock is ticking. We have to act. Today.