Sometimes, I think that most people that are not into photography, do not fully understand the work that can go into a photograph (and possibly not understanding the price that can go into a photograph). Yes, there are many people out there that call themselves professional and don’t really know anything about their camera. They may not put much work into their product and don’t have much knowledge either. There are some photographers that are very talented and put great amount of work (and time and talent) into their product. And both of these “photographers’ work and prices might be considered equal to some, but they truly are not comparable. In the digital age, we have quite a variety of people that “are photographers”. I guess I consider myself somewhere in the middle.
Anyway, this post is just showing the amount of time and work that might go into a photograph. My local photography club had a theme last month that included a variety of creative ideas. As soon as I saw it, I knew what photo I wanted to do. I had an idea of a fried eggs on a beach photo for a while and decided I would use this as a means to create my idea. Luckily, the weather was working with me as we had an unseasonably warm February.
So this one beautiful, unseasonably warm day, I went up above my garage and got down my beach umbrella, beach chair & beach ball. I hard boiled a few eggs and packed them with my beach bag, some sharpies, and beach towels. I fried one egg and saved the shells and put it in a container in my car. I packed my camera gear and tripod and took a 45 minute drive to Rickett’s Glen State Park (If I had thought this part through, I would’ve went elsewhere). It was about 65 degrees this day, but I didn’t consider that Rickett’s Glen is quite high and about 20 degrees cooler. When I got up there, I was very happy that I didn’t wear the sandals and wished that I worn my boots! I choose to wear capris and canvas sneakers. The ground up there was either snow covered or completely wet and muddy. My sneakers were soaked very soon after arriving.
I carried all my gear down the snow covered road to the beach and wondered what the other car in the parking lot was thinking of me. I considered that they might be calling 911.
When I got to the beach area, I jumped over the small stream to get to the sandy area. I set up the towels, beach umbrella,my tripod, camera and flash and blew up the beach ball . I sat down at the picnic bench and drew faces on the eggs.
Then, I realized that I needed to move my entire set up to an area that I could hide the snow/ice on the beach.
As I was moving my beach blanket and chair, the wind picked up and blew my beach ball towards the lake. I chased it, running through the wet, cold sand, until I realized it was too late. I watched as the green and white beach ball rolled around on the semi-frozen lake.
Giving up, I carried the umbrella over and pushed it into the sand. I decided that I better get a photo of my set up quick. The warm sun had moved behind the clouds and the beach looked cold and not what my picture idea was intended to be. I walked back to the tripod and prepared to take my photo. Just then, my umbrella took off. Running quickly, I caught the umbrella just before it got to the ice. I decided to take a break and get all my equipment on the picnic bench. I jumped over the little stream and brought all my things over to the picnic table.
I composed my scene, took a picture of the beach chair/blanket, one of the umbrella and decided that I would have to put the photos together in Photoshop. The wind wasn’t on my side. I worked on the egg that would be in the beach chair, the “children egg’s” in the sand and the fried egg photos.
When I had finished , I decided to have a little lunch. I sat at the picnic table, eating my friends (the hard boiled eggs), listening to the geese overhead and watching the green and white beach ball rolling around on the icy lake. I thought about how the next people out for a winter’s walk, would be surprised to see a beach ball on the lake. I also thought how someone might perceive me if they saw me enjoying a picnic lunch with summer beach set-up on a windy, muddy beach.
After my lunch, I packed my stuff and headed back to the car. As I headed back, the wind brought the beach ball to the edge of the lake and I wandered out to retrieve it. Half way on my drive home, the sun finally came out again.
And then the progression of putting my less than perfect photo shoot together began. Over the next week, I worked on each photo separately, adding sunshine and shadows, changing perspective and fixing backgrounds.
And last, I started to collage it all together, continuing to tweak the final image.
and even more tweaks:
I didn’t keep track of how much time I spent on this photo, but obviously, too much. But I enjoyed doing it and that is what matters. Hope you enjoy some of your time today!
Sounds like you had a good time. Memories