It would seem more and more of my trips are becoming less planned and more impromptu. Which is a great thing for me, considering I’m horrible at planning. It’s not that I lack the intellectual capacity. It’s more of an energetic block type thing. Although it may just be my unwavering commitment to being noncommittal. Either way the fact that I’m being more spontaneous is quite simply resulting in me doing more things more often. Something I’m extremely happy about.
Once again it was my brother Erik & I heading out to shoot some photography. It was already later in the day when we decided to finally roll, so we went to the nearest spot we that we thought would emphasize the dramatic atmosphere. Being that we are in Pennsylvania, the only wide open vistas we possess are farmer’s fields, mountain overlooks & the mighty Susquehanna River. We chose the river. We looped around City Island, driving passed the Walnut Street bridge, stadium, arcade, tiny train station, mini golf course and finally the giant building that nobody uses that sits at the northern point of the island. I have long said it should be demolished and in it’s place should stand a restaurant on stilts that makes use of the incredible panorama views of the island’s upstream point.
As you can tell in the above photos, the river was no where near frozen, but it was still cold out. The only ice present was a few scattered pieces dropped off by the receded river. I don’t know if I can ever remember a January with so little ice in the river. I’m really hoping the temperature drops and the moisture rolls in sooner than later. I love me some snow!
Being that it was extremely overcast, the usual tones of a setting sun weren’t present to judge the impending night. Instead the light slowly dimmed, testing the sensitivity of my eye to detect the change in light levels. I was shooting in full manual, which is how I usually shoot, as I have been trying to refine my eye’s ability to detect nuance in light and then to more effectively capture it with appropriate camera settings. After rereading that last sentence, I think I just summed up every photographer’s photographic journey. Photography! Take that SEO gatekeepers!
I’ve also been trying to make a concerted effort to shoot more portraits, even if it is just a couple. My brother has been extremely supportive in my pursuit of portrait perfection, and with my photography as a whole. I dialed in my settings, and told him I was ready when he was. For some reason he has this obsession with getting his portraits taken when his eyes are rolled up in the back of his head. As seen in the first of the photo. Immediately I laughed, he laughed, and I snapped; resulting in the second photo. We headed back to the truck and drove downstream.
The light was fading fast and the cold, damp weather began to take it’s toll on our finger tips. Ignoring our numb extremities we decided to park just downstream from the Walnut Street bridge on the eastern side of the island facing Harrisburg and hop out. It was another great opportunity to test out the lowlight capabilities of the a7ii. I find myself saying that quite often in these posts, it seems like I’m using the camera how I thought I would; in challenging lighting situations.
After a half hour or so, we both conceded defeat to the cold and headed back to the truck. But as we were opening the doors… the crows came.
