SHUTTER BUG

For my 10th birthday I got a Brownie Hawkeye camera, with three rolls of Kodak 620, Black & White film; 12 frames to a roll. We’ve come a long way Baby. Now I shoot with a Canon 60D, doesn’t need film and will take photographs as long as the battery holds up. I headed south out of Michigan this morning, on my way to catch a plane in Chicago. I’ll be in Pennsylvania tomorrow and I’ll have my camera. I used to take pictures with my Hawkeye like I spent my money; if I had a nickel I had to find something to spend it on. If I had film in the camera I’d take pictures, of anything, until it was spent. Then I could wind the roll up, take it out of the camera and give it to my mom. Looking at the print was never as much fun as tripping the shutter. I still take plenty of pictures but I am a lot more selective about where I point it and when I trip the shutter. I know for sure what doesn’t photograph well and I don’t waste my time on dead ends. They seemed like good ideas at the time and I kept trying but sooner or later, you learn and you move on. 

I’ve had two really good days behind the lens. One was early in the morning at the High Meadow, first light. Yesterday it was early evening, on the beach in Grand Haven, Michigan. I like to catch the setting sun, on or near the water with the lighthouse in the mix. The atmosphere was so clear the sun stayed brilliant right down to the water line. When it’s muted by a hazy sky you get a wonderful array of color and you can see details, silhouettes in front of the sun itself. Yesterday everything was clear and searing. I got there with a couple of hours to spare. The pier always has people and people do the coolest things. I got a good shot of a little boy with his rod and reel, maybe 4 or 5, silhouetted against the sun’s glare on the water, trying to untangle his line. Last year I got a great shot of teenagers jumping off the pier into the surf and I made a mental note, always be looking for kids jumping. As the sun was sinking I noticed a quartet of 12-13 year-olds, jumping, showing off for the girls, for little old ladies and for bragging rights. They saw me with the camera up and took it as a challenge. I zoomed in and caught them suspended, moments frozen in time. I walked away then thought, 'One more'. I caught one kid stretched out in a pose that belonged on a ballet stage. Sometimes you get good and sometimes you get lucky. I don’t know where I’ll be taking photos next but I'll be looking for kids, jumping. 

I’ll miss Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven this year. It’s the most civilized festival in the world; 100,000 people down town and on the waterfront, families with strollers, college kids and every Coast Guard member from coast to coast who can get time off. The fireworks on Sat. night are awesome and it takes several hours for this small, lakeshore community to empty out. The rowdies keep it in the bar and nobody, nobody starts trouble. I should feel good that I can’t squeeze everything I want into my calendar. That’s a lot better than the other way. If you see me with my camera, don’t look my way, don’t smile; I’d rather catch you picking your nose.