I don’t normally take a lunch break, I know I should, but time is precious and I normally work on through. Today though I did take a break, and I went for a quick walk down the cycle path near to where I work.
Surprisingly to me, I wasn’t alone, and as I reached a cross roads on the cycle path, there were several folk taking a lunch time stroll. Admittedly, I was the only one with a camera, but it was interesting to see so many people using a window of time to get outside and refresh their minds.
At first, the route was pretty bland, and I kept a closer eye on the time to ensure I didn’t walk for longer than ten minutes, than I did looking at things to photograph.
However, that changed when I got to the crossroads, and a corner of trees. There were loads of dragon flies, all buzzing about. I did try and get a photograph of them in flight, but didn’t have the time to set up for it really (or spend half an hour chasing them about the sky) however I did get this shot that I quite like.
I walked on a little further, and the route was getting greener and greener, and more and more intereting. However, time was almost up and I needed to start heading back.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted this Green Shield Bug, climbing along some barbed wire.
I found it really interesting, not only the little creature itself, but it made me think about scale. Scale in photography, and scale in terms of risk, or danger. How some of us can see something small that fills us with dread, or fear, and others can be much more intimidated by large scale vast things. Journeys, projects, animals, sharp objects, deadlines, flat tyres, even time itself are all things that can be small or large, and they effect us in different ways as a result of our perspective.
The barbed wire to me, is pretty small, and dangerous. Indeed I still have a scar across my left hand that I aquired some 26 years ago, from jumping over a barbed wire fence……….
However to the bug, the barbed wire is huge, and quite the opposite from being a danger, its actually a big help for climbing across. A matter of perspective then, I’d say.
At this focal length, the barbed wire doesn’t look sharp at all, it does look big though next to the bug. Its an interesting perspective I think, and I really like the resulting images I captured, and the way it makes me think.
I took the shot above from a little further away with the same 55mm focl length, to get some bokeh into the background, and at this point the barbed wire is starting to look sharper, more menacing.
Happy with my shots I was just about to pack up and head back to the plant, when I heard an aircraft overhead. It was the Beluga! A large aircraft that transports other aircrafts wings. Its something I’ve wanted to photograph for some time, so I was pleased with the opportunity to photograph it close up. Its not the best image technically, but as a “snap” at 300mm focal length, and hand held, its not too bad!
Learnings – its good to take a break, it helps to clear your head, and head hygiene is really improtant. My little walk today also helped me to see a lot deeper into the perspective of all things; some in my mind, some in the natrual world, some in the sky, and how I can use that in my life and in my photography.
Its good to have a clean head.
Onegav 