Hi guys,
This is my first post after the “official” end of quarantine in Romania. As in many other countries the pandemic situation caused a lockdown so all inhabitants had to stay in their houses unless a good justification was in place to go out. And of course photography was not accepted as a reason.
I won’t comment much on this situation as the internet is full of opinions and to be honest I’m pretty fed up with this subject. What I would like to talk about instead is how I handled this from a photographic point of view.
As probably mentioned before I consider myself an outdoor photographer and taking nature pictures is almost synonym with “get out of the house”. Consequently by being forced into a “house arrest” my options were severely limited so I had to find more opportunities indoors. Let me present you the ones I found and took advantage of.
- Our cat. Yes, why not? It was a good opportunity to improve the animal portrait skills. Usually when photographing outdoor I get the entire animal (whichever it is) into the frame (distance plays an important role here). However indoors there’s a good chance to get some nice close-up portraits too.
- Close-ups with flowers in the pot. In my starting period this was one of my favourite subjects. Actually for an absolute beginner flowers are “golden material”. They are static and there’s a good chance to have them permanently nearby so taking everyday photos with them is possible. However I would say this subject should not be neglected once one advances in (nature) photography. The results might exceed expectations.
- The moon. I already wrote about this here: Moonlight (2)
- Tree branches. I recommend you wait until the rain is gone to get some incredible droplet photos. However without rain the effect could be great if you a get a spot of light surrounded by shadows.
- Small objects photographed with or without a macro ring flash. This is a “follow-up” to Meet the Ringflash. Another post is in preparation so stay tuned.
- Birds. Yes, it is still still possible to take some photos with birds perched in nearby trees, especially pigeons and sparrows.
I’m sure there are many other photographic opportunities when staying at home. And if one has a yard even the outdoor photography “returns”. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case for me so I had to take advantage of what I had within the apartment. The important thing can be summarised as follows: “if life offers you lemons try to make some lemon juice” (I read this in one of Dale Carnegie’s books). So try to find as many opportunities as you can and get the best out of them. This is valid both for photography and life in general.
Take care and may we never again experience a lockdown, at least not in the next one hundred years.
P.S. Check these posts too:
The Bucharest International Airshow (BIAS) – 2019 Edition
A Long Trip. But Still Unforgettable!
Call of Nature 