I recently took a trip to Orlando, FL. to visit family. As a
nature photographer, I'm always planning for the possibility of photo
opportunities wherever I go. Being land-locked, I wasn't too thrilled about
Orlando. I would have preferred a more coastal locale to capture dynamic
sunrise or sunset photos. I wasn't at all sure about what to expect in Orlando,
so I referred to my favorite little toy...Google Earth. I find this tool
absolutely invaluable for familiarizing myself with just about anywhere I want to
visit. Even if I'm not planning an actual trip, I can't even begin to count the
number of virtual trips I've taken around the globe just for fun.
I was happily surprised when I Google-Earthed Orlando. A
huge lake was located behind a resort directly across the street from where I
would be staying. I would be on the west side of the lake facing east –
perfectly positioned to capture stunning sunrise photos under a beautiful
Florida sky. Well...that was the plan. When I got there, I immediately headed to
the lake to scout out the best vantage points for my next few days of early
morning shoots. I went behind the resort, but found the lake totally fenced
off. I saw a lot on Google Earth, but I sure as heck didn't see that fence.
When I asked the front desk personnel how I could gain access to it, they told
me it was a private lake only accessible to guests of the resort.
In the words of John McEnroe: YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!!
With nothing else but
streets and strip malls in the immediate area, my camera equipment became
little more than a heavy paper-weight.
As it turned out, the only photos I got on the entire trip
were the ones I took on the plane ride to Orlando. The view out the window as
we climbed above the cloud layer was spectacular. As I would normally do on the
ground, I placed a polarizing filter on my lens to make the clouds pop. When I
looked through the camera, I saw a kaleidoscope of weird colors overlaying the
scene. Not knowing exactly what was causing it, I removed the filter and the
colors returned to normal. (I later learned that most airline windows are
already polarized and will create a rainbow effect if you shoot through them
using a polarizing filter). To block out reflections, I placed the lens as
close to the window as I could without actually touching it – the plane's
vibrations would have caused too much camera shake. I was also concerned about
shooting through such a greasy, scratch-covered surface. I normally abhor
shooting through vehicle windows, but I didn't really have much of a choice in
this situation. I cleaned it as best I could and used a moderate depth of field
to render the scratches invisible.
Hopefully, my plans won't fall through on my next trip as
badly as they did on this one. It would have been nice to come back with more
than just an ad for Southwest Airlines. But, in retrospect, I guess it's more
important to spend quality time with family than it is to take pictures. It
is...right?
Article Submitted by:
F.M. Kearney is a fine art nature photographer,
specializing in unique floral and landscape images. To see more of his work,
please visit www.starlitecollection.com.
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