Through the fog
Annabel Bavaud and Martin Pickering performing a solo routine at The Snowball Dancesport Competition in Bloomington, Minnesota.
I am going to ramble a bit. I’ve got a lot on my mind, and different subjects come into focus and fade away as others take their places.
My recovery from two total knee replacements since Dec. 17 has gone well, but for someone geared toward movement and creativity, they have taken a toll. You can only push the body so fast. A subarctic blast that plunged temperatures to -18 degrees Fahrenheit didn’t help. If you read my last blog entry you know that during my recovery, I had planned to photograph the birds visiting my backyard feeders. I did so as they gorged on the seed, but they quickly exhausted the supply and it has been too icy to risk going outside on my unsteady legs to refill them. So I haven’t been shooting much recently.
Thank God I discovered Ben Staley’s YouTube channel, Adventure & Art. I love his presentations. Besides being a great photographer and filmmaker, He’s got a fascinating personal history. And his continual exhortations to “get off the couch” and go create some art have hit home. Still, I was reluctant to take out my gear with my rickety knees. I beat myself up over this. Staley recommended reading The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin. So I bought the book. It was sort of like reading Alan Watts on Zen Buddhism in my late teens. I can’t say it propelled me to begin shooting, but it did give me a nudge.
I continued to sulk in self-pity. My girlfriend gave me another nudge. I knew I had to overcome the inertia that was pushing me toward depression. So I began going out a bit more: to the gym, to an Argentine tango practice, to the grocery store, to my favorite coffee shop. I was careful. I didn’t risk damaging my knees.
My mental fog gradually began to burn away. Then I realized that the annual Snowball Dancesport Competition was being held last weekend. I decided to take my new (used) Sony A-1 and put it to the test. I could barely carry my camera gear into the ballroom. It was my first time using the camera, and my first time shooting ballroom competitions in quite awhile. I was stuck in a corner at one end of the ballroom but I had a clear line of sight to the floor. (I was in no condition to wander around the floor looking for the best background.) I set the electronic shutter to high speed burst mode and fired away. My timing was off; I was out of practice. But it felt great to be back shooting a sport I love. I knew I was getting some good shots, just not the ratio of good ones that I aim for. I learned something about my camera in the process: When the shutter release is set to high speed, it’s a beast. I burned through my 160 GB storage card well before the competition ended. Below is a sample.
I am happy with the photos, and I love the camera.
My recovery continues…
