Grip

Image

In between shooting the rocks and stars, the group I was with spent a few hours on Saturday bouldering. I’ve seen people do it from a distance, but always wanted to get closer because it looks so intense, regardless of distance from the ground. Everybody was cool with photos, so I climbed up on this rock and started shooting. A local transplant named Justin Wiggins stopped by to offer pointers and talk about bouldering in the area. He’s a southerner and loves the desert. If you want to escape humidity, Moab should be one of the top destinations. Thanks for letting me take this picture, Justin.

I asked him if he’d be cool with some photos and I gave him a card. At long last I had a card on my person that I could give out rather than spell my domain out.

Technially, there is a lot wrong with this photo. However, you should know that I rented a Zeiss lens with a Canon mount. A manual focus Zeiss. Butter. Thing is a tank, but the focus is smooth and has just the right amount of resistance. However, I’ve been spoiled by autofocus. Since I wanted to push myself, lean into photography a smidge and force myself to work outside my comfort level I figured I’d be lucky if I got a dozen usable frames from the weekend. Shooting for myself wasn’t the primary reason I took the trip. It was to learn how to light at night out in nature.

The energy in Justin’s fingers and hands is intense. I hoped I captured what I saw in my head. It wasn’t until I got home Sunday night that I saw that there was a little softness on his face. But the hands are pretty sharp. The manual focusing tended to slow me down quite a bit. For me, this was a good thing. Since getting the shot was paramount, I had to take a test frame or two and check focus. It’s not arduous or tedious. But it does slow getting usable frames. The manual focus made me respect street photographers even more. I never really found the sweet spot of this lens, but sure did a lot of frames with it. The slowdown was really good for my go go go shooting style. When I’m alone I want to shoot as much as possible with as much variation as possible. Being forced to slow down helped me pay attention to the framing, take a moment to breathe and be less flighty.

Stay tuned.

* * *

Affirmation: I will.

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  • http://twitter.com/Andreerah Angeerah

    I miss rock climbing and bouldering. It is pretty intense. On a side note, my best wishes to you and Heather. I hope you find happiness and success. I sound like a fortunate cookie but whatever.

  • http://allconsuming.com.au/ allconsuming

    It is a picture which shows intense concentration, immense physical strength and also an intangible fragility – letting go is not an option. You’ve got to hold on until you find the next secure hold. That and his tatts are hot. ONWARD!

  • americanrecluse

    I looked at the picture and thought “oh man, the tension in his fingers and hands is just gorgeous!” and then you mentioned it in your post, leaving me nothing to say in this comment beyond this: FIERCE.

    Great work.