Lens envy

As I squeezed into the line of photographers, I was keenly aware of the sense of competition. I caught a glance from the others as I set up my tripod. They were sizing me up, and I them. Comparing the size of our lenses:-) No one ever asks or comments on equipment. In fact, conversation is rare and sometimes feels unwelcome, but they look...and so do I.

The guy on my left has the latest upgrade to my camera, but it using the kit lens. He's a rich grown-up kid playing with his new toy. The man on the right is using a Nikon film rig with a 3rd party lens. I figure him for a long-time hobbyist that's never gotten too serious. The man on the end has a Digital Rebel, the entry level digital SLR. Still, there's something about the way he goes about himself...I wonder if he might be the best photographer among us.

As I finish setting up, I begin to frame my shot. What story do I want to tell? What shutters speed will best capture the power of the waterfall? Or do I want to make this a more graceful photo?

I am momentarily distracted as the newest member of our group pulls out a Canon 1Ds Mark II with a pro lens out of a photographers backpack. About a $10,000 rig, not counting the other items in his bag. He's a pro for sure, unless he's a well disguised millionaire. But I suspect he's not a landscape photographer (wedding or catalog maybe) and he's probably here on his day off. Most pro photographers in Yosemite shoot large-format shots that can be dramatically enlarged on very nice film that cost about $2-3 per picture. After all, millions of picture are taken every month here. You have to differentiate yourself.

Photography can be very much about how much you're willing to differentiate yourself. Especially in this age where every tourist has a camera, and every hobbyist has a camera nicer than most any photographer a few decades ago. This has been the case for a long time, but the heat is turning up higher in the last couple of years with the popularity of digital SLRs. They were the hot item this Christmas and it seems that everyone that likes photography has one. So you have to be more patient, daring and persistent to get the best shot.

All of us had scrambled out onto the rocks to get the shot the "tourists" wouldn't get. Only a few minutes earlier, we saw a man climbing a cliff with a large format camera. He was differentiating his photography, but risking his life on shaky ground and slippery rocks to do so. I suppose it's not entirely unsurprising to see this in a place so beautiful and so photographed.

Ironically, I always have trouble getting good pictures when I come here. Maybe it's because I'm always out when the sun in high and the shadows hiding. Still, standing in front of one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, beside a handful of aspiring Ansel Adams, I can't help but think how unremarkable the picture is. It's nothing I haven't seen before.

But that's the catch isn't it? Ansel Adams himself said he was lucky to be among the first to photograph this place. Artists are constantly pushed further to the fringes to remain original, while competition increases with every art class, or in this case, 35mm camera. How many people could read and write in Shakespeare's age, much less do what he did? How many people could do that now? How many people have already equaled or surpassed Ansel Adams portfolio and never been noticed. Originality is one of the biggest aspects of art, and I have a big respect for that, but it's harder for each successor to make his mark.

Yosemite may be the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Yet I think my camera prefers other places. My most beautiful pictures were not in Yosemite last weekend, or even captured on camera. A vulture atop a tall pine with wings spread wide looked like the top of a totem pole. Hillsides were blanketed in wildflowers and dotted with white oaks. And ducks swam in the calm waters in the morning fog. "Mallards in the Mist" I like to call them:-) These are for Katherine and me to share. The real photographs of our lives...our memories.