Views From a Patio Chair
Sam H.
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This photo was taken during the summer in Lake Tahoe. Finally away from light pollution, this was one of the first times I got a really good look at the night sky. Riddled with stars, I saw it as an opportunity to capture it on camera. The only thing standing in my path was the lack of a tripod. If you didn't know, taking photos of the stars is arduous and high-maintenance. It requires long exposure times, sometimes up to a full minute! I found a house with lights on in the distance and focused on it to ensure that the stars would be as sharp as they could be in the photo. Then came the process of finding a good angle and stable place to put the camera. I tried the balcony ledge and quickly discovered it to be overexposed by the lights of my own house and a focus on the trees rather than the sky. It became clear that I would need something to angle the camera upwards and hold it in place. Luckily, I was able to make use of thick recipe books and patio furniture. My makeshift tripod consisted of a patio chair with a stool on top, then a camera leaning on multiple books. It worked perfectly. The photos came out clear. It took many, many tries to get it right. Changing the thickness of books to change how much sky was in the image or the direction the camera pointed in was no simple task. Each photo would take 30 seconds of exposure, and the result would not be clear until post-processing. I edited hundreds of photos, and finally, found the best one. After silhouetting the trees in the foreground and adding a bluish hue to the sky, the result elicited a gasp. Each star was sharp in focus, and I could even see the Milky Way on the left side of the image. I am aware that a quick google search could pull up thousands of images just like mine, but what makes mine unique is the story behind it. Funnily enough, the real creativity and essence of this photo is the story behind it, from the trial and error to the homemade tripod.
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Most people would call me a "STEM person." However, photography has allowed me to explore art in a different way than drawing or painting. I can show the mundane experiences of my life in unique ways. Changing the angle or framing alters not just the photo, but the story it tells.
