I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
The Case for Your Own Jogging Photography Club
One of my favorite movies is “YES MAN” starring Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel. If you haven’t seen the movie, the infamous Allison played by Zooey Deschanel formulates a Jogging Photography Club in her local neighborhood. As both a runner and hobby Photographer, the movie throws comical shade on my own version of the club. This neighborhood club takes photos of interest while running (no stop involved). But unlike the movie — I commit the runners sin of a full stop for no other reason than to admire life in motion. There are numerous moments where nature took precedence over my cardio pace and finish time. When I’m Caught up in a spectacular photo frame — nature delivered more. I enjoy the role of Observer and either committing nature frames to memory or taking on temptation to click a picture to be cherished and shared.
The following is my list for capturing your own Moments and adding to your Jogging Photo Club collection. I run with Music…so I always have my iPhone Camera ready to go.
1.) BE CAMERA READY — Observe the Photography Rule of Thirds
In your Cell Phone Settings for CAMERA, look for the COMPOSITION Section and Turn on GRID. Having this feature set, allows me to easily frame my pictures either onset or offset in the frame. If this is new to you, I suggest familiarizing yourself with the concept, with sites like this one: https://photographylife.com/the-rule-of-thirds
2.) SAME ROUTE — Different Times and Vantage Positioning
If you’re anything like me, and tend to keep to the same routes, you can use the same backdrop or landscape but use a different time of day to photograph and get a completely different picture and vibe.
- I enjoy observing a city/town/neighborhood waking up as I run along streets preparing for the day. Shops coming to life as the sun starts to rise and peaks through the office towers are interesting with its shadowy effect. As I make my way to the trails, I enjoy the solitude and untouched beaches…some of my best landscape photos sprang to life from these uninterrupted moments.
- Early Afternoons brings its own quiet momentum as the majority of dwellers are well into the rhythm of their day. I blend easily and enjoy the warmth that mid-day provides. Sun is at its highest and provides natural light and people in motion for action photography.
- Sunsets and Early Evenings cast a natural filter proving a full array of bold and emblazoned colors. The light bouncing off city glass towers is mirrored back onto lakes and ponds giving the allusion that the landscape is continuous.
- In Addition to time of day, consider different vantage points to photograph from. Get up high on a objects like a park bench or lay lower to the ground. Adding and altering height gives the same landscape a totally different outcome. Over time, you will see the which time of day and locations provide you with a picture that appeals to you.
- Download and Invest in Apps that allow you to crop, fix and add filters of interest. I use Adobe Photoshop Express for cropping and editing. I also use Golden Hour which is a great app that calculates the time and duration of your location sunsrises and sunsets making it easy to plan a Photo Run Time.
While I really enjoy my photo collection, some of My Fondest Jogging Photos are not what I snapped, but the Memories I carry with me. The photo subject was friends of nature herself and had no interest or patience in being photographed. The role of Observer is sometimes just that…Observe and Enjoy! Some of my favorites include…
- A Fox on a City Trail (mid-Morning) — his indifference to our encounter a stark contrast to my stop and stare in complete awe
- A young Bald Headed Eagle who was a newcomer to a local Toronto park — The Group of Professional Photographers playing Paparazzi were the ultimate tip-off. When the Big Lenses are out…You know something big is going on..stop and ask
- Owls in and out of the City with wing spans that rival some of our best known super heros
- Salmon making their way upstream
- Vivid Blue Butterflies that apparently belong to the Moth Family
- An Actual Bat Brigade that provides a show every evening from the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin Texas — 1000’s leave the bridge every evening at dusk in an orchestrated manner to eat
- A Male Moose hanging out at the top of a hill at my Grandparents Cottage in Parry Sound — I don’t know who was more shocked me or him and for a moment I thought he was going to challenge me
- And My most recent…..a Young toddler running through puddles with absolute abandonment and joy, much to the delight of his elderly grandparents — priceless
Where will your runners take you?
