Week 4 Photo Challenge: Portrait — Headshot

Grumpy Chicken; Week 4 of the 52 Week Photo Challenge.

Lately, I’ve been extra sentimental about taking advantage of any holiday, or notable moment in time really, to do something different. For Father’s Day, Lola gave Josh a surprise trip to Colorado in September (isn’t she thoughtful?). The summer solstice presented another opportunity to break from the routine and pursue life.

The plan: hike the typically (and annoyingly) crowded Mission Peak in Fremont on the longest day of the year. Regardless of the unusually warm temperature, we wanted to make the six-mile trek because we’ve never hiked together after work and thought the sun’s extended working hours would be the perfect motivator.

The hike is simple and straightforward, but with plenty of “upness” to get your heart pumping. This wasn’t a workout, just a time to enjoy and secretly take advantage of having a “subject” for week four’s photo challenge.

When you’re trying to learn photography, everyone will tell you that you just have to keep practicing. Fair enough. I try to do so by taking as many photos as I can of either a) people who don’t know I’m taking their photo, b) Lola, or c) things that don’t have a heartbeat. Like trees. Or a pillow. Or something else that won’t say, “Don’t take my photo!”

So when you’re tasked to take someone’s portrait as part of a weekly photo challenge, I wasn’t willing to waste anyone’s precious time by fumbling around with my camera while I grumble, “Hold on. Crap, the F-stop is too high. How do I balance out the shutter speed here? I can’t get the lighting right!” Instead, I made my husband humor me.

Inbetween taking photos of squirrels, crickets, scenery, and the usual hiking visuals, I tried to sneak in photos for this challenge. Are they the best? No. Is he pissed off or just focused? Who knows. Did I learn anything technical from this challenge? Haha. Did you learn anything? Calm down, of course I did.

I learned that finding willing subjects to be photographed by a student isn’t an easy task. I learned that if you do guilt someone into it, you don’t have time to futz around. So be ready and just take the damn picture.

Oh wait, that’s it.