One Photograph Was All He Needed | Kitty Hawk, NC
Before December 17, 1903, John T. Daniels had never used a camera and after that date, he would never use one again. As a member of a local life saving station who had been helping out with the Wright Brothers’ attempts at flight, John was one of just five people present on the day when Wilbur and Orville made history. Before the first flight attempt, Orville Wright handed Mr. Daniels a camera and asked him to take a photograph of what was to happen. In the midst of excitement, he pressed the shutter creating one of the most important images of all time.
Later that day, a gust of wind would topple the Wright Flyer-I, destroying it and injuring John T. Daniels at the same time. He would later describe himself as ‘a survivor of the first plane crash.’ He died on January 31, 1948, the day after Orville Wright passed. With just one image in his portfolio, John T. Daniels goes down as one of the most important photographers in history. One photograph was all he needed.
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Getting Caught Up
Wow, I feel like I’ve been on vacation or something. The past two weeks have been ‘different’ to say the least. I recently started working a few days a week at a local newspaper and that’s kept me pretty busy of late. As my readers know, editorial photography isn’t what I typically do. However, shooting speakers, sporting events and breaking news has really helped revive a lot of things that I have kind of pushed to the side, photography-wise. I’m relearning things that I have unintentionally pushed to the side while doing my HDR photography, and that’s a great thing.
Two weekends ago, I traveled up to Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks to do seven family photo sessions. I had a great time and came out with some great shots. Again, portraiture is not something that I do all that often, but it was great and I hope to get into it a little more. I have a few sessions booked in the near future and I can’t wait to get them planned.
Thanks to all of this, the only photos you’ve seen over the past two weeks were from the archives and from those family sessions in Corolla. Today I’m sharing the last image from those family portraits. I edited this with some texture and my logo as a watermark with the intention as adding this to my promotional material. I think that’s a good way to close out this project- putting my stamp on the last photo edit to kind of signal completion.
I’m looking forward to getting out and shooting some fresh material in the coming days, keep an eye out!
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The In-Between Shot | Corolla, NC
As I continue editing the many shots that I have on file from this weekend’s Outer Banks sessions, I keep find myself being drawn to these candid ‘in-between’ shots. Sometimes the best portraits don’t come when families are posed and looking at the lens. A lot of times it happens in between set ups or after the shoot is over all together. I wish my camera could be invisible, because when people don’t know it’s there they are suddenly relaxed and give you glimpses of the ‘real’ them.
The Shot: Nikon D90, 70-300 Nikkor VR. 70mm, ISO-200, f/4.5, 1/2500. Processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.
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Room With A View | Cape Lookout, North Carolina
We had some friends in town this weekend, so we took the ferry out to Cape Lookout to check out the lighthouse. Having lived in the area for over a year and a half now, this was just my second trip out there. If I had a boat, I’d probably be there every weekend. We took the short ride over and were able to have the chance to climb to the top of the lighthouse. Now, temperatures were in the mid 90’s and the heat index was over 100 so I couldn’t help but wonder how hot it would be inside a 163-foot tall brick tube. In reality, it wasn’t too bad. The windows were all open on the way up, so it was nice to stop and feel the ocean breeze blowing in. That’s exactly what I was doing when I grabbed this shot.
I wanted to get this shot for two reasons. 1) These ‘window’ shots are part of an on-going series for me. The bright blue water of the ocean looked very inviting through the window frame. And, 2) the thickness of the walls of the lighthouse was astounding. You can see it here. That is not a walkway or entry way, that is the wall of the structure as seen from the staircase.
When I crawled through the hatch at the very top, it felt like the wind was going to blow the camera right out of my hand! I was able to get some shots of the Cape and the surroundings while I was up there, but wasn’t all that happy with how they turned out. I’m glad this turned out as it did so the climb wasn’t a total wash!
©2011 Zach Frailey, please do not use without permission.
One Of Those Days…
The North Carolina coast is a very unique place in that you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean on any given day. Due to the curve of the Outer Banks, you’re able to watch the sun rise to the East and set to the West, both over the water.
This inviting pink scene was shot this spring at Atlantic Beach, NC near Fort Macon. Sunsets like this are common place all along this region from Atlantic Beach to Pine Knoll Shores all the way to Emerald Isle.
©2011 Zach Frailey
