“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
My summer is rapidly coming to an end. I remember thinking back at the beginning of July, it felt like I had plenty of time until the end of summer. Now it’s the beginning of August, and tomorrow I go back in for the start of the school year. I teach 5th grade math and science at a Title I school in Uptown Charlotte. For the last two years I have worked during the summer. This is the first summer I have had off in a while, and I absolutely loved it. Let me dispel a myth about educators during the summer. Teachers do not get paid during the summer unless they are teaching summer school or completing school assigned summer work. In order for me to be able to provide for my family and enjoy our summer, I had to financially plan for this. When you hear about teachers not working during the summer, remember, they earned it by saving their money and working an insane number of hours during the school year. This time of rest is coming to an end.
Last week I decided to take my last Friday morning bike ride of the summer. I rode to Uptown Charlotte from my home. When I ride my bike, I always bring my camera with me. Most of my favorite pictures I have taken in Charlotte happened while I was riding my bike. I rode through most of Uptown Charlotte, and usually I find something to take photos of it. This last ride I took I didn’t see anything, and I am okay with that. It’s always disappointing to go out on a shoot and not see anything. I wanted to capture some great moments in Uptown Charlotte, but I didn’t see anything worth taking photos of that day.
I have a few words of advice that I have learned when a photo shoot doesn’t go according to plan.
📊 Photography is a hobby of ups and downs. There are good days and bad days. Some photos don’t turn out the way you want them to, or you don’t see anything at all.
🔢I remind myself that I have 1,200 photos this year. If I don’t take pictures of anything today, I’m sure I took a great photo yesterday. This is why practice is important. The more you practice the better you get and the more photos you have to choose from.
📷 This is might a reminder to change it up. Maybe try switching lens, focus, and/or locations. I have been practicing with my 55-200 mm lens in order to try and capture scenes differently.
I didn’t take these photos on my last bike ride; I actually took them the week before. One of my favorite places to ride is Marshall Park. It’s a small urban park that is near the edge of Uptown. The water feature is excellent for capturing reflection shots when the wind is calm. It has a great view of most of the city, and it’s easy for me to get to. I visit this park so often I call it the spot. I try to capture photos at this park during almost every season because it has a great urban park landscape.
Through Griffin's Lens 