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A Meditation on Patio Bricks
28 March 2023
We live in a 360 degree world but we seem to look straight ahead most of the time. "Look both ways!" parents scream often in the nick of time to make that point about the 360 degree world. And lucky for us they have eyes in the back of their head to see what they can't see in front of them.
Patio Bricks. Nikon D300 with 43-86mm Nikkor at f8, 1/1000 second and ISO 200. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
Meanwhile photographers are often admonished to look up for their subjects. A canopy of trees in the forest, an evocative cloud formation, some bird soaring on the wind.
But who looks down?
Looking down is not in vogue. The phrase itself suggests some malady. "You're looking down, buddy. Cheer up now! It can't be all bad."
But with a camera in your hand, you have the perfect excuse to look down. There are things to see on the floor of the world. You only have to look.
There are technical issues, of course.
With a zoom lens, you may experience lens creep. The lens sliding down by its own weight toward the ground right after you've found the right focal length for the shot.
There are tricks to manage that (rubber bands, O-rings) but you don't need a trick. You can just hold the lens at that position until the shot's been captured.
Alignment is an issue too. It's hard to square up.
Our shot of the bricks was not square. But we used Camera Raw's Geometry panel to straighten things up.
Even then, the guy who laid these bricks must have done it after lunch. But they've been there the nearly 20 years we've been here.
The thing about looking down, even with a camera, is that you don't spend a lot of time actually looking. All the action is buzzing around you, not below you. You look up quickly so you won't get hit on the noggin by a soccer ball (which never comes from underneath you).
But a photograph gives you the chance to study what was underfoot. To appreciate its symmetry, its beauty, its art.
While looking straight ahead.