Pushing Myself Creatively

During the slow sessions of photography, I always try to schedule some model calls. These are opportunities for me to push myself creatively and to photograph a vision I have had. This winter I approached the mom of a 13-year old competitive climber to ask if I could photograph her climbing. Kaija and her mom agreed to the session.

Kaija climbs at Climb Iowa's Grimes location. I met her before her practice one evening and spent about half an hour snapping some photos of her.

I had grandiose ideas for this session and was really hoping to get some unique angles. Overall, I was underwhelmed with my results. I did not realize how much I disliked the heights until I had my camera in hand up high.

I have also never been in the location before and didn't bring the right equipment. I opted to use my Tamron 70-180 mm zoom lens, and I definitely should have kept with my 24-70 or my 35 mm. Even at 70 mm, I had to be so far back to get Kaija in the frame. Although the climbing space was well-lit, it was a combination of warm lights and natural light. The result was uneven and inconsistent white balance.

Although a bummed out with my results, I'm still in complete awe of Kaija. She began climbing competitively at a very young age after her mom was unable to keep her from climbing everything in the home. Kaija has excelled in the sport and has traveled to different state tournaments for competition.

Rather than being disappointed with my art, I'm going to utilize this session as a learning opportunity. I need to scout my locations ahead of time--including indoor spaces. I could have suggested a different time of day to allow for more natural light and less artificial light to even out the coloring in the images. As noted earlier, I could have picked a different lens.

My time with Kaija definitely made me want to learn more about climbing. While at Iowa State University, I did use their climbing wall a few times, but fast-forward almost two decades, and I'm not sure my knees could handle it anymore. I think my boys would love the opportunity though.