Thursday, March 24, 2022

Views From Above, While Overcoming My Fear Of Bridges And Heights

Yup, in spite of my fear of bridges and heights, I decided to walk over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge again.

But this time I discovered something very interesting...

I discovered that as long as I'm looking down from a bridge while also looking through the lens of my camera, I'm totally okay with the height thing. Oddly enough, for some strange reason, I can do that without feeling as though I'm being kicked in the stomach and falling over the edge. However, the second I pull the camera away from my eye, I am instantly filled with fear. In fact you'd be very proud of me because nine of the photographs that I'm about to share were taken by me bent over the side of the bridge and looking down.

All of these images were taken with my camera, not my cellphone. And I took them using the zoom lens on manual-mode; bringing the images closer to me and adjusting the clarity.

I very rarely shoot on auto-mode anymore because I want to continually improve my skill in adjusting the camera instead of having the camera do it for me. Besides, I feel that when I use my camera manually, I'm able to capture an image exactly the way I see it. Photography is an art in which you're using a camera as your tool to create the image you wish to compose, just like an artist uses brushes and paints.

On the day that I took these photographs, I couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather. It was sunny, breezy, and coolishly warm.

I spent about 45 minutes on the bridge, walking almost completely from Philly to Camden, NJ and then back again. I love to walk. Love it, love it, love it! And on that day I walked my legs off (in total approx. 8 miles from my apartment, over the bridge, and then back to my apartment), but it felt so damn good.

Please enjoy my views from above, while overcoming my fear of bridges and heights...

(these first four images were shot through the guardrail, which gave me a sense of safety and security)