116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Shutter in Place: Taking time to appreciate the magic of what's around you
In light of my increased time spent at home, I've begun just looking at things.
I assure you, I have other hobbies and interests. But I really do just look at things more often now. Things that may need repair or cleaned, plants I've learned to pay more attention to and things I simply appreciate about my home.
One of the best parts about photography, to me, is the opportunity it affords us to observe a subject in a new way.
A sports photographer may look for an athlete's expression in a defining moment. A portrait photographer sees beyond a subject's potential insecurities and aims to capture their personality in a moment. A landscape photographer looks to light, shadow and perhaps a new angle to showcase a view or feature that could be missed.
And I, apparently, as a quarantined photojournalist, wanted to look at some objects around the house.
I recognize I didn't follow the lead of my colleagues on keeping things simple and proving you can shoot interesting work with a range of gear, including your smartphone. Forgive me, I was having fun.
I hope you'll have fun, too, looking at things around your home with a new perspective. If you choose to do so with a camera, know that your creativity is worth more than your camera gear needs to be. You have to see the photo before you can make it, anyway.
My favorite mug meets my household's least favorite coffee and one well-timed ice cube to make a mess of my basement in Cedar Rapids on April 27. I got the idea for this photo from Instagram. I read a post from another photographer looking for ways to be creative while staying at home. I think it's a fun idea and just about any photographer can do a version of this, if you have a camera that can shoot at least 1/1000th of a second and a good light source (daylight will do just fine). With all my gear around the house, I chose to light this with my personal light kit, which is two Flashpoint Zoom R2 flash units, one using an umbrella and one a softbox for modifiers. I could have used any DSLR and any lens for the shot really — but I had this in hand: Canon EOS 1-DX with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. Exposure: f/5, 1/1000th of a second, ISO 400. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
An Edison bulb glows on the end-table in my basement — interrupting my plans to set up studio equipment and make the coffee photo before heading out to shoot a story in Cedar Rapids on April 26. Edison bulbs have always been a favorite for me, you know, if you feel the need to have a favorite light bulb. I love the quality and color of light they give and, frankly, I just like looking at them. I've used them as a light source before for an informal photo but as much as I like looking at them, I've never thought to photograph them up close until I have had our staff's 100mm macro lens at home while quarantining. A 50mm macro or a regular lens with an extension tube will give you a great shot, as well. There are even some clip-on lenses for smart phones I've seen people have success with. Equipment: Canon EOS 1-DX with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. Exposure: f/5.6, 1/500th of a second, ISO 50. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
My partner tries out her new watercolor brush pen before painting with it for the first time in our living room on April 12. It turns out the brush pen is pretty good for actually painting, even better for injecting color into small water droplets on paper. This again is with the macro lens because I've really just been having fun with it at home. I shot this as a burst to see the different phases of paint entering and swirling in the water droplet and thought this was the most interesting capture. Equipment: Canon EOS 1-DX with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. Exposure: f/4, 1/200th of a second, ISO 6400. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
The shadow of an Edison bulb is cast against a wall at my home on April 26. After perhaps cheating and using some of the more advanced equipment I have available to me, I wanted to make a much more simple photo that I thought was still interesting. This was shot with the cheapest lens I own, I bought it before a trip in 2015 for about $150. a last-minute trip to the camera store. It has turned out to be a favorite for how small and travel-friendly it is. I used the flashlight feature on my phone to cast the shadow and there is nothing more to it. Equipment: Canon EOS 1-DX with a Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. Exposure: f/2.8, 1/250th of a second, ISO 400. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
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