The 4th of July is usually hot and humid in Baltimore. This
year we had the first hurricane of the season pass near the shore and had a
couple of days of high winds and heavy rain. But the airs was “washed” and
clean on the night of July 4th and thousands came to the Inner
Harbor to see the fireworks.
I do not take pictures of fireworks. After all it is dark
and I use slow film. More importantly why take B&W pictures of fireworks
when the visual attraction is in the explosion of colours? But I always have a
camera hanging from my shoulder or neck, and this time I took my least favorite
camera with me—a Nikon F4, and a 50mm 1.4 Nikkor lens.
But something quite intriguing happened. When the sky was
full of lights and the explosions reverberated louder and louder on the water
and the tall buildings around the port, hundreds of geese seemed to have lost
their North! They were disoriented and
huddled together close to shore wondering what this was about. Was it night?
Was it day? How about all these explosions? Was it the end of the world?
We had interfered and affected the natural balance of our
environment and I had a story to capture.
Using the light of the fireworks to time my shots, with the lens wide
open and the camera handheld, I took numerous shots. This one synchronized well with the impromptu
“flash” and the reflection on the water. The silhouettes of the geese tell the
story of their disorientation.
Earlier in the day, I had noticed a “calm after the storm”
moment near the Inner Harbor. This time the dog was neither disoriented nor
scared. Instead, he looks like the observer of a whale and the woman ready to launch her harpoon!
Finally, decided to include a picture I had taken a couple
of years ago, always in Baltimore, with a Yashica 124 medium format camera. I
was biking around with that “old light box” hanging from my neck when I saw
this lady in the parking lot. She also saw me and smiled, so I took the picture.
Perhaps it could be called “land aquatics”? Her happy and unconstrained
demeanor was perfect for describing the mood of someone ready to get in a kayak
wearing what makes her happy.
For me, it was the perfect example why I love street
photography!
July 6, 2014
© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014
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