“Sun Diver” and Photography on Vacation
Above Big Foot Airfield in Walworth Township, Wisconsin
February 9, 2024
This photograph is a classic example of oftentimes equipment being one of the lesser important parts of photography. I made this image sometime in the early or mid-1980s at an event at Big Foot Airfield along Beloit Road in the countryside a few miles west of Walworth, Wisconsin.
The event featured an air show with planes flying in formations and doing acrobatics as well as skydivers performing impressive maneuvers. I went to the event to cover it for The Times, the local weekly newspaper I owned, edited, and published at the time.
I used the event to test drive a new camera I had purchased for use by Mabel Jackson, who was the editor of The Sharon Reporter, another weekly that covered the Sharon, Wisconsin, area. The paper was a sister publication to The Times, and each issue of both papers shared common pages, largely because Sharon-area high schoolers attended Big Foot High School in Walworth.
The camera, which was loaded with 35mm Kodak Tri-X black-and-white film, was a Canon point-and-shoot that, as part of a new camera technological trend, had a built-in lens that required no focusing. It also had a built-in flash with a sensor that detected when the flash was needed.
The Canon was a marked contrast to what I normally used for my photojournalism – a Leica M3 rangefinder 35mm film camera. It was complemented with four lenses of fixed focal lengths (no zoom) of 35, 50, 90, and 135mm.
Leica is one of the finest (and most expensive!) brands of cameras, and I had the good fortune to use Leica equipment almost from the outset of my photographic career. Dick Colondro owned and operated Walworth Photo, and he sold Leica equipment. My father believed in dealing with local businesses as much as possible (especially since they advertised in the Times and Reporter!), so he bought several Leica cameras and lenses from Dick. I still have – and use – them today.
As for the skydiver photo, I may not have captured it if I had my Leica equipment that day. For one, I carried all the Leica gear in a bag, while the small Canon camera had a strap that went over my shoulder.
The flat Big Foot Prairie on which the airfield is located enabled me to see assorted parachutists in the sky as I approached the event in my car. Once I arrived, I hopped out on the roadside and quickly made the photo with the skydiver, sun, and clouds as the scene appeared overhead.
If I had used my Leica, I would not have pulled it out of my bag in time. And, if so, would the camera have had the right lens for the composition? Also, nothing is automatic about the Leica, so I would have had to pause to take a light reading and set the correct speed and aperture opening.
The current iteration of a point-and-shoot camera is the one on most cell phones. I rarely use my camera phone, with the main impediment being the means of framing or viewing a potential scene.
Since I am used to looking through a viewfinder on a conventional camera, becoming accustomed to the viewing format of a cell-phone camera is difficult. It is so awkward. I suppose I should practice, and then I could take advantage of making photos when another camera is not available.
However, most of the times I have tried to use my phone camera, I realize a better photo could be made with a regular camera. But, “Sun Diver” is proof that different equipment – and even a different attitude! – still can produce wonderful images.
Photography on Vacation
For 12 days in January, I took a trip to Costa Rica with my partner Pam See on a Road Scholar program. If you are not familiar with Road Scholar, go on its website and learn about the many programs that epitomize the Road Scholar tagline “Adventures in Lifelong Learning.”
The activity level of the Costa Rica program was described as “spirited.” How true. It included hiking (often on uneven terrain on steep hills and in rainforests), whitewater rafting, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, and Latin dancing.
Guided by Jose Calvo, a native of Costa Rica, our group of 16 was immersed in the environment of the country (which is the size of West Virginia) that is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Costa Rica has a broad diversity of plant and animal species and a fascinating human culture.
Our group participated in 11 activities and heard two lectures. In covering 280 miles on a tour bus, we crossed the continental divide twice and were in five of seven provinces. We went on two rivers and stayed at five lodging facilities. With warm and sunny weather for the duration, the trip was excellent.
I highly recommend Road Scholar trips. Some in our group had been on 6-12 of them, which is a significant endorsement. Costa Rica was the first time Pam and I were Roadies, and we are considering more trips.
To enable me to relax more fully, I was considering not doing any photography on the trip. What may seem a bit contradictory, doing photography invariably involves missing out on seeing – and appreciating! – what is not in the viewfinder at the time.
But, I was seduced by the pixels of digital photography afforded me by using Pam’s Canon camera with two zoom lenses. Can you keep a secret? All of the 1,600-plus photos I did were in color! Such an admission is probably heresy in my black-and-white world. I probably should have changed the camera setting to monochrome just to experiment. However, I do see differently in black and white to render gray tones properly.
I have not processed the Costa Rica images yet. The editing will happen soon, and I will figure out how to share them with whoever may be interested in seeing them.
I did resist trying to figure out how to post photos during the trip on a computer app called Photo Circle for the benefit of our group members. Figuring out technical matters can be challenging for me sometimes, especially since I would have had to do everything on a cell phone. I am desktop guy, and that was not available on my trip.
The time and effort I would have spent on the Photo Circle postings afforded me more opportunities to relax and appreciate the trip as much as possible. It was my first one outside the United States and my first vacation in way too many years.
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