Reeve Foundation Paralysis Community

Photography has always been a hobby of mine, but since my accident I found it much harder to take pictures from my wheelchair.  I was always one of those lie down of the floor, stand on the back of the sofa, climb a stone wall, to get the right shot sort of photographers.  Having a digital camera with the display screen has helped ..... I can frame a shot without having the camera up to my eye, but I have really started getting into macro photography .... since it is easier to bring the subject to me. 

If this works, I am attaching one of my more recent favorites.

Anyone else here into photogtaphy?

eta ..... I can't figure out how to embed a picture, so here is a link to it Bowing Ferns.

---

T 7-8 since 2005

This is a great pic! We're working on the photo and file upload at the moment. It's not you, believe me.

Rob

---

Rob Gerth
Manager Online Communications
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
(800) 225-0292 ext. 7123
"Nothing good is a miracle, nothing lovely is a dream."

Hi Sjean: I too enjoy photography but am limited on what I can shoot. I have seen a number of great set-ups that folks have attached to their chairs but since I am incomplete with poor balance I am still working it all out. If you are interested in resources, let me know and I will see what I can put together and share here.

Lovely photo, thanks for posting it, the intricacy and delicate lines is wonderfully exquisite.

As a para, with full use of my hands, I don't have a lot of difficulty actually using the camera.  My balance is iffy as well, so that, and getting in the place I want to shoot from are my biggest obstacles.  I use a tripod sometimes, but I also will hook my camera strap on my armrest and pull it taut when I take the picture.  It helps keep the camera steady.  You can make a "string tripod" that does the same thing.  This video link shows how to make one.   And as well, I just take LOTS of shots.  At least half end up deleted.  Good thing for digital!

This is another one I like.  I took this one by holding the camera out to my side, and hoped for the best.  It took a lot of shots before I got one I liked.  Got a real good one of my shoes along the way. 


Thanks for the comments.

---

T 7-8 since 2005

Love the flower. Do you do any portraits or black and white?

Sometimes I take portraits, mainly of my kids.  I experiment with black and white a little, but not much.  This shot of my daughter answers both your questions!    She was getting her hair cut, she had grown it out for Locks of Love, and I wanted a good picture of all those waves before she chopped it off! 

It is funny, as a child, I only took black and white b/c it was so much cheaper!

---

T 7-8 since 2005

Thanks, I have been experimenting with black and white with photos of my sons as well. It is a technique that I really like. Good photo of your daughter.

What type of camera do you use?

I have a Sony DSC H5.  I am pretty happy with it, but it is the first non-Canon I have owned in years, and it took some time to figure out all the various buttons/options.  I chose it over the Canon S2 at the time, because of the size of the screen on the back.  It was larger, allowing me to get a better view of what I was taking, when I hold the camera in an odd position.  I wanted something a little bigger than most of the digital cameras out there, but was staying away from the SLR's b/c I so often take shots with the camera away from my face.

What are you using?  Do you have any tricks for getting a good shot in a wheelchair?

---

T 7-8 since 2005

I use a Canon, have almost always used a Nikon. I still occassionally use my SLR Canon with portrait lenses but since my hand function is poor, the digital Canon is easier. My Canon is nowhere as fancy as yours but does meet my needs for now.

I wish I had suggestions for taking good shots. I am ambulatory with terrible balance so standing is generally not an option. I tend to use my childrens shoulders to hold the camera.

My daughter and I took out dog swimming up to a lake near us today.  (She doesn;t care that it is getting cold ..... she loves the water.)  The foliage was beautiful.  Here are two of the shots I took. 

Pink trees

The Lake



 

---

T 7-8 since 2005

Love the photos, especially the Pink Trees. Where are they taken at? Looks like southern New England region.

You are good!  Central Connecticut.

---

T 7-8 since 2005

Sjean those are great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I am enjoying seeing your photography.  I am hoping eventually I can figure a way to use a camera again. For now I have to depend on others doing the shooting for me. I have always been intruiged by black and white and the different things it can bring out in a shot that go unnoticed when done in colour. I hope you will post more!  

---

"Don't be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don't talk. "

 Thanks Haiku!  I have some ideas for getting you behind a camera again, I think I have mentioned them before.  Let me know when you are ready. 

---

T 7-8 since 2005

I went back today.  The color in the trees was more pronounced, but the water was choppy from the wind, and there was no reflection.
The lake a week later

My silly dog DID go swimming anyway .... the next is a sequence of her in the lake.
 
Lic swimming

---

T 7-8 since 2005