I would say that the biggest impact that photography has had on me is the fact that it got me out of my comfort zone. Photography CAN be done in your usual surroundings and the same places/subjects over and over again, but it may not yield the best result. Don't get me wrong, there may be some photographic prodigies that can make world changing images with anything, but the odds are that most people cannot do this. Taking pictures of the same subjects also does not allow you to expand your skills and try new types of photography.
I started out doing landscapes and wildlife. I told myself that I hated taking pictures of people and that I just wanted to be in the wild. Although I still tell myself this, I have discovered a love for street photography and just walking around with a camera and no direction. It allows me to free myself from an absolute project and the frustration of not being able to capture a certain image.
Before becoming a photographer, my comfort was my bedroom. I'm a homebody and just enjoy being in my own home. I knew that I would not be able to capture anything impactful where I was at so I made myself leave the house. My adventures started at various zoos because it was the closest that I could get to exotic animals. I then started to hike more and more just so I could capture those exclusive sceneries.
This leads me to the adventure that I went on early this morning. The trip started with packing up and heading out at 2 AM for Mt. Rainier. The old Hai would've just slept like a normal person, but I told myself that I wanted to do some astrophotography because it was something that I've never tried before. I knew that Reflections Lake would provide a great location to capture Mt. Rainier and because it was so high up and secluded, the stars would be very visible. There just happens to be a new moon 2 days ago so the sky would've been relatively dark.
A few miles from Elbe (a city close to Mt. Rainier), I got pulled over for speeding. I happen to be driving my Mustang. The officer ask me about the car and told me that he himself owned 27 Mustangs. I did the usual car talk with him. The conversation ended with him asking me about my upgrades and asking me to fire the car up so he could here it. I revved the car and the officer got pretty excited. He let me go without a ticket. This was the first sign that it was going to be a good night.
Reflections Lake is kind of the postcard spot to take pictures of Mt. Rainier so it is usually quite crowded, even early in the morning. This time, there was only one car in the parking lot and I didn't even encounter the owner.
I started to set up my equipment but really had no idea how I was going to get the picture. It was almost pitch black outside so autofocus was out of the question. I also had no idea of what focal length to use as I wasn't sure what I wanted to accomplish. At the end of the night, I just tried a few different lenses and settings and got a couple pretty good images. I'm quite proud of the images that I got, considering that it was a first attempt at astrophotography and the limited amount of time that I had before the sun started to rise.
The moral of the story is to get out of your comfort zone and try something new. I would've never been able to capture these images if I didn't force myself out of my house in the middle of the night and driving hours to get to the location. Had I not done this, I would've never got to see the most amazing display of stars. I would've never got to see my first shooting star and multiple afterwards. It was just one of those experiences that I will never forget. In short, get out and try something new. You never know what you will get out of the experience.
