Being with Lene - or How I Became Interested in Photography

For more than a decade now I’ve been lucky enough to share my life with Lene Andersen. For those who follow Lene at The Seated View I’m often referred to as “The Boy” in her posts. That’s “The Boy” - two words with a capital “T” and a capital “B”.

If you don’t follow Lene - she’s a writer, an advocate, and a remarkable photographer. I do mean remarkable. She can capture something’s essence in her pictures. She has an eye for the beauty of the natural world and the ability to see things that others don’t. Her pictures can make you feel longing for the holidays or they can simply document the unexplainable oddities she encounters. If she has a signature picture it’s Mystic. A print of which is hanging above my desk.

Even if you do follow Lene, and if you don’t you should, you may not be aware how good of a photographer she is. She’s had exhibits of her work. Here she is after we setup one of them.

Here’s another exhibit. The panorama is a bit rough. I wasn’t very good at taking pictures back then.

That picture of a seagull right in the middle? That’s Mr. Cranky Pants. I acquired that picture after the exhibition. Hung it just inside the front door of my apartment. Turns out that if you have a huge photo of a ticked off looking seagull on the wall at least one of the cats will take up a perch and stare at it for hours.

Lene takes her photography seriously. Sure she enjoys it and has great fun doing it - but she takes her time to get the exact shot she sees in her mind’s eye and she can get frustrated if things aren’t working out. Here she is repositioning herself after having difficulty trying to capture small elusive fish at the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.

Now… believe it or not… it can be a problem to have someone in your life who is a photographer. Unless you have a photographer in your life, whether they be child, parent, spouse, or partner, you may not believe it - but it’s true. You see - photographers are always photographers.

Wherever they go - they take a camera. Unless they need to get somewhere in a hurry, they are going to stop every time something catches their eye. A short trip to a store can end up taking ages. If they can’t quite get the shot they want? Well… see the montage above. You could be there for a while.

There’s more to it. A photographer will go out and about for the expressed purpose of taking photos. Really. They’ll go to places and events where good photos may be just waiting to be taken. At times like those all bets are off. Let me show you. Here is Lene on a trip to take photos on the Toronto Islands.

Let’s count the cameras together.

First there is the Sony superzoom point and shoot she’s holding. The photography manuals tell you to zoom with your feet whenever possible - but the wheelchair doesn’t have the same flexibility as you or I have on foot. Having a good zoom is useful. Many in the world of photography don’t think highly of small point and shoot cameras. Turns out they are much more capable than most people think. Especially in Lene’s hands. Many of Lene’s best photographs have come from smaller and lighter cameras like that one.

Second there is a Sony A6000 attached to a tripod mount just above her lap. The A6000 is an interchangeable lens camera. The lens she’s using is a power zoom. She can manage some zoom lenses with her hands but the power zoom makes using the lens much easier.

Third you can see a Sony action cam mounted over her shoulder. Action cameras are not just for skiers, bikers, or other extreme sports enthusiasts. Turns out a wheelchair is a pretty stable camera platform. A smooth path and the built in stabilization and the resulting footage is just waiting to be turned into a timelapse or hyperlapse.

I should also mention there are the cameras on her phone - which is in her purse where you can’t see it. She chose her phone partially because it wasn’t too large and too heavy for her to hold, and partially because it that model has damn good cameras. Useful for when she isn’t lugging around all those other cameras.

Granted this is not typical. This is when she is going out to take pictures. Not when she’s going out and happens to take pictures. There’s a difference. For the first - I know she’s going out to take pictures. For the second - I know she will most likely end up taking pictures.

Without realizing it ahead of time, I had ended up being with a photographer. Wherever we go it turns out there are pictures to be taken - and she’s going to take them.

I can think of three ways I could have handled this.

First - I could have gotten annoyed and angry. This wasn’t going to help the two of us stay together. Grumbling and mumbling under my breath every time she starts taking pictures would not have turned out well.

Second - I could perfect the art of standing around while she takes photos. This is the equivalent of letting your partner shop in their favourite store - the one you don’t much care for. While you try to find a seat and pass the time - you smile and let them enjoy themselves. You learn to stand around not looking too conspicuous. You learn to twiddle your thumbs like a champion. And - you make sure that you don’t get angry and you don’t get upset. Instead you look over and smile and be glad your partner is having a great time.

But I chose a third option. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Before I met Lene I did have a camera. A little point and shoot. After I realized she was a photographer I would take my camera along when we went places. While she was taking pictures I took some as well.

At first I took them to pass the time. To keep myself busy while she took fantastic photos. My approach wasn’t so much applying a keen eye to the photographic possibilities around me. It was more a “hey that looks interesting” followed by a flurry of clicking.

Of course most of the pictures I took were garbage. Boring. Not well composed. Mostly not in focus - and I can’t just blame the tiny little camera for that. It was capable of taking good photos.

Occasionally though, there would be better photos. Ones that were more than bad and even more than okay. I did end up taking pictures that were interesting and eye catching. Even, dare I say it, good.

Not many. A few. But enough.

Enough to make me want to take some more good pictures. Enough to make me try harder to capture what I saw in front of me. Enough success to make me want to be able to take good pictures more often.

I started to take my photography a little more seriously. It wasn’t just to pass the time anymore.

Then the spiral began. You know how it goes.

Better cameras don’t make you a better photographer - but they can help. I replaced my small point and shoot with a Sony RX100. A couple of years later I upgraded to the Sony A6000. A camera that can use different lenses. Which meant getting a set of lenses for all eventualities. As they say - have the right tool for the job. That A6000 I upgraded to? It’s the one Lene is holding. It was a new camera that was more capable than the previous ones we both had. She had to try and it use and see what she could make it do.

At first she had problems holding the A6000. It was deeper and bulkier than her other cameras. It weighed more than her other cameras. Add a larger lens and it was hard for her to hold and handle for very long. So she repeatedly “borrowed” my new camera when we went out on photo trips. Every so often, she’d hold out her hands, I’d pass over the A6000, and she’d drive off to take better photos than I could. When she couldn’t use it anymore she’d pass it back and let me use it. Until she wanted to borrow it again. Over time she got used to the size and weight of the camera. She could use it for longer and longer periods. When Sony announced an improved version she politely suggested I upgrade to it… that way she could inherit the A6000. Afterwards, when she got a new wheelchair, we picked up the tripod attachment. I can install the tripod setup and she can use the camera indefinitely.

By then I had turned into one of those photographically inclined people. A happy amateur photographer. Instead of me tagging along while she goes out to take photos - we go out on photo expeditions together.

We’ve taken photos of sunsets from the Toronto Islands and the city skyline at night as we took the ferry home.

There have been repeated attempts to take good pictures of the fish in the dimness of Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.

We’ve chased butterflies and birds. We’ve visited exhibitions and gone to events. All to take photos.

Instead of photography being something she does - it’s become something we both do - together. I couldn’t be happier.

She will always have a better eye for pictures that I will. She will always be a bit more patient in trying to get a perfect shot. She will always take photography a bit more seriously than I will. I don’t mind at all. We’re taking photos together.

Though there is that new camera and some new lenses which I could use to….