A Wheelchair View: Life Beyond Death

A Wheelchair View: Life Beyond Death

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Anonymous said…
Post more often.
July 1, 2010 at 2:30 AM
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VR Lens for the Wheelchair Photographer

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I was recently asked by one of my “Twitter Mates,” if I would write a little something on what it is like to be a wheelchair photographer. I of course am very happy to oblige. I want to talk a little bit about the equipment that I have and why I chose it. I own a Nikon D50 digital SLR, and two lenses. One lens is the standard 28-80mm lens for close range shooting, like headshots, or focusing on a specific object. The other lens is a 55-200mm VR. VR stands for vibration reduction and vibration reduction is a disabled person’s friend! I don’t have cerebral palsy but I do have many of the same characteristics such as spasticity in the muscles that can cause a little bit of a tremor. I really didn’t realize how much I did it until I started taking pictures. Holding a steady shooting position can be a challenge for any photographer sometimes and the VR feature helps reduce movement. It also helps the lens shoot sharper pictures under lower light. Optical zoom is also a friend to the wheelc...
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I have been neglecting this blog a lot lately and to my readers, I am very sorry. My mind and my life has shifted into career mode concentrating on my photography. Photography is a risky field to get into, even more so for a physically challenged woman in a wheelchair. I am not saying that to lead into any sort of pity trip, that's not my style. I am however, pointing out some pretty obvious challenges that there are to being a photographer in a wheelchair. For example, high and low shots have to be approached somewhat more creatively than someone who can climb a latter, or lay down on the floor. It doesn't mean that I can't get the shots that I want, it just requires a bit more of a journey to get there. I have grown to look at challenges as adventures, sometimes things work out as planned, sometimes they are a bloody nightmare. Sometimes I get the shot that I am working for and sometimes, more often than not, it comes out better. The point is even when I fail I wheel aw...
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