Sometimes I take photographs when I am standing upright, but quite often I am crouching, kneeling, bending, or leaning as I try to compose my images. I occasionally remark that I am happy that nobody is filming me as I contort my body for the sake of my craft—a kind of photography yoga. Sometimes, though, my friends will take photos of me as I am am taking photos.
Several readers wondered how close I was to the Gray Petaltail dragonfly when I captured some macro images of its eyes that I featured in a posting earlier this week. My friend Walter Sanford, with whom I frequently go on photographic forays for dragonflies, captured the first image below of me in action and graciously agreed to let me use it in this posting. You may need to double-click on the photo to see it, but the Gray Petaltail dragonfly is perched on the left fork of the branch just after the split. The dragonfly was so cooperative that I remained in that crouch for an extended period of time, periodically flexing forward to get a tiny bit closer.
My friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer has also captured me in action. She recently came across the second photo below, which I think dates back to 2013, and posted it in Facebook. I am not sure what I was looking at so intently through my viewfinder, but it seems likely that I had spotted something more interesting than the Canada Geese right in front of me. As I often do, I was crouching in the brush, with all kinds of vegetation threatening to poke me in the ear and eyes.
When a crouch will not get me low enough, I am often willing to sprawl on the ground, as in the third photo below that was also taken by Cindy Dyer. You may notice that I was carrying a tripod with me in a case on my back. Cindy is a big fan of using a tripod whenever possible for macro shots and I remember well when she told me that one of the keys to success was for me to get as low as possible and spread my legs. I blushed initially until I realized that she was referring to my tripod.
It is probably not mandatory for all photographers, but I have found that it helps to be fit and flexible. One of my personal challenges will be to maintain that level of fitness and energy as I get older, so that I can continue my “style” of photography.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wow Mike! Wish I could still do that! After too many hospital stays it is hard to do that! That is why I like “long” lenses! Keep it up! Enjoy seeing your images!😊
So far, Reed, I can still do all of these things, but I suspect that time will catch up to me before long. I too like long lenses–I keep wondering if a Canon 500mm f/4 is in my future, though your 400mm DO lens gets such good results that I wonder if that might be easier to handle because it is lighter in weight (4.7 pounds vs 7 pounds).
At 71 if I kept getting that low I would truly be ‘gator bait’.
I’m “only” 65, but I would have to think twice about crouching like that at water’s edge if I lived in alligator country. 🙂
It was wonderful to see you in action behind the camera, Michael. Knowing the ways of wildlife in the field, I knew your positions had to be acrobatical upon seeing some of your fantastic shots. This was fun to see the candid moments.
Thanks, Jet. It feels a little strange to have photos of me in one of my postings, but I think it is fun sometimes to pull back the curtain and give folks a better sense of how I do what I do. I think that we are quite alike, Jet, in the sense that our blogs postings are reflective of our personalities. I make a very conscious effort when I write my postings to be authentic, to write with my own voice, and to avoid adopting some other personna that others might find more appealing–what you see is what you get. 🙂
This is wonderful post, Mike, and it had me smiling big! 🙂 I know too well the positions you find yourself in to get some of your magnificent photos as I have practiced them myself. I was almost knocked over by a friendly, bouncy dog whilst squatting to take a photo near a pond. I was covered in muddy paw prints, and the dog’s owner couldn’t apologise enough!
Those are the hazards of the job, along with sliding down the bank of a pond or stream. 🙂
Quite a fun post, Mike! Still crouching too, and sometimes doing a bit of ‘gardening’ to clear out an annoying twig when photographing on land,. On the boat the challenge is balance: hanging onto the life lines while moving forward for better action shots.
Thanks, Chris. I too will try to move the annoying twigs and branches when I see them, though far too often I notice them when reviewing the images on my screen and can’t do much, even with Photoshop. Your shots from the boat are so beautiful, Chris, that I often forget of the additional challenge of shooting on a moving and potentially unstable surface. I will often lean over the edge of a drop-off of six feet (two meters) or more, which would probably be imprudent on a boat. 🙂
I have been known to lean over the front from the nets, to get closer to the dolphins but only in sedate conditions!
You’re my hero, Mike. I have been trying to take my wife’s advice to get down and closer to my subject. Good to see how you make the magic happen.
I really admire your continued youthful flexibility; mine improved with my bilateral knee replacements, and I can still get into sitting and even prone positions, but it’s getting progressively harder to get back upright afterward. Thank goodness for articulated viewing screens and freely-maneuverable tripods (I love my Benbo 35 Trekker)!
LOVE this/these! And oh boy, can I relate! 😂 I don’t have the best back, but I’m not doing my best work if I don’t have a backache afterwards. 😂 I was not in the most appropriate position for public witnesses yesterday while photographing a wildflower on the side of the road. Usually I’ll stand up and look casual until the car passes; that time, I didn’t care… LOL. Hopefully, there is no photographic evidence of me at work out there… 😂
Thanks. Laura. Your response put a real smile on my face. We may not look graceful, but getting the right perspective makes the momentary discomfort (and embarrassment if someone sees us) worth it. 🙂
🙂
I love these personal snapshots. Like PBS’s Spy in the Wild, we get to see the videographer, or in this case, the photographer. I often wonder, while watching nature shows on PBS, who it was filming the intrepid subject clambering up a cliff, down into a cave, or huddling against the Antarctic gale… an unusual but welcome post! Thanks to Walter and Cindy for their images.
Thanks, Nina. A lot of the video and photography work of adventure and nature shows is done by unsung heroes behind the cameras who brave the elements and take risks at least as great as the “talent” in front of the camera. Nowadays, drones and other devices can help a bit in getting some of those amazing shots we see, but much of it still requires the dedication and hard work of people. It’s fun to do a post like this from time to time to remind readers that the photos that I take don’t happen magically. 🙂
Haha! Great shots of the photographer—you!
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I think it is important to be able to laugh at myself–too many people, I think, take themselves too seriously, particularly in the Washington DC area in which I live.
Agreed!
Changing the angle counts for so much in outdoor photography I think. Food point you raised about needing to be fit. I live term photography yoga – you could patent that name if it hasn’t been already.
Thanks. I don’t know if “photography yoga” is patented, but it sure seems to fit. 🙂
Well if it isn’t – you should patent it.
I agree that it is so important to keep experimenting with different angles
Haha, I can’t agree more with your post. As a photographer, I always have some weird poses during the shooting. And it really helps me to be fit and flexible.
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