I've been trying to get myself started with something creative, specifically photography, since my son died coming up on 4 years. My son used to help me photograph my younger son and daughter's sports events. He would always find something going on in the crowd, or dugout, or outside of the "action" shots, which were so much more interesting. He had "the eye". But since he died, I just can't find a way to get started. This is what I needed. Thank you.

A good photograph is art.

So sorry for your loss. I think it would be a great tribute to your son if you took up where he left off.

I'll spare you a camera talk. I have been photographing since about 1970, with all manner of equipment. I did optical engineering, so it's a big deal for me.

Recommendations and my photo history only upon request!

You've got to see it first, and good luck growing in that skill, because it leads to a fantastic appreciation of nature and of people.

This is one journey you will love.

With my son, I used a Canon 1D Mark IV for action shots, and he used my Canon 40D. I got good action shots more because the Canon 1D Mark IV shot a lot of frames per second, so hard not to eventually get a good shot. My son took far better candid shots that told a story. I remember one from the dugout where in a single photos there is one kid jumping up looking at the camera, 3 other kids are sitting on the bench talking, two coaches are standing with their hands on the metal fence (in dugout) talking. All doing their own thing. Hard to explain, but you just felt you were there, and it captured the entire mood, or whatever you call it, of being in a dugout at a little league game. So many things are going on at once.

When I couldn't get myself started again, I just kept buying new equipment and lenses, hoping that would help. But they just sit there in their camera bags. I'm trying to find an in-person type of field trip, but there aren't any in my area.

I will try using some of the framing suggestions in the article just to get myself going.

But it's all scenic here.

I have gotten nice people photos on trips my wife arranged, usually to places that had lots of human interest as well as nice scenery. Look for gestures, cool possibilities ...



Climbers on El Capitan.
That one took all of 1000mm to get.

Every "people picture" has a story behind it. We may not know it, and sometimes, that's the fun of it all. Imagining.

The whole picture tells a story too. The framing of the rock (for lack of a better word) and then the bright colors of the hikers. The angle of the path. Just beautiful.

I live in the Sacramento area and went up to Yosemite a few months ago to try to capture some night photos of the stars after a dream I had where my son came to me and said, "Mom, I have to show you something." We traveled to a remote area, it was nighttime. He pointed up to the night sky and said, "Look". I saw a beautiful star constellation, breathtaking. The constellation had different colors, pinks and blues and purples. It was truly beautiful. In my dream, I told my son "I wish I had brought my camera," and he laughed and said "Mom, just use your iphone" (He was really into phone cameras, particularly Samsung). I laughed back and said, "oh, right". Just like we used to joke when he was alive.

The next morning, one of the people I follow on Twitter, who is a Lakota Indian, posted about a Lakota belief that when a child is born, they are each given a star spirit called a "wanagi". Lakota believe that when we die, our soul returns to their star spirit through the Milky Way. Wow, what are the odds my son came to me in a dream just hours before and told me he had to show me this star constellation? And then I see that tweet about Wanagi?

I googled "Milky Way" and saw that many photos of it show different colors. I did not know that, I never thought of any star constellations as having different colors. This is the closest I can find to the colors I had in my dream, but they were even more beautiful and vivid in my dream: https://share.google/yULonHrxdEybRvSGm

Anyway, I tried to get some night pictures myself, but they didn't come out. I think there was still too much light.

Didn't mean to go on and on. But, again, your post was timely. Maybe it's also a sign from my son to get out there and try again. Thank you for posting.

I check the Yosemite webcams all the time. Saves innumerable trips, and in inclement weather and at night.

Here are the bookmarks for the webcams. I have to truncate them because they are live and (mostly) go dark at night.

https://cdn.pixelcaster.com/public pixelcaster.com/snapshots/yosemite-halfdome/latest.jpg

https://cdn.pixelcaster.com/public pixelcaster.com/snapshots/yosemite-sentinel/latest.jpg

https://cdn.pixelcaster.com/public pixelcaster.com/snapshots/yosemite-yosfalls/latest.jpg

https://cdn.pixelcaster.com/public pixelcaster.com/snapshots/yosemite-turtleback/latest.jpg

Replace the space with a dot.
The last "El Capitan" camera is on Turtleback, just above "Tunnel View" and is very sensitive.
I get star photos at night, and swear that I saw an aurora just before I went to the back yard and caught the very brightest aurora. (no others, though)

Here are SOME photos, all saved from the webcams in my browser.





Pleaides





Stars and climbers resting (I hope) at night.


My favorite





All webcams are courtesy of Yosemite Conservancy. https://yosemite.org

I had no idea these webcams existed, thank you so much for sharing the links

It's really amazing how a little detail can distract from or add to a photo.