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Gary Anthes
F8 and Be There
By Gary Anthes
Special to the Rappahannock News
It was dark and cold in Rappahannock County when my alarm clock went off at 5:30 a.m. that April day two years ago. I envied my wife, who would sleep two more hours that Sunday morning.
But I threw on my clothes, grabbed a cup of coffee, loaded my camera gear and dog into the car and proceeded through the gloom toward Laurel Mills. I was looking for some special spot to photograph the rising sun, some scene that might frame the sun’s first rays in a way I had never seen before.
I was soon rewarded with one of the most engagingly beautiful scenes it has been my pleasure to photograph. Driving along Richmond Rd. toward Ben Venue, I spied a farm pond, with several dead trees rising from its marshy fringes. The bare black branches stood out in stark relief against the brilliant white mist that rose from the pond, which was back lit by the rising sun. In the distance, barely visible through the mist; I could see impressionistic green brush strokes, mere hints of trees beginning to leaf out for the spring.
The narrow road had absolutely no shoulders, so I stopped in the middle of my lane, put on my emergency flashers and hopped out. I prayed no cars would approach from the rear as I grabbed a couple of quick shots through a break in the brush and over a barbed wire fence.
My success that morning brings to mind an old expression that photographers offer by way of advice - “F8 and be there.” Essentially it means to set your camera to some nominal settings and forget it; being in the right place at the right time is far more important when it comes to taking great pictures.
That time and place are the “secret” to great photography might seem obvious, but it’s not uncommon for someone, looking at one of my pictures, to say, “Wow, what kind of camera do you have?” It obviously helps to have a decent camera, lens, tripod and so on, but you don’t need megabucks gear. You can’t buy your way to good photography.
Or, the person admiring a picture might reveal another misconception about photography by saying, “Gee, you were so lucky to have been
See ANTHES, Page B9
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