Guest Post by Mike Mainhart
Port Clinton, Oh - The 18-270mm proves to be a versatile lens on the annual Governor’s Fish Ohio Day, held in mid-July. The event takes place in Port Clinton, Ohio and features a day of walleye fishing on Lake Erie. The invited guests include media and politicians. The goal of the event is to promote tourism.
I boarded a charter boat with a full bag of lenses on the morning of the feature event. As we cleared the break wall, it was obvious that the photo shoot was going to be limited. The 3-5 foot waves made it difficult to stand at times, let alone shoot photos. I chose the 18-270mm from my bag and stayed with it.
Normally I try to get creative shots. Hanging over the side or standing on the fly bridge, anything to make the photos stand out. Not this day. I had to rely on keeping both feet on the floor which limited the shots. The high sun helped to keep the lens fast considering both the subject and the camera were rocking back and forth. The wide angle proved to be helpful in the confines of the boat. Given the conditions and the few shots taken the 18-270mm performed great.
Back on solid ground, after the fishing, all the participants gather for lunch and speeches from the politicians. It’s difficult to get an interesting shot in a crowd of people. Always think out of the box. The key speaker at the event was Ohio’s Governor Kasich.
In somewhat of a surprise he decided to sign an executive order in front of the crowd of media. As all the cameras lined up in front of the action I decided to take a different angle. An over the shoulder photo proved to be much more interesting. The shot was taken with no flash. I had just enough time to bump the ISO up to 1600 in order to get good exposure under a shaded tent.
After the media event ended I decided to shoot some of the local scenery. The Marblehead lighthouse was a short trip from the hotel and the late-afternoon light was perfect. Again, traveling with a full bag of lenses I chose to stay with the 18-270mm.
When photographing something that has been well documented by thousands of others before me, my approach is to do something different. It only took a few minutes of watching others taking photos to realize, all I needed to do was back up. The late afternoon light was interesting. Backing away from the lighthouse and having the full 18-270mm range of the lens gave me several options for composition.
As the light faded towards sunset I changed position to capture the waves crashing onto the glacier carved bedrock. All sunsets are beautiful but some are better than others. This evening was average. The goal was to incorporate the scenery to get an appealing shot.
Sometimes a photo will present itself. After several minutes, camera on tripod, trying to find an interesting composition, something happened to make the shot. A fisherman jumped on a rock to make a cast. That one brief moment turned an average shot into a story telling photo.
Mike Mainhart Bio: He is a freelance photographer in northeast Ohio specializing in wildlife and outdoor activity photography. I'm honored to have received several awards photos published in several publications not only in Ohio but around the country including a Tamron sponsored (People's Choice Award). I am a member of Outdoor Writers of Ohio and the Kentucky Outdoor Press Association. Outdoor Writers website http://outdoorwritersofohio.org/
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