21. Dinkshooters
Today is 19 days from the first anniversary of Dad’s passing. I’ve committed to writing 40 stories about him as that day approaches. Forty Steady Stories.
Not a lot of people know this, but Dad won the Charlotte Observer Photo Contest in 1972. I have that article in a box somewhere, and my memory is that the photo was a fall scene of tree with colorful leaves. He loved fall colors especially, and I loved going on photo safaris with him — whether a full long weekend in Virginia (which I’ll write about later) or simply waking up early at Hilton Head during vacations to go get pictures of Great Blue Herons (also something I’ll write about later).
Dad would normally pack several camera bags with multiple cameras, lenses, tripods, and accessories. It got to the point that Mom and Dad had to take separate vehicles down to HHI a couple of times simply because his camera gear took up most of the space in his vehicle. If you think I’m kidding, here’s a shot of his car when he arrived at HHI in 2016. Everything shown is camera equipment except the brown box on the left and the leather bag on the right.
Dad’s car with the photographic equipment he thought he needed for a week at HHI.
That said, Dad also loved playing around with “point-and-shoot” cameras, which he nicknamed “dinkshooters” because he thought they could never get quality shots like the stuff in his car could. His first “published” book was a photo journal entitled Dinkshooters: An Apology which he made in 2007. He had tasked himself with taking a point-and-shoot Canon dinkshooter and only using it to photograph people, places, and things.
In the inside cover of that book Dad wrote, “I have been astounded with the results [of the dinkshooter]. After years of lugging 25 to 50 pounds of gear around, it was a delight to carry only a small bag and a light weight carbon fiber tripod with me. Look, read, and enjoy the marvel of this ultralight machine.”
Though he kept all his other gear, he went into “dinkshooter mode” on some trips for several years. Case in point: the photo at the very top above. We were in Orlando playing at the Young Life conference in 2012, and one day at Disney World, Dad saw this group of musicians playing. He didn’t even think twice about asking them if he could take some pictures of them, but I don’t think they had any clue who they were dealing with.
The man in the salmon shirt and khakis was on his third set of knees and a second hip. It was hard for him to kneel then, much less get down on the ground like that for the picture, but he wanted the artistic angle. ƒ/8 and be there knows no limits. The scene was truly incredible. Let me imagine for us the thought captions on the faces of the musicians…
Guy on the left (looking at the guy on the right): “I can’t believe you said ‘yes’ to this guy taking this photo.”
2nd from left: “In three more seconds, I’m dropping my sax on this guy’s head.”
3rd from left: “Well, Whooptiedadgumfreakindoo!”
Guy on right, looking at my brothers taking pictures, video, and laughing their heads off: “Your Dad did NOT tip us enough for this pose!”
And the BEST part was the woman with her kids walking by on the right. You don’t see it in this picture, but it’s crystal clear on the video. As soon as she saw my dad, a strange fear came over her, and she grabbed her kids and took a hard left turn away from him the whole scene. My brothers were shaking their iPhones and losing it laughing.
But here’s the thing: as funny as this scene was, I sincerely cannot count the number of times Dad did stuff like this with a camera. Truly countless. With a lens in his hands, he went from introverted to unabashedly extroverted. He didn’t get embarrassed about asking anyone — and I mean ANYONE — for a photo that he thought might be worth the effort.
I really loved that about Dad. He loved taking pictures so much that he didn’t mind looking like an eccentric oddball to get the shot. It was about what he wanted to see in the lens and not about what people saw in the scene watching him.
I wish sometimes that I was more like that and cared less about what people think and more about getting the best position possible to convey or capture the message that captures the moment. And I’m not just talking about photography; I’m talking about much more than that. :)
