THE LAKE

February is a tough month for me right now. It’s always been a difficult month for me. It’s still winter in the northeast and we usually get a lot of snow in February. Even though it is the shortest month of them all, it still seems to drag, because we all want winter to end, already. And, even though this is liable to be the mildest winter on record, the month is still a drag. And, this is the month, a year ago, that I left my marriage. It was good and it was bad. It was something that needed to be done. But, it helps to make February a very difficult month for me right now.

Jake, the other photographer who shares the early shift with me, was on a home interior shoot for the past couple of days, which meant that I had to cover any and all jobs that came in early. So, I wasn’t surprised when I was handed three, one after the other, all in the first two hours of my workday. But, they were no brainers. Essentially head shots. A postman who worked to make the job easier for other Hispanics in the Postal System. I got him outside by some of those large curbside letter drops and I shot low across them with a 35 mm lens. Next, a woman who ran a health care agency and was having business problems. Available light with flash fill while she sat at her desk looking beleaguered. Lastly, a shot of a louvered storm door at a storm door and window show room for a home improvement story.

I called my desk when I was done, asking if it was ok for me to head to my apartment to have some lunch. I’ve been trying to do that as much as possible. I can spend my money on better things than over priced lunches at the greasy spoons or even the company lunchroom. Bob, the Day Photo Editor, said that would be fine, and would I please keep an eye out for some kind of weather floater. He had heard that the day was sunny and unusually mild for February. Someone must have told him that. Otherwise, he would never know. The geniuses that designed our new (20 years ago) plant had the foresight to plunk the Photo Dept. in the center of the building so that we had no windows. Maybe they wanted to make sure that our darkrooms would be very dark. So, our editors in Photo, have to depend on people with windows to find out if the weather is worth a photograph.

After lunch, I drove over to the lake that I pass twice a day, on my way to and from work. For those of you who live where there are lakes, this lake is probably considered a large pond. On Long Island, where we are surrounded by water, all of it salty, we consider this a lake.

The trees at this park were still winter bare. But, the warm sunlight, even though low on the horizon, had a touch of spring to it and there were families walking around the lake and kids playing in the playground. Today is President’s Day and the schools were closed. All of this was grist for my mill.

But, I had already shot three no brainer assignments in two hours. And February is a tough month right now. I considered taking out my 600 mm lens to try to use the perspective shortening characteristics to heighten the hazy atmosphere of this winter/spring afternoon. But, that lens is the size and heft of a Volkswagon beetle (not the new ones. The ones from the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.) And it absolutely requires a tripod and I just wasn’t in the mood. So, I copped out and put my nice light Nikon 300 mm f.4 on the F-5 Nikon body and clipped on the 2 X extender. Voila! A 600 mm. OK, so the quality isn’t as good as the 600 mm prime lens. But, it is a fraction of the weight and I can hand hold it.

It didn’t take long to find a woman and her kids riding tricycles (the kids were, that is) along the paths that circumnavigate the lake. I had to wait until they were well past me before they were far away enough to use the put-together 600 mm lens. And the back lighting helped to make it work. Half a dozen frames and I knew I had nailed it. And then, back to the office.

A few hours later, I passed that lake on the way home. Since my heart attack, I have been doing power walks but mostly I ride my exercise bike in my apartment to keep from having another attack. But, when I saw the lake, shining through the trees, I knew that I had to do my thing there. I went home and changed into my sweats and drove back to the lake. I parked at the far end of the parking lot so that the five minute slow paced warm up would just about get me to the path at the water’s edge, and then I picked up the pace until my pulse was throbbing and my breathing was on the edge of gasping. In spite of the strain and the effort, I was able to take note of the change that had taken place in the few hours since I was last there. It was now bout three hours later. The sun was very, very low and the shadows of the trees were long and spidery. Everything was rim lit with a golden hue. Kids were still playing and people were still walking around the lake and through the trees. The lighting was soft and subdued. It was magic light time. I’ve been aware of the existence of magic light for a long, long time. But, it never had a name. A friend of mine in television named it for me. She likes to shoot her images by that light whenever she can. And, I am grateful that we can both appreciate the beauty that exists in this world when it is lit by magic light.

My cameras were back in the car, and I had had enough of them for one day. So, I wasn’t going back for them. Another time, I will take a camera and a lens with me when I walk. But, for now.....for now I was just going to revel in the mental and emotional images that flowed through my head as I walked around the lake in that magic light. It helped to sooth me. February is a tough month for me, right now.

A family takes advantage of the winter/spring weather as they walk/ride around Belmont Lake State Park this afternoon. Photo by Dick Kraus © 1999 Newsday

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