Last night, I went with the work photography group to take photos of the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg. The lights on the bridge change colour and we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to get to the 6th floor of one of our buildings for the shoot. A lot of admin and organizing to get that in place, I am sure.
I learnt a lot, that there is a whole new camera language out there, with terms like aperture and F-stop and hundreds more terms to learn. I learnt that I have a manual and auto setting on my lens, as well as on my camera itself!
I learnt that if you have to use a timer and have a wide aperture setting, you can’t hurry the process once you have pressed the button. Patience is very much part of the game. So was frustration, I kept wanting to get the pretty pink and purple or electric blue colours but mostly had to settle for the red and orange ones.
I also learnt that the spirit of camaraderie is very much alive and well in my world. I had people helping me to set up my tripod, adjust my settings and just generally enquire how I was doing the whole time. I was so impressed and grateful to know these caring colleagues, who missed a whole lot of their own photo opportunities to assist me.
Also, that the goodwill reaches beyond our company, a caretaker from a building behind the bridge that was lit up and causing lighting problems on the photos, switched off the lights of the building for the duration of our shoot. How awesome was that!
The spirit of abuntu and the ayoba feelings are not just part of the face our nation showed during the World Cup, they are things that we ordinary citizens of this fabulous country encounter every day. Take time to appreciate them!
To the bunch of people at work that have a common passion for photography,
I am very grateful.
