Jorge Quinteros

Brooklyn Shimmers

Even on my days off or while on vacation, I could never seem to shake off the persistent habit of waking up early. Not 9am or 10am early but more like 6am early. I’ve always felt that the earlier you jumpstart your day, the better your overall attitude will be.

But it’s not just enough about waking up early. It’s about waking up early with a purpose which is what really keeps you motivated. There comes a certain level of accomplishment and self-satisfaction from knowing that while everyone else is probably still in bed cuddling their pillow, you’ve risen earlier than most of them and have gotten a lot more done.

Four times a week, I drive to the local gym amidst the peace and quite of the early morning and having familiarized myself with how the sky typically gets at that time, I brought my camera along to retain a glimpse of it. Those early mornings all I can think of is what Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Gated Scenery

Photographers are often classified by what they shoot but I’ve come to accept there will be mornings that just won’t be a “photo taking day”. The weather might have some influence on it but mostly because I went to sleep not really having anything in mind to shoot the day after.

At the same time, I’m not against walking out with both the camera and high expectations to find anything captivating. After all, it’s the feeling of uncertainly in capturing something unexpected what makes photography exciting. You just have to be curious enough to find it.

In college, I assumed my involvement with photography would last no longer than the time it took me to write this sentence but I’ve come to enjoy the new-to-me process of taking pictures with hopes that at least a few of them would have the capacity to communicate something worthwhile.

Every day photographing for me is about practicing towards something bigger and with the weather gradually adjusting to the relevant season in New York, I was daring enough this morning to go for a bike ride at 7am all the way to the Williamsburg Bridge which is about 40 minutes away. Once you’ve seen one bridge, you’ve seen them all so if I had to choose one photograph to represent me being there, it would have to include a section of the bridge that most people wouldn’t photograph, hence the Gated Scenery.

Christmas Bells

Growing up, like any other rambunctious kids around the holidays, my brother and I would wake up around 4am and rush downstairs to open our presents. Regardless of how early we thought we rolled out of bed, our parents always had the uncanny ability to be up before us sipping coffee on the couch next to the sizable Christmas tree. Undoubtedly they were waiting for us and expected this clandestine behavior on our part.

As an adult, I still feel that excitement towards Christmas except it’s not about the presents anymore. It’s all about being around the family and any presents you get is a bonus. We failed to put up a tree this year but we compensated by decorating the outside of our home and this green holiday bell was one of the many ornaments that screamed “we’re celebrating Christmas too”.

At the Light

As I’m learning more about the technical aspects of photography and the different approaches and philosophies you can apply to really individualize your style and be more confident with your work, I’ve learned that my adoration for the camera will never start nor end with my gear.

Both cameras I own lend themselves very well to any form of shooting I may have in mind but there are moments when I’ve preferred to have one over the other and in those cases I don’t let that desire serve as an impediment for not doing my best with what I have. Normally I would have said “I don’t have the right camera” where I should be saying “I can shoot with whatever I have.”

There was one instance while on vacation where I didn’t have my dSLR with me and all we had was my wife’s point-and-shoot and when a photographic opportunity presented itself she said “oh, you don’t have your camera though”. I’m not define by my gear and neither are you.

You’re defined by your inspiration, your vision, your creativeness and in trusting your instincts to break away from your comfort zone and not trying so hard to be different but in being you.

I’m far from where I would love to be as a photographer but when friends get annoyed that I took a photograph in the same place where we both happen to be and mine gets more attention, I thrive on that because it’s not about what camera we had, it was about how differently we chose to see things around us.

Taking advantage of the dull moment that is waiting at a traffic light, I happen to have my camera with me and this is what resulted from it.