Scooter View Photography
... under construction...
© by Grace Wiebe
ABOUT US
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Photos with Scooter taken by D. Wiebe
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The Name 'Scooter View' |
Who are the Others? |
The name "Scooter View Photography" came into being because, due to my disabilities, my picture-taking is limited almost entirely by what I can view from my Scooter.
In the future, I would love to be able to take shots with angles from above the subject matter, from low to the ground and from the undersides of things, but at this point my perspectives and subject matter are restricted to what I am able to access with the Scooter and view from my 'scooter view'.
I am so very grateful that due to the wonders of digital cameras and my ability to again get out and about to some degree with my Scooter, I am able to enjoy and develop this form of artistic expression which is such a delight for me!
About the wonders of digital cameras...I can again take pictures, which I was unable to do for many years until digital cameras came around, since my disabled arms don't allow me to bring the 35mm type of cameras to my face so I can see my subject in the view-finder to take the picture.
I'm also very grateful to members of my family for all of their time and efforts in providing these Scooting/photography opportunities as we go on photo outtings together! Often the Scooter has to be disassembled and then re-assembled several times in one day so that it can be transported with us!
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A BIT ABOUT MY JOURNEY REGARDING PHOTOGRAPHY
My first recollections of taking pictures is of when I was quite young (about 10?) and got my first camera - a Polaroid camera! It was so much fun as a child...the incredible anticipation of seeing the picture develop before my eyes!
I used to love taking pictures, especially of our pets!
As I grew a bit older and my Polaroid camera 'bit the dust', I received a little instamatic camera from my parents for Christmas one year - a Kodak Instamatic X-15, I believe?
I used this camera for many years and took quite a few pictures, but of course the amount of pictures always depended on how much money it would cost to develop a film, and as a child my income was indeed limited! :)
Eventually this little camera, which I really enjoyed as well, also saw the end of its days. I then found a very user-friendly small 35mm camera at a garage sale, where I paid next to nothing for it! It served me well for a decade or more.
However, the older I got, the more disabled I became.
I had contracted rheumatoid arthritis in my childhood and the older I became, the more crippled my arms, hands, legs and feet, etc.became, to the point that eventually, as mentioned in the section under THE NAME above, I was unable to get a camera close enough to my face to be able to view the subject or take the picture. I also became increasingly homebound as my walking and ability to stand became increasingly restricted.
It was extremely difficult for me to increasingly miss out on spending time out in nature, which I had always deeply loved, and to have to quit taking pictures. I thought those days were gone for good!
But then in around 2003, I developed some modelling clay figurines which I wanted to develop into blank note cards (see EthniClay), and so realized I would need someone to take pictures of the figurines so that I could do this.
As I thought about some of my local photographer friends to potentially hire to do this, and how much that would cost me over time, as well as thinking about how inconvenient that would be if I had to wait for a photographer every time I had a new figurine image I wanted to make into a note card, I started thinking about other alternatives.
Eventually, suddenly the 'light went on', and it dawned on me that digital cameras, which had already been around for some years, were a perfect solution for someone like me!!!!!! Not only would that solve my problem of not being able to get the camera to my face, but it also solved a major financial aspect, since I could practice taking pictures at no cost, not like with my previous cameras!! I was thrilled and so did some research and got my first digital camera!
I started taking pictures of these figurines and of a few other things, but at that time I still did not have my Scooter and so I basically still wasn't able to get out to enjoy nature except for rare and very limited occasions.
But then about a year later, out of the blue I received an incredible answer to prayer!!! - a motorized Scooter! One of my senior friends had died and it was a total surprise to me that he had left it to me!!
I had been praying for a Scooter like that for a couple of years, but it was an impossibility in my situation, barring a miracle! At that time I didn't even know that my friend had a Scooter - and just like the one I had been praying about! It has been and continues to be an incredible blessing to me and has helped to again open up my world and give me back some of the independence that I had lost for many years!!
When I use it I can't help smiling as I remember my friend and benefactor...for various reasons! :)
Once I got my Scooter and started getting out into the neighbourhood to run errands or go to nearby parks, or just see beautiful or interesting things in the neighbourhood, suddenly it dawned on me that I could also use this to take pictures of other things and not just the figurines!! :) and so I began to do that!
I have other family members who also enjoy taking pictures, and a couple family members who have become very good at it!
So as I started to use my Scooter and camera more and more, we began to have some local family photo outtings in local parks or other places in local nature, etc., and with some help and photographic and photo editing tips from one of my brothers, I began to think about posting some of my images online, and over time decided to start a line of 'Scooter View Photography' note cards, as well.
So on this site there are images which may not necessarily be requested as a note card, but which web site visitors will hopefully enjoy viewing nevertheless.
I am involved in various forms of artistic expression, but one of my main reasons for my huge enjoyment of photography, especially of nature, is because it helps me to see and experience Creator God through His incredible wisdom, beauty, power, truth, stength, creativity and love, etc. which is expressed through His creation!
It also helps me to be able to express worship to Him as I try to capture in my photos some of the characteristics that I see/experience of Him through His creation! God is the epitome of beauty and the first way He is described in the Bible is as the Creator - God the Artist, so the more I develop in the artistic gifts, the more I also appreciate those aspects of His character/personality and the more I enjoy relating to Him about these things!
We are so blessed to be surrounded by His mind-boggling art! I am soo deeply grateful for the opportunity to be able to try to capture a hint of His beauty through photographing what He has made and having the opportunity to seek to be able to use the creativity He has given me for His own purposes.
-- by Grace Wiebe
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You will notice that on some of the pages, photos taken by a few other folks are included. These are some shots by family and friends which I thought you might also enjoy.