Surgery leads man to explore new hobby of photography

Hormel mechanic Rob Heijerman missed four months of work this year because of back surgery.

The time off allowed the Albert Lea man to find a new passion: photography.

Heijerman’s photographs mainly capture landscapes and long exposures of nature and wildlife.

“I like adjusting the settings to try to get what I want out of it,  things like that — mostly try to get pictures come from different aspects, different perspectives,” he said.

“I always like things that people wouldn’t normally see … the same pictures, different view.”

Heijerman purchased a digital single-lens reflex camera in May.

“Over time you learn what you can and cannot do, and once I understood the settings, then it was just fun to play with,” he said.

Heijerman hopes to continue to take pictures and encouraged other people do the same.

“I don’t think a lot of people know it, but taking a picture of lightning is pretty easy, almost,” he said. “I’d love to actually start making some quick videos showing people that. For $500 you can buy a pretty nice DSLR and two lenses and everything, so you can get them shots yourself.”

An Albert Lea area resident, Heijerman said though his photography is not a business, he is available to take pictures for people who want family, senior or landscape photos.