Photographer sees shots from a different angle

WASILLA — Anchorage resident Kristie Lent takes photography to a whole new level.

Born with a condition called spina bifida, Lent has been bound to a wheelchair since she was a small child. Though she recognizes it as a disability, she said it doesn’t stop her from trying to enjoy her life to the fullest.

As a means to that end, she photographs pets, people, wild animals, landscapes and more.

“It’s just kind of always been a hobby of mine,” Lent said. “When I was a kid I was always playing around with my dad’s 35-millimeter (camera).”

Lent said her grandmother was also a photographer’s assistant when she was young, further inspiring the young Lent.

But because of her birth defect, Lent has faced unique challenges in her own photography.

“I am quite limited in what I can do movement wise, so I try to look for angles that other photographers don’t normally see,” she said.

While that might make for more interesting photos sometimes, it doesn’t always produce the kind she wants. For higher angle shots, for example, she needs to first adjust the settings on her camera (such as aperture, shutter speed and exposure), then have her husband Daniel place it on a tripod, check the composition herself on a connected iPad or phone app and close the shutter remotely.

“It's a team effort, for sure,” Lent said.

Rarely does she get to take photos from a standing position, she said — only if she uses her husband as a “human tripod” — but she does have other ways of getting a different kind of picture.

“If anything I’ll throw myself out of the chair for a shot,” Lent said.

She wasn’t exaggerating. Lent remembered one occasion at Potter’s Marsh — one of her favorite shooting locations — when she strained for the best view she could get of a sandhill crane and accidently fell out of her chair.

Her instinct was to protect her camera, which her friends found rather comical.

“They laughed and said, ‘Well, she’s obviously a photographer, she cares more about the shot than herself,’” Lent said.

While birds are common and popular subjects in her photography — a headshot of a bald eagle is on of the best-selling prints on her website — Lent said she particularly loves to photograph the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

“The Iditarod is the highlight of my year,” she said.

Lent shot the event casually for a while, until a fellow freelance photographer told her she could get media credentials to cover the event.

“Since then I have immersed myself in it more and more, year after year,” she said.

Lent quickly became friends with several mushers, especially in the Willow area.

So when the Sockeye fire hit last summer, she wanted not to photograph the damage, but to help in a tangible way. Lent and a friend started a GoFundMe.com account for Operation Doghouse, raising funds to help build and coordinate the construction of more than 100 doghouses for mushers like Jaimee and Justin High, Jan Steves and Mary Helwig, who all lost homes in the fire.

“It was a very fun project and very rewarding,” Lent said.

Lent is also a contributing writer for “The Sled Dogger” magazine and has had articles published in the spina bifida newsletter, “Insights.”

‘Wheels for Kris’

Lent has managed to become an accomplished photographer with the gear she has, but hopes to increase her abilities with the help of a new, high-tech wheelchair.

On a GoFundMe.com page called “Wheels for Kris,” Lent has asked friends, family and other supporters to help her raise money for the patent-pending Action Trackchair, an all-terrain wheelchair produced in Minnesota. The chair, which costs almost $16,000, Lent said, would allow her to travel much easier over snow, ice, mud, gravel, sand and tall or thick grass, for example.

That’s a lot more difficult to do in the chair she has now.

“A lot of times, on a particular trail, even though it’s flat, Daniel will have to help push every once in a while,” Lent said. “All we have to do is hit something just right and I’m flyin’ out of the chair if I’m not paying attention.”

With the new chair, she won’t have to expend so much energy trying to get unstuck from a muddy or snowy area, either. The new chair would also have a longer battery life, which will help Lent get to more remote places for photo shoots.

And finally, she’ll be able to stand to take photos herself thanks to its stand-up feature.

Lent said this will not only allow her more independence, but will help her regain some strength and increase circulation in her legs, while also relieving pressure on her backside from sitting too long.

On Wednesday, March 30, Lent got to test-drive the Trackchair in Anchorage, and became even more enamored with the device.

“I can say now 100% now that this chair is not just for pleasure. It will save me so much energy which means that I will be able to stay outside longer,” she wrote on the GoFundMe.com page.

With shipping and other necessary specifications, the chair will cost around $23,000, of which Lent has currently raised $7,010. To donate to the cause, visit www.gofundme.com/wheelsforkris.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.