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Thread: The one that got away . . .

  1. #1

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    2,588

    The one that got away . . .

    I suppose there are some bitter-sweet heartbreaks that one never quite forgets in life - like the one shot that you missed for some stupid reason or another. So, what's yours?

    Mine: I had my Polaroid 4x5 conversion and was walking around Union Sq in NYC, where I chanced upon some sort of Korean cultural event where the ladies where wearing their traditional long, flowing outfits and makeup. Suddenly a gust of wind comes along and they're all a-flutter as it whips their their outfits all over the place. I just barely managed to take a shot but in my excitement, I forgot to change the exposure setting and the neg come out way too underexposed.

    This was a year ago and I'm still kicking myself about it! It would have been a sweet shot.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    2,639

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    That's why if I'm out anywhere I have a Zeiss Nettar 515... for the most part it is pre-focused for 10ft to infinity; only 6x4,5cm negs but good enough for candid snapshots.

    I'm not sure whether I'll be able to shoot fast with my soon-to-be polarloid 4x5 conversion. Still excited though!


    I've missed a few great shots. Fortunately I've repressed those memories!

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Rondo, Missouri
    Posts
    2,125

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    I had just set up my 8x10 for a landscape out in Arizona. The shot had potential to be "pretty" but nothing spectacular. Everything was focused and I was waiting for a cloud to pass away from the sun, hopefully giving me scattered sun and shadow across the landscape. Then a white-tail with a large antler rack bounded into the scene, propped its front feet up onto a boulder and looked straight over at me. My thumb plunged down on the shutter release and I (stupidly) said, "Gotcha!"

    Real bummer about the shutter not being cocked. My "Gotcha" scared it away and I got my boring mundane landscape.
    Michael W. Graves
    Michael's Pub

    If it ain't broke....don't fix it!

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Posts
    9,599

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    15,000' AGL above Mt. Shasta and the flim holder siezes in the camera. Grrrr!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Westminster, MD
    Posts
    1,653

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    Photography IS a lot like fishing.
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

  6. #6

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Olympia, Washington
    Posts
    259

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    I was shooting up in the Enchanted Valley, 13 miles up the Quinault river. I had waded across several smaller channels of the river to the main stem. I was composing a shot with my 65mm with the river, a snow field, several waterfalls and Mt. Anderson off in the distance. Then a momma black bear with her one year old walked out of the woods and across the snowfield. They were on the other side of the river and maybe 50 yards up the snow field, but I'd already had three closer encounters with bear on that hike and I was feeling a bit cautious. With the 65mm they would only be black dots on bright snow. I started searching in my pack for my 450mm. I made a noise and the momma stopped and listened. She couldn't see me (they are very near-sighted) but I stopped moving around. She went into the bushes on the other side of the snow field. The one year old stopped at the edge of the snow, paused, turned around, went back to the middle of the snow field, flopped down, and slid all the way down. From now on, I'm tossing a point and shoot digital in the pack along with the 4x5.

  7. #7

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    I call him Can Man. There is a recycling centre down the hill from where I live. Every once in a while, this guy will ride on the back of a shopping cart down the hill. The shopping cart is loaded with bags of cans, even usually flowing over the edges. The cool part is that he regulates speed by tapping one foot on the ground; this helps him slow down a little if the light is not green. Sometimes he seems nearly as fast as the cars on the road. I have only managed one shot using my Nikon FM, and unfortunately it was hopelessly over-exposed. I'm still hoping for another attempt.

    Ciao!

    Gordon Moat
    A G Studio

  8. #8

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    If you could see the innumerable number of photographs of unbelievable beauty I have made on the front of dark slides you would really be impressed.

    Impressed with what, I don't know. But you would be impressed.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Dec 1997
    Location
    Baraboo, Wisconsin
    Posts
    7,697

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    Big huge sand dune in front of me angling up towards the sky at maybe a 30 degree angle, sand colored almost orange by the late afternoon sun behind me. Mountains and strange spires of some sort (kind of like Monument Valley) in the distance, great fluffy white clouds in the dark blue sky. I spend an unusually long time selecting the lens, composing, tilting this way and that, making minute adjustments to the composition, focusing, metering, getting everything exactly right for this fantastic scene that's in front of me. No need to rush things or pay attention to what the sun is doing, it isn't even close to getting dark. As I finally get everything exactly right and prepare to cock the shutter the sun abruptly drops down below the mountain behind me, all the texture, color, and lines go out of the dune, everything is in deep shadow. No photograph. I've missed many others but that's the one that sticks with me.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Gresham OR
    Posts
    1,374

    Re: The one that got away . . .

    20 years ago i was in Amman Jordan on a job. walking down a busy street my eyes catch an older man sitting in a very narrow little street shop polishing brass pots and pans, as i am just about ready to fire my Leica at him he looks up and before i can push the trigger chases me down the street slapping me a couple of time with his polishing stuff all over my face and camera. The funny thing about it was my two friends did not see what took place until the chase was on and obviously was in awe about the foot chase.
    Still think about the photo i could have had.

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