Missing the Good Shots [Archive] - Large Format Photography Forum

Brian C. Miller

25-Jun-2014, 15:01

ROL

25-Jun-2014, 18:48

Indeed. Marshmallows = hazardous material. Why would be that be newsworthy?

FWIW (little to nothing), I have nothing but second or third best moments, correlated with the size of the camera. The only fortunate thing is that viewers of my fine art prints never got to see, or apparently care about, the missed shot I fretted over. (Im)proving a negative?

ic-racer

25-Jun-2014, 19:04

Do you ever feel that you've missed the good shots?

Only when sitting at my computer typing....

Bob Sawin

28-Jun-2014, 13:50

I think the real "money shot" would have been a raccoon dragging a screaming man through Edmonds…

Bruce Watson

29-Jun-2014, 06:38

Do you ever feel that you've missed the good shots? I remember reading that photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments.

I highly dispute the contention that "photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments". Balderdash!

I started in LF photography explicitly to get away from the "capture the moment" mode. Rather than reacting to events, I wanted to take my time and think about what I was trying to do, and consciously make a photograph rather than reactively take a snapshot.

Heroique

29-Jun-2014, 11:46

I remember reading that photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments.

Well, the dynamic tension of several famous AA landscapes will remind one of an unfolding moment – images that elegantly beg, "What came before?" and "What comes next?" His clouds often contribute to this effect (for example, "Half Dome, Cottonwood Trees, Yosemite Valley").

Others are beautifully "at rest," not suggesting the tension of a narrative. His cloud-free moons often convey these non-unfolding moments (for example, "Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley," etc.).

Mysteriously to me anyway, even those "at rest" still communicate a felt rhythm, a cycle of unfolding moments beneath the surface.

Brian C. Miller

29-Jun-2014, 22:32

Adams photographed a number of unfolding moments, and also a lot of serene moments, and a few unfolding serene moments.

From Weegee on Weegee:
And why I think the definition of a news shot would be this, a news picture rather, I once photographed and did a story on Steiglitz, truly a great photographer. And we started talking about things and he said, “Something happens, it’s a thousandth part of a fleeting second. It’s up to the photographer to capture that on film because like a dying day, the thing will never come back again.”

While a screaming man dragging a dead raccoon on a leash is "unfolding," it sure ain't serene. And I'm not sure how much elegance could be put into that, even with marshmallows. It's almost a Weegee photograph, but I'm not sure that even NYC got that weird. Definitely was fleeting, though.

Michael Graves

30-Jun-2014, 05:33

I highly dispute the contention that "photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments". Balderdash!

I started in LF photography explicitly to get away from the "capture the moment" mode. Rather than reacting to events, I wanted to take my time and think about what I was trying to do, and consciously make a photograph rather than reactively take a snapshot.

Bruce, I sort of agree with you and sort of don't. Like you, I tend to avoid highly dynamic subjects. Sporting events, moving models and so forth are fine for other, but I like my natural elements and my touch of man images. Still, I find myself regularly setting up and waiting for the light to be just right. Let that cloud move from there to there. How long before the sun peeks through lights up that hill in the background. Those are the decisive moments of nature that I wait for.

Jmarmck

30-Jun-2014, 05:52

I agree with Michael and Bruce. BUT, when I walk out my door in those just post sundown moments and see a low building cloud in the dusk of the evening and the brightly lit towering mass behind it, with detail in both mind you. I think, "Get the gear!" In the time it takes to go back in, grab the gear which is ever ready, get back to the point which I turned around; the entire scene changes. Time wise, maybe less than a couple minutes, and the lower cloud is completely gone or turned to shredded tissue whilst the tower is completely lost all definition due to light loss and dissipation. While a dying thunderstorm can be fluid and graceful, it means nothing if there is no light on it. The moment is gone.

Yes, that is poor planning on my part but those are the shots I regret not even getting a chance to screw up.

John Kasaian

30-Jun-2014, 06:36

There is a difference between the newsworthy, criminal evidence, and embarrassing people suffering from emotional problems.
I'm not sure where the raccoon photo would fit in there but it would definitely be a Speed Graphic subject.
Embarrassing photos, like Britney on the wrecking ball, leave me with bad feelings just like seeing a bully tease a handicapped person.
Only the teasing eventually stops, while embarrassing images live forever in cyber land.
The passing of light and clouds and water as well as people's expressions are fleeting----for every "good shot" there are countless others that are un-photographed. Sure I regret loosing them, but they aren't really lost, just archived somewhere in my mind. Fretting over them would be like a fisherman regretting all the fish he left in the sea.

Brian C. Miller

30-Jun-2014, 07:41

... like Britney on the wrecking ball ...

Spears? Let's see, there was one major newspaper a number of years back that decided that for the next two weeks or so it wouldn't cover Britney Spears, just because they had enough of her. As it happened, there wasn't any news about Britney during their self-enforced news blackout, so nobody actually noticed. But after it got out about what they had done, there was all sorts of hoo-haw about censorship, fourth estate, yadda yadda yadda. Personally, I had hoped that the idea would catch on.

Of course, other than the man's reported actions, we don't know if he suffered from mental problems or if he was on drugs, or both. He may also have been a sane person who just got through meeting with middle management and had a nervous breakdown. Yes, definitely a shot for a press camera.

If I were given the opportunity of getting a good photograph of a guy dragging a dead raccoon, would I click the shutter? Yes! It's life, it's real, it has happened. It's the neighborhood.

invisibleflash

30-Jun-2014, 08:04

Do you ever feel that you've missed the good shots? I remember reading that photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments.

And then this caught my eye. Seattle Times: Screaming man with dead raccoon in Mukilteo (http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/06/screaming-man-with-dead-raccoon-in-mukilteo/)

Sure, I miss some. I can't get em all. But I still get plenty of nice pix. We just have to do the best we can.

cabbiinc

30-Jun-2014, 08:25

... like Britney on the wrecking ball,...

I believe that you're thinking of Miley or Ron on the wrecking ball.

Bruce Watson

30-Jun-2014, 08:33

...I find myself regularly setting up and waiting for the light to be just right. ... Those are the decisive moments of nature that I wait for.

I think of it differently. Where you might be waiting for the moment, I'm waiting for light. I'm not interested in a slice of time, I'm interested in the quality of light. Said another way, I don't equate waiting for the planet to turn, or the clouds to move, to be a decisive moment in the way that Henri Cartier-Bresson made famous.

That said, I think we are basically violently agreeing.

Jmarmck

30-Jun-2014, 10:31

Yup!

BetterSense

30-Jun-2014, 10:37

I like what Winogrand said in an interview, when asked if he was worried about missing photo opportunities when he had to stop and reload his Leica:

"No. There are no pictures when I'm reloading."

Michael Graves

30-Jun-2014, 12:22

That said, I think we are basically violently agreeing.

My wife and I do that all the time. I'm not sure what that says about you and I.

analoguey

30-Jun-2014, 14:14

Alan Gales

30-Jun-2014, 14:27

Embarrassing photos, like Britney on the wrecking ball,

Here you go, John. It's Miley but both young ladies are embarrassing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8

Jmarmck

30-Jun-2014, 15:53

Ya know, there is a point in everyone's life when they realize that they have gotten old. Somehow this one does it for me............thanks a lot Alan.

BrianShaw

30-Jun-2014, 17:06

Ya, I know what you mean. What's up with those tattoos? I'll never understand tattoos.

evan clarke

30-Jun-2014, 17:13

Decide if you wanted to see the subject in the first place.If no, pass. If maybe, think about whether or not you would want to see it on your wall every day. If not, find another subject.

ROL

30-Jun-2014, 18:18

Ya, I know what you mean. What's up with those tattoos? I'll never understand tattoos.

I recommend a thorough course of study of any/both genders of your choice at any 'alt' venue or event like Coachella, SXSW, Lightning in a Bottle, etc. – followed up with advanced curriculum at Burning Man. Learning can be a good thing. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

cabbiinc

30-Jun-2014, 20:40

Here you go, John. It's Miley but both young ladies are embarrassing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8

I'll see your Miley and raise you a Ron. Old guys can be embarrassing too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xljA6zJn4I

Alan Gales

30-Jun-2014, 21:54

I'll see your Miley and raise you a Ron. Old guys can be embarrassing too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xljA6zJn4I

I fold. You win! :D

invisibleflash

1-Jul-2014, 08:24

I highly dispute the contention that "photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments". Balderdash!

I started in LF photography explicitly to get away from the "capture the moment" mode. Rather than reacting to events, I wanted to take my time and think about what I was trying to do, and consciously make a photograph rather than reactively take a snapshot.

This is all up to personal taste. LF is not conducive to action and fleeting moments. If you want to do reportage go small format.

Murray Becker, one of the all time greats, got off 3 - 4 x 5 shots in 45 seconds or so at the Hindenburg crash.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/75-years-since-the-hindenburg-disaster/100292/

invisibleflash

1-Jul-2014, 08:32

Do you ever feel that you've missed the good shots? I remember reading that photography's greatest forte is capturing unfolding moments.

And then this caught my eye. Seattle Times: Screaming man with dead raccoon in Mukilteo (http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/06/screaming-man-with-dead-raccoon-in-mukilteo/)

If you worry about it just carry a little pocket cam. I got a Sony 20mp. I shot 40% of one of my books with it. It does decent work.(just) But if your hardcore LF you won't like the results. Pack something larger like a Fuji X.

Brian C. Miller

1-Jul-2014, 09:44

If you worry about it just carry a little pocket cam.

Oh, you mean literally instead of figuratively or sarcastically? I use medium format.

I've learned again and again that an 8x10 is never fast to set up. If I need a quick shot, a 645 is always good.

Lester Moore

6-Jul-2014, 10:19

Do you ever feel that you've missed the good shots?

In the backcountry, it often feels like "missing the shot" when my previously scouted locations don't deliver the shot I had preconceived due to lighting, wind, or not setting up in time or in the best position. Those fleeting moments at sunrise and sunset, with alpenglow on the clouds and peaks reflected in a still mountain lake, are a complete joy to capture when the conditions are right. Thankfully, there's another good shot around the corner, often unexpected, for every one that's apparently missed due to conditions. An quite often, the "best shots" for me may be mediocre to most people but they bring up memories and feeling in me of a special moment, place or person. And the more thankful I am for the shots I do get, the less "missed shots" I seem to have.