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Thread: Shot abandonment

  1. #21
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    What about something even more fun?! Take a photograph (or decide not to take it), then without moving the tripod find another image in the opposite direction.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  2. #22
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Watson View Post
    ...I don't think I've abandoned even one where I've inserted a film holder in the camera.
    Feh. I stand corrected.

    My wife reminded me of a shot I abandoned after pulling the dark slide. I was in the middle of a river. Found a rock with room for me and my tripod and not much else, so my pack was still on the bank. Nice composition that was improving with the light changing (it was near dusk IIRC).

    Anyway, I was... being a photographer. Absorbed in the work. And I heard wife screaming from the bank which took me out of my flow state. I finally looked over and she was pointing at the sky. At the wall of water (rain) that was about to drench me. I pointed to the pack and yelled run. She was already running for the car (she has always been the smart one...). I took enough time to shove the darkslide back into that filmholder (didn't want to loose it) and started hopping rocks with the camera/tripod slung over my back (I doubt I could do that now). I hit the bank running, made about 20 meters when I heard the rain hit the river. I did not look back.

    Wife had back of car open and was already in the passenger seat. I shoved the camera/tripod toward the front of the car less gently than I would have liked and she grabbed it by the ball head and hauled it forward while I shut the hatch. I made it into the driver's seat just as the rain made it to the car. My left arm and left boot got drenched, along with the inside of the door. Everything else miraculously dry. Or at least as dry as you could expect from such a day as that.

    So yes, I did abandon at least one shot while my finger was on the trigger. Oh well. One that got away close to 20 years ago maybe. And I never made it back to that spot again when conditions worked out for a shot. Which is as we all know just how it goes.

    Bruce Watson

  3. #23
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    What about something even more fun?! Take a photograph (or decide not to take it), then without moving the tripod find another image in the opposite direction.
    One of my primary rules is "look at what everyone else is looking at, then turn around and look directly behind you." It's amazing what else is around -- interesting scenes seldom occur in isolation in my experience. And it sounds like you perhaps agree with that philosophy. Heheheh.

    I learned this at a waterfall in New England somewhere (Vermont?). The "good" view of the waterfall was on a chunk of land that stuck out into the river somewhat. But the excellent view from that spot wasn't the waterfall, it was the view directly opposite -- a startlingly white builder, nearly spherical (maybe 2m diameter) sitting on the dark edge of the cliff that dropped straight into the river after the fall, maybe 10m (as the crow flies) from where I was standing. Dark soil, dark trees, deep shade, everything wet, and this large white boulder seemingly hanging in space about to fall into the river (though I'm sure it had been there hundreds of years looking just about like that).

    That print is still in my dining room hanging where my wife can see it whenever we eat in there (at least once a day). She won't let me take it down. I made a print of the waterfall too, probably in a file somewhere...

    Bruce Watson

  4. #24
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Something a little similar, Bruce...I was photographing Bridalvail Falls from up close with the 8x10. Had the falls on the GG, made an adjustment, looked at the GG and no falls. Poked my head out from the darkcloth, looked up to see all the the falls heading straight down at me. Closed my pack, kept the darkcloth over the whole camera, and held on to the pod.

    Not a lot of water in the falls in February...thankfully.

    Still got the shot once the falls moved back to where it was suppose to be. Meh...hate it when the story is better than the image.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  5. #25
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    Not a lot of water in the falls in February...thankfully.
    Because... snowmelt! That had to be cold. I hope you were wearing a good jacket with a hood.

    Bruce Watson

  6. #26
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    I was in the shade, too. It was cool enough that I already had my rainjacket on! My boys and I drove up the road a little past the tunnel. There is a rock wall along the road in the sun -- got the camera out and started drying everything while we had lunch.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  7. #27
    Scott Davis
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    I've walked away from shots that I set up because there are times when discretion is the better part of valor, or having stuff to do is the better part of patience. Sometimes you set up a shot, anticipating something happening, but then it just won't cooperate in the time that you have to make the shot, and if you don't move on, the next shot you want to take isn't going to happen either.

  8. #28
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Davis View Post
    …the better part of patience…
    There's a situation where I've abandoned a shot a few times, even after dark slide is pulled, and cable is in hand…

    People in Washington, Oregon, and N. Calif. will perhaps understand my "pain." ;^)

    A mature forest, under redwoods and red cedars, limited light under a thick canopy, a long shutter speed, patiently, patiently, waiting for forest-floor ferns to quit shivering ... just for a brief moment ... just for a single window of opportunity ... that never arrives.

    I've waited too long, too many times this way – but enjoying the forest silence helps compensate for the shot abandonment (well, most of the time).

  9. #29
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    When practicing for a musical performance, I don't pantomime the fingerings, fake-blow into my instrument, and then do a couple of spot run-throughs with the accompanist before the concert.

    No, I practice diligently every part, with plenty of full run-throughs both by myself, as well as with the accompanist, trying different things and making sure we're in sync. As well as letting other musicians and mentors listen in and give opinions.

    If one tends to "abandon" a shot anytime they think it won't work out in the end, they're denying themselves the opportunity to learn why it didn't work, at least in my view. Sometimes I think we need to take the shot and go through the whole process to viewing a print before deciding, nope, wasn't worth it.

    I also note a few times where I couldn't even see what I was shooting or had to setup so fast due to changing conditions that I didn't know if the shot was going to be any good, even sometimes being unable to look at the GG at all except to focus. Some of these photos would be considered among my personal "best." I tend to make sure I have enough film on-hand to not have to worry about running out, which is certainly a valid concern with LF.
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  10. #30
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Shot abandonment

    Quote Originally Posted by Heroique View Post
    ...I've waited too long, too many times this way – but enjoying the forest silence helps compensate for the shot abandonment (well, most of the time).
    Funny, I'll be in the woods photographing with someone (rare) and I'll mention that there is a light breeze -- and the other will not have noticed it. I'll point out a fern tip that is swaying or something like that. My arm and leg hair notice the slightest movement of air. Other times the air is still, but there will be big drops of water occassionally hitting a fern or some other major part of the image.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

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