Missing the Shot
Water by the Green - © John Kivus, 2010
I’ve recently gone on photowalks with the intention of getting one specific shot. The first one was a shot from the green of this hole that wraps around a pond with a fountain in the middle. I have been thinking about getting this shot for a while, however, I would never interfere with someone actually playing the hole. This meant that I’ve been walking by this spot for a few months, waiting for them to have the hole marked, but also have no one playing it. I finally got that opportunity a days ago. I took a bunch of shots from different angles and perspectives and brought them home to sort. I ended up selecting one of the shots and trying to process it in some way that gave me the look I wanted. Unfortunately, I never quite got there. My favorite completed image is posted above, but it still lacks something to make it front page worthy.
Dusted with Snow - © John Kivus - 2010
Today, as I was driving home from the grocery store, I decided to take a detour past a spot that I photograph a lot. It’s a small gazebo on the edge of a pond that has a few fountains. I took a few shot sof the gazebo, trying to get the fountain in the frame too. When I walked up to the edge of the water, I noticed that a flock of geese were swimming in the pond. I ended up taking a few shots of the geese, including catching one of the geese getting ready to fly away. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a long enough lens with me to get closer shots. When I got back home to go through the shots of the gazebo, I ended up deciding that none of them really captured the feeling I wanted to convey. I decided it would be a good time to explore some of the options in Silver Efex Pro. Though I didn’t get an image that I felt belonged on the front page, I ended up with an image that I think looks kind of interesting.
If I was a better writer, here’s where I could tie the two stories together and give a lesson that I should have learned from these two experiences. Though I can’t do that, I can say that I’m glad I went out both of those days. The first day I ended up with the Tee Light shot that ended up on the front page, and the second day I ended up catching my first shot of a bird in flight (even if it isn’t worthy posting) and getting some good images to experiment with in the digital darkroom. Both days I ended up missing the shot I wanted, but ended up gaining something simply because I went out to take pictures.
