Luck in Photography vers 15
The Luck in Photography pages are my attempt to acknowledge luck, or timing, or simply being in the right place at the right time, and how they contribute to a photograph.
That is not to say having an intimate knowledge of your equipment and good reflexes when an opportunity arises don’t matter; they certainly do, but happening to be in a location when something of photographic interest happens, is often simply a matter of, luck, so I like to give credit, or at least partial credit, where it is due.
Recently I met my son and his family in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for lunch at a small restaurant near La Fonda Hotel and down the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
When we finished lunch and were headed back to our cars I noticed a black vintage Cadillac parked at the curb in front of the Cathedral.
I had taken a lot of photos of the cathedral over the years but this car parked in front made a perfect combination.
In that part of Santa Fe, traffic is always bustling, so I had to time my photo to exclude any passing cars and just include the Cadillac.
I finally got one frame where there weren’t any distracting cars passing about a minute prior to the Cadillac’s driver climbing in and driving off.
I tried editing a few versions, two in black and white and one extremely modified image. I felt the color most closely matched the retro feel of the scene in my mind.
Epilogue
So, in this instance, if our lunch had lasted longer, or if the driver of the Cadillac had driven off when a car was passing, obscuring my vision and opportunity to take a photo, this photo would not exist.
That is not to say having an intimate knowledge of your equipment and good reflexes when an opportunity arises don’t matter; they certainly do, but happening to be in a location when something of photographic interest happens, is often simply a matter of, luck, so I like to give credit, or at least partial credit, where it is due.
Recently I met my son and his family in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for lunch at a small restaurant near La Fonda Hotel and down the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
When we finished lunch and were headed back to our cars I noticed a black vintage Cadillac parked at the curb in front of the Cathedral.
I had taken a lot of photos of the cathedral over the years but this car parked in front made a perfect combination.
In that part of Santa Fe, traffic is always bustling, so I had to time my photo to exclude any passing cars and just include the Cadillac.
I finally got one frame where there weren’t any distracting cars passing about a minute prior to the Cadillac’s driver climbing in and driving off.
I tried editing a few versions, two in black and white and one extremely modified image. I felt the color most closely matched the retro feel of the scene in my mind.
Epilogue
So, in this instance, if our lunch had lasted longer, or if the driver of the Cadillac had driven off when a car was passing, obscuring my vision and opportunity to take a photo, this photo would not exist.
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