The lucky shot.

They happen more often to some people than others!

There is very little luck in a good photo. Even in timing the click. I once heard Karsh in an interview say something like “Lucky shot? Funny, It’s always the same photographers who get lucky.”

You know it’s not luck if you can reproduce the same (or very similar) photo again and again.

One of our readers (thanks Heather!) shared a link to some ‘Lucky Shots‘ with some commentary about luck and photography. What do you think?

What’s been your luckiest moment in photography?!

One of my luckiest moments was meeting Pierre St Jacques many, many years ago on the edge of a cliff, in the blackness of night as we were preparing to photograph fireworks. He knew what he was doing… I think we scared each other silly. Pierre was a veteran photographer who took some time to offer some advice as I was getting my business going.

Fireworks Photography

Wednesday night we are opening the doors to our studio for people to come visit and talk about photo related fun.

This week we’ll have a large format camera out for people to see. It’s an old way of shooting. The process is SLOW.

Ansel Adams used to spend  weeks or weekends in the mountains with his 8×10 camera and something like 6 sheets of film. That means 6 clicks, exposures or photos. Only.

The beauty of medium or large format imagery is wasted on photo blogs. The work shines when looking at the film or large prints.

It’s not the current way or the right way for many things but it’s a beautiful way to shoot.

Bring your favourite old equipment to share at the studio. Be nosy. It’s free.

Come visit:

Wednesday, April 4th, 6-8pm

OttawaStudioWorks.com

160 Preston St; between Somerset and Gladstone.

Graflex - large format camera

Many, many years ago, way before DSLR cameras were even imagined, people shot photos on large film like 4×5. That’s big film – 20 square inches of detail. It can be extraordinary.

And I just saw Pavel Kosenko’s site of archived imagery from WW II shot on 4×5 Kodachrome (thanks for the link, Darrell Larose). The photos are quite amazing. Have a look.

Modern digital is amazing, too, for many modern uses.

… But for certain applications a good large format shot can’t be beat, especially if you are printing BIG. The detail is impressive close-up. In Watershed I chose to shoot most of the work on larger film formats including 6×7 (cm), 4×5 (inch) and  24×58 (mm) film.

Lovely.

A couple of our photo course/program graduates have discovered the beauty of film and older technology equipment – rangefinder cameras and exceptional glass. They can be inexpensive (used) and impressive.

Have you ever shot large format film? When was the last time you shot film at all?!

Watershed Photo Exhibit - shot on medium and large format film

On Facebook today I asked “If you could get ONE excellent photo this spring what would it be?”

There were some fun responses revolving around kids, macro, dragonflies.

Inspiration!

On a walk with the dog tonight I started thinking about the question and realized it’s the starting point of much of my creative work – imaginative daydreaming:

• What if?

• How big?

• What lens?

• How would I make that work?

Good photos start with imagination and imagination starts with questions. Questions come from inspiration which often happens when I am outside with my dog!

So, I ask you, blog-o-sphere:

“What do you want to shoot this spring?”

Please tell us, below. In a month we’re gonna ask to see some photos and here some stories – we’ll post some responses on the blog.