A Revelation of Sorts
I first noticed him inside the Aquarium part of the Zoo. It was our first trip of the year. Because of the looming threat of more craptacular weather, there weren't that many people around. He stuck out like a sore thumb as he hauled his massive wooden case to and fro. As I stood by the jellyfish, trying to find a good angle for a photo, he popped open the case. My jaw literally fell to the floor as drool gushed out. Inside that case was Every Photography Fan's Dream. Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of high-end equipment sat carefully placed all through the case that was big enough to hold a kid.
The old man carefully selected a lens, set up his tripod, and began to adjust the settings on his camera. I flushed a bit from embarrassment as I turned and snapped this shot:
I thought to myself that I wish I could get the amazing photo I knew he would get. Mine was a tiny bit out of focus, but I had fallen behind Mr. Husband and Alexis, so I didn't want to take the time to adjust camera settings and find a more stable way to hold the camera.
As the little old man shot what were sure to be stunning shots of the jellyfish, I turned over my shoulder and grabbed a quick shot of the octopus.
Peering in my viewfinder, I was happy overall with the lighting in the shot, but then I thought about how much better my 50mm lens would be for capturing the vivid colors. I thought about switching lenses, but then realized I had fallen even further behind my little family, so I continued on.
I caught up with them at the polar bear exhibit, just in time to see one of the polar bears jump into a waterfall. I quickly pulled my camera to my face and started snapping. And snapping. And snapping. I knew the photos wouldn't be ideal. The sun shone harshly down on the scene, so the white balance would be out of whack. The thick plexiglass surrounding the exhibit would further dull the colors. Just as I began pondering going into full manual and trying to correct the situation, the little old man appeared.
Again he carefully opened his case, this time grabbing a meter before selecting a lens. He started to set up his tripod as I stood clicking away, slightly embarrassed that I wasn't using my camera the "right" way in the presence of obvious greatness. As I continued to snap photos, the polar bear grabbed a toy ring and slung it around his face before strutting across the exhibit.
And just as quickly as the play time started, it stopped.
The little old man never managed to get a single shot; he was still setting up his tripod when the action concluded.
Fact: I *can* use my camera in full manual mode. I know how to use every setting, even if I sometimes don't remember the technical term for what I'm doing. The terms usually come to me later.
Fact: Other than turning off the flash (which I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS do) I generally run around in auto mode. I switch to correct things if the opportunity arises, but often it does not.
Fact I learned, courtesy the little old man: Sometimes it's better to do things the "wrong" way than it is to miss the moment entirely.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Reader Comments (25)
I love your photographs. And, you're right. Although you may not be using "expert" technique all the time, you catch what's important. And, you catch so many parts of A's life that would otherwise fly by.
What an AWESOME story with a great moral!! Thanks so much for it.
On another note, I so need to get into photography. I just love taking pictures but I don't even know where to start. The pictures you get and put on your blog are always awesome. I really hope you're proud of them regardless of "doing it wrong" ;)
those photos are GORGEOUS. I like them even more now that I know the story behind them!
I totally agree! Trying to take a picture of a three year old in manual mode is like... I don't even know. Something basically impossible. There's just simply not enough time to think, I'd miss EVERYTHING! I use the 'P' setting on my camera and just let it do the work for me for most shots- and 99% of the time, it's exactly right.
But I DO love having the OPTION to play around, usually with slower-moving objects than Maggie, like CHEETAHS or RACECARS. ha! And that's when I learn the most, obviously, but it's not when I usually get my favorite shots. (and I hardly ever go full manual- usually 'Tv' or 'A', where I only have to control one setting)
Either way: I love taking pictures. And those zoo pictures are awesome!
All that counts is that you capture what you want, correct lighting be damned (Though it does break my heart a little at the thought of the old man trying to set his stuff up in time, but I have a soft spot for old people).
@Andrea--I KNOW. I kinda wanted to go over and help him so that he'd get set up in time, but it seemed like the process was part of the enjoyment for him. I bet he spends a lot of time there because he only stopped at certain exhibits and always seemed to know where he was going when he moved on.
Word. That green square is there for a reason.
This one.
Perfect post.
really? How can you think these aren't great shots??
Gorgeous photos and a great story! Who wants to haul all of that equipment around anyway? I know I wouldn't. Definitely prefer being able to catch moments like those before they go away, rather than standing around waiting for them to happen.
With all the awesome and free photo editing sites out there (like photo flex and picnik) you can make your pictures look super professional, with no old man tripod weighing you down and making you miss those perfect shots. I say, stay the course.
@Tiffany--My mission is, and will always be, to get SOOC shots that I'm happy with. I'm not patient enough to spend a lot of time editing photos. That said, I did pull the polar bear shot into Picnik and boost the colors a bit. They're still too washed out, but they definitely needed a little bump to make them "tolerable." The other three shots in the post are SOOC, though.
Wonderful!
Since I have only a Cannon Powershot SD400 and know nothing about any of the settings, I do everything the wrong way!
I do not own photoshop either so I have no way of editing them when I'm done.
But at least I've captured moments!
As someone who just started using a DSLR, it's nice to hear that it's okay to stay in auto mode!! I'm learning how to change it up, but I don't feel so bad now about keeping it easy!
Also, I go to the Pittsburgh Zoo ALL THE TIME. The polar bear is one of our favorite animals, but he's never doing anything when we're there! We're very jealous that you got to see him swimming and playing!!
So true! I'd far rather have a less than perfect shot than none at all. Also, Best Shots Ever. You rock.
i'm seriously loving the octopus shot. way cool.
and your girl in those glasses is just priceless.
now i wanna go to the zoo and hang out with that old dude.
:)
I kinda love this post. You know I do. It makes me happy.
I have stepped away from auto thanks to the newspaper but I still blow photos every now and then because of it. Instead of a flock of turkeys in a snowstorm, yesterday I created a flock of turkeys at midnight (trying to use outdoor, daytime settings to capture my freshly baked peach cobbler indoors at night). Oops.
@FireMom I HATE WHEN I DO THAT. And I do it a lot. I do work in full manual quite often, but auto is my default. I used to think that was a bad thing, but that little old man made me realize that sometimes life doesn't wait for manual and that's OK.
You rock in so many ways I can't even list them! What an awesome post and what an awesome lesson. And the pictures? Also AWESOME.
I have been lusting after a DSLR camera for a little while and the moral of your story is what is holding me back from taking the plunge. I am a manual junky and one who wants to get it 'just right' and I can't bear to think of what I might miss if I am too busy fussing with settings and the like. I am sure at some point I will finally cave, and when I do, I will be rereading this to make sure I get it right!
'Sometimes it's better to do things the "wrong" way than it is to miss the moment entirely'
if those aren't words to live by...
So there is hope for me and photography after all? ;)
WOW! Those photos are absolutely magical! Just perfect! Yahooo!!!!
Same lesson applies to business. My last boss suffocated everything with his brand of everything-has-to-be-done-exactly-like-I-would-do-it. The way you learned that lesson sounds infinitely more pleasant.
Good photography is one part good camera, one part good eye, and one part luck. You seem to have all 3 going for you.
I love your photos. Great job!!! Who needs fancy camera equipment anyways? Some of my favorite shots are with my kit lens in auto mode.
What a great lesson! I recently completed a photography class, trying to FINALLY learn more about shooting in manual mode, but at the end of the day, I think the main lessons I walked away with were to shoot in RAW format to preserve the maximum editing abililty, and how to "fix" things in postproduction using Photoshop. I did a lot of manual shooting for eight weeks, but back in the "real" world, I find that auto is much more convenient for capturing my constantly-in-motion 3-year old. Great pics!
It's so obvious that the little camera guy is not a mom. It's a lesson we learn very early on. :)