One Moment: A Short Photo Story.

One Moment: A Short Photo Story.

Ultimately this is why I do this. Take photos. A moment. Has not happened before. Will not happen again.

Let me back up. I took a LOT of photos this day. Saturday. Wrote a couple of posts about it. Many photos will never see the light of day. Many passed as good enough. Some I really like.

Some with the two film cameras I had in tow…

…and the rest with the one digital camera. All manual focus this day for some reason. There is one that is sticking with me though.

A father and daughter at a garden sharing a wonderful moment. A wonderful moment in a beautiful setting and I am thankful to have captured it.

The tool played a part also. I was justifying my decision to be “rational” and hold onto a lens rather than trade it for the sake of lens brand consistency. Nonsense. Wrote a whole post in defense of keeping, but all I need is one image.

As I walked my regular gear testing route around these gardens before the topic of this post I took this film image.

Then I heard them before I saw them. He was taking photos as she tossed pebbles into the water. Then my sight broadened. The trees. The leaves. The bridge in the background. The boarded walkway in the foreground. The calm water surface reflecting the leaves. It was a lot to take in. So now to focus. Here I arguably chose the worst possible tool for this task. A tele length lens with a many years old digital manual focus rangefinder. Wait for the pebble to hit the water and…

I love this image.

Of all the images taken this day this one is special to me. For so many reasons. Images like this are exactly why I do this. This is a tactile representation of the joy that photography gives me. Not likes. Not getting published. Not paid work. Is it possible to take a photo that inspires me while doing paid work? Yes. And it has happened. But the two need not be mutual. It is more important that the customer gets what they are looking for. Or better yet something they would not have imagined. This feeling I have when I look at this image is the why. Does anyone else feel the same way about this photo? Likely not. But that is ok. Others have their own inspiration.

So… I am definitely keeping this lens by the way.

Could I have taken this photo with something else?

For certain.

Will this photo irrationally put this camera and lens into “pry them from my hands” status?

Very likely yes.

Is this a rational photography decision?

What is?

None of this is rational. That is largely why I love photography.

Anyhoo. I could continue until I have managed to roll everyone’s eyes, so I will stop myself here.

<cough> I love this image.

Happy capturing.

-ELW