When the Oops is the One
A fumble, a dirty window, and one of my favorite photos
You know how you see a scene and instantly know it’s something special?
You grab your camera, start shooting and immediately realize dang it, my settings are all wrong. Still set for night photography. Or yesterday’s sunset. And of course, the lens isn’t right. But there’s no time. The light is changing fast. You fumble. Adjust. Fumble again.
That was this moment.
It was 7:14 a.m. when I opened the blackout shade in the hotel and saw amazing light. The sun was rising, just peeking around the edge of a skyscraper. Shafts of light were hitting parts of 58th Street while the rest was still in shadow.
And I knew this was a narrow aperture/sun-as-starburst effect moment.
But I was already a few seconds too late. The sun was between the buildings, not just peeking around them.
Still, I picked up my camera and took the shot. Click. Nope. Not it.
My camera was still set for shooting Times Square at night. Totally wrong for this.
I adjusted, refocused, tried again. Better. Not great. Meter off the sky. Try again.
Then something weird: What’s all that junk in the frame? Reflections?
Move closer. Lens on the glass. Keep going.
A few minutes later, it was over. The sun shifted and the light was gone. The whole street was back in shadow.
Pro tip: the window of opportunity to catch light between skyscrapers is short. Be ready. And maybe open the blackout shade a little earlier next time.
I didn’t think about those shots again until I got home.
The first image? Total mess. No surprises there.
But the second? Huh. That’s kind of interesting.
Wait…that wasn’t a reflection. That was bokeh.
And then —
The third image?
Oh wow.
It was pure luck. I didn't get the shot I envisioned, I got something different and completely unexpected. I’d forgotten the trick about pressing the lens right up to the glass to avoid reflections, and that error — the distance from the window, a happenstance angle, the light hitting water spots and grime on the window just right — made a bokeh burst in the perfect spot.
If that bokeh had landed anywhere else, this would’ve been a throwaway. I couldn’t have planned this, and I doubt I could recreate it. Most of my mistakes end up in the bin. But not this one. I actually love it.
And because I almost always do, I converted it to black and white. That’s when, for me, it popped. The light, the geometry, the contrast, all the things I love, without the distraction of color.
This is why I don’t delete in-camera.
I like to look at my images on a bigger screen so I can really see them. The whole image at once. Up close. Not zoomed in on a 3.2 inch display on the back of my camera. Hunting pixel by pixel. Dragging the magnified view around and getting lost.
This happens to you too, right?
More importantly, I like to give myself some time and space between what I wanted to capture and what I actually captured.
Because sometimes
well maybe rarely
okay hardly ever
the oops is the one.
Got one of those? I'd love to hear about it. Or better yet - show me!
—Denice
yes, interesting how in color it is kind of dull but really pops in black and white
The great black and white conversion with high contrast and printing on metal make it a spectacular image.