Is it an accident?

[davidnoblephotography]

Does anyone else out there find that they get some of thier best results by

accident?

 

You have a certain idea in your mind, but the best shots always come from

somewhere that you weren't expecting them to come from.

 

This type of thing happens to me all the time... Am I alone? I think not, but

please, share your experiences.

 

If you look at the shot "Wired For Sound" in my portfolio, you'll notice that

Melanie is facing me, and looking straight into the camera. However, my

original idea for the shot was to see her from behind with the headphones on.

 

What I'm trying to say is - You begin a shoot, or go out with a camera, with

a very specific idea, and you've pictured the finished photo in your mind a

thousand times, but when it comes to it, the one photo that you love from that

session, was completely something else...

[geoffs1]

I never underestimate the power of serendipity (in many ways it seems to run my life).

 

In fact, I think that one of the things that makes great "action" photographers (I'm using the word loosely to describe photographers whose subject is intrinsically active/changing) is the ability to prep themselves, their equipment, and their environment so that when an unexpected opportunity presents itself they can instantly draw on that preparation and capture something "beautiful".

 

Certainly, it's possible for anyone to create a great image by chance (aka the discussions along the lines of "can a snapshot be art?"). However, I believe the skill comes in when a photographer increases their chances through experience and preparation.

 

Cheers,

 

Geoff S.

[scot]

The best artists in the other fields (painting, sculpture, etc.), know about the "Happy Accident", and how to recognize it and capitalize on it. There's no reason it shouldn't apply to photography as well.

 

scot

[ellis_vener_photography]

"You begin a shoot, or go out with a camera, with a very specific idea, and you've pictured the finished photo in your mind a thousand times, but when it comes to it, the one photo that you love from that session, was completely something else..."

 

Happens all of the time with me. "Fortune favors the prepared Mind."

[Leonard-just-Leonard]

Almost ALWAYS... When I head into the mountains I know I am going to take some nature shots... End of planning. My best/most favourite shots lately are when I finally sit down for a lunch break.

 

Snow floating in a lake coasts into view. Sun sparkling across the river suddenly displays vivid colors as the sun and clouds move around. Bears, Moose, Deer and other critters stroll into the scene. Must be Karma... You cannot plan nature shots in my opinion. Simply be there and the opportunity will present itself eventually.

[iliafarniev]

Say, you go out with one of those specific ideas and come back with nothing. Another time you go out free style and come back with a picture or two you like a lot. What you do next? I bet you 'll try free style again. Besides, all this is one big accident.. just keep happeninig

[yann1]

All my good shots were made by accident...

[mrstubbs]

Sometimes...the first frame I want to see is the one when a light failed to fire. It keeps reminding me of that line...the best images appear to be lit from one source. Shot a family last week for two hours...the best frame for mood...a light had failed. Same thing happened yesterday.<div></div>

[petemillis]

YES - one of my hapipest accidents is the photograph I took the other day looking into a hairdresser's window! I saw heaps of strangeness in the picture that I didn't notice when I took it

[William Kahn]

Accident? Well, yeah, in the sense of being unplanned. Many times the shot on the way to the shot turns out better than the intended shot. I once had a photography instructor tell me that any shot that turns out good is always done on purpose. I know he meant it as a tongue-in-cheek remark; but on another level, isn't every exposure we take within our purpose as photographers? The fact that our eye might have caught something that compelled it, even if not consciously aware of it at the time, means it's never a purely accidental event.

 

How's that for barely awake and not enough coffee?

[ellis_vener_photography]

As a <A HREF = http://www.jaymaisel.com> really good photographer and friend of mine</A> points out if you don't catch it when shooting, catch it in the editing. But you have to be willing to think flexibly and bracket ideas as well as exposures, to make mistakes and let luck happen. You end up taking a lot of photos this way and tossing a lot out, but as long as the mistakes you are making are interesting then you are moving in the right direction.

[davidnoblephotography]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Very impressive, seeing as I only posted this thread less than 24 hours ago! I would personally say that about 90% of the shots I've kept and/or put in my personal portfolio were accidental. I reckon that impromtu pics are certainly the best - unless of course, you're working to a specific brief. If you care to take another look at my photo.net portfolio, and glance at the shot "Shiny Happy People", that's one of my favourite pictures. I was DJing at a wedding, and just went out onto the dancefloor with the camera. Strangers are excellent subjects.

 

Thanks everyone,

Dave the DJ.

[janc]

When we make the selection of shots to be expose is the magic moment when we decide which ones are valuable and will represent our intention, if we keep a very good shot hiden it will never be a good shot because it does not communicate anything to someone else.

 

In my young days I was in a photographers group called "The final decision" and our small expositions were called "The final decision I, II, II, IV..."

 

I am convinced that only when we select one shot among hundred is the final creativity moment.

 

Of course the real best ones come into the camera without our permission :-) or at least not been aware.

 

Escuse my english. Regards.

[petemillis]

Dave, I like your "Wired For Sound" pic where the girl's clothes accidentally fell off and she had to hide behind the speakers!

[otto]

"Chance favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur

[jtk]

Povchereny matsch chechenya. Repetition is the mother of learning.

[Alex_Es]

I've had a number of successes thanks to accidents--namely unexpected slow shutter

speeds on automatic cameras that gave me creative blurs. But most accidents have been

failures. I include in this category premeditated shots that failed because I did not take some

element of composition into account.

 

Fortunate accidents are rare lucky breaks that are earned.

[johnw436]

"People say I'm lucky. I've noticed that the more I practice the luckier I seem to get." - Arnold Palmer

[johnw436]

"The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident." --Sidney Lunet

[rachelfoster]

I've been told my best shots were by accident....sigh.

[iancoxleigh]

I don't go out with nearly as set an idea as you seem to. Since I shoot mostly nature or landscape, it isn't until I'm there that I know what I'm shooting. With nature it depends on what I find and with landscape it depends on what inspires me in the moment. So, they are either all 'accidents' or none of them are. I've only ever gone out to shoot a completely preconceived shot 3 or 4 times.

 

Occasionally I'll have arrived, visualized, and set up a shot only to have a bird/plane/cloud enter the frame/change the light/change pose and force me to change my conception of the shot. Is that an accident? If so, I still don't usually like the resulting image (often because I was all set up for one type of shot and the technical situation doesn't work with the new situation).

[plasma181]

I suspect this is more common with film. When you digital guys take several shots, you "chimp" though them on your screen and throw out the garbage. Who knows how many great shots were thrown away because you couldn't see its greatness on a 2" by 1 1/2" LCD screen?

[petemillis]

I will never chimp through shots on the camera screen - it's about the worst thing in the world to do. I treat digital like film - I'll take my pictures through the viewfinder, each one as if I'm shooting film, and wait till I can view them properly before deciding on what I like and don't. So often one can view an image on the camera screen, think it's crap, then look at it properly when home and realise it's actually a strong shot.

[nealcurrie]

Sometimes my best results will be an accident, but usually I know which pictures will be best before I develop and/or print them. I'd say 75% of my best shots are planned.