jim_manousos

This was taken with the camera put on my chest-shoulder using a small portable tripod and the help of a friend (pushing the one leg of the tripod to my back with a finger). Then it was focused on the shortest distance and put on self-timer mode. During the waiting period, my hands were moved until the gun was sharp.

Looking back, I should have tried it with more DOF and maybe a little less exposure, but I think that I wanted the inside of the barrel to show and maybe less exposure wouldn't help for that.

About the grain, I can't tell if it would be better without it...

Comments more than welcome.

The line of your jacket is an very interestingly pleasing detail here. Overall, I like the mood.

I might agree with Dan's comment on the white "thing" above your soulder but it isn't very much of a problem for me.

Best regards.

Richard, I would bet just the same. Thanks for the coment.

Best regards.

I agree on that Sam, I guess that's why I put it in the middle.

Thank you for stoping by.

Best regards

On second view, a thought came up.

Just by switching places to the "w" and "m" (or flipping them upside down, its the same) in the title you get an alternative title "HAVE ME WET!". This would imply the duck demanding to be transferred to a pond. What do you thing about it?

Best regards.

This was one of the first photos I took with my recently bought Zenit back in September 1998 and is posted here to illustrate the beautiful times one can have being a beginner (which is what I still consider myself being and don't think I'll ever stop).

I was at the time stuck on a small islet for about a little more than a month and for some irrelevant reason. The only building on the islet was this lighthouse. There is where I read my first book about photography.

I had also packed the Zenit but unfortunately with only a few rolls of film that I soon run out of. I asked the person who was taking care of our supplies for some film but when he came, he brought me a disposable Kodak. Now that was a little frustrating because I was naturally enthusiastic about using my precious Zenit and trying out the suggestions I found in my book. So, what I did was to get in a relatively dark room, cover the lens of the disposable with my hand or whatever and shoot the film until it was back in the reel. Then I broke the disposable and ended up with a roll of ISO 800 film that I put in the "real" camera.

I don't remember if I had to go "fishing" for the edge of the film in order to use it or if that was in another case but I do remember that I forgot to change the camera's ISO setting to 800 (and does my Zenit even have a 800 setting? I don't remember and it isn't anywhere near right now but anyway...edit 01.08.03 "I have checked it now. It only goes up to ISO 400" edit-end. It only struck me when I was removing the exposed film and I saw the huge marking on it: "IT WAS 800 YOU IDIOT". Oh s**t!!! Oh s**t!!! But what can you do?

After I came back to civilization, I had to take my film to the lab. Well, since money was not widely available on request and because I was so sure that this particular roll was destroyed by my stupidity, I decided to let it wait a little more in the refrigerator. And from refrigerator to refrigerator it kept moving until this spring (2003) when I came across it once again and said to myself: "Well, why keep this badly exposed and long expired piece of junk here? Let's throw it away!". But I couldn't. "OK. Let's develop it and see what may be left on it" was my next thought and so I did.

And there I found this exposure. And it all came back to me. It was a full moon night and I was trying to do some night shooting with the camera set to builb and using the lens cap as a shutter and counting seconds. I don't know what I was counting for because I totally guessed the time without any calculation. Maybe I thought that knowing the time and seeing the result would improve my "guestimating long exposures" skills by experience, but I don't remember how much time I counted for in the two shots I took. Anyway, this is one of those two shots that I found a little presentable as an illustration.

Let me finally add that the camera was placed on top of a concrete wall for steadiness and tilted upwards using my wallet under the lens... Yes, it all came back to me the moment I saw it. And although I have my doubts (as always and a little more) about the artistic or whatever other value of this image, it brings a warm feeling to me as a memory and that is why I felt like sharing.

Well, if you made it this far, thanks a lot for your interest and time.

Any comments are more than welcome.

Best regards to all.

Well, I guess those military ducks can get quite aggressive...

This image cracked a smile on my face. Thanks and have a nice day.