My photo from April 1st was taken shortly after I found myself waste deep in a cold river due to a faulty branch (or idiot trying to cross it). A few weeks before I climbed onto the slate tiles of a three story house to capture the sunrise over the city. The shot was a total failure, but it has me pondering. What have other people done to capture their photos? So...show us or tell us the craziest thing you've done to capture a photo. I guess it should be mentioned that you shouldn't incriminate yourself or someone else. And kids...don't try this at home. (Think that about covers any legal aspects.)
I'm laughing at the timing on your discussion Beau. I sat in a natural hot springs pool while in Japan last week, WITH my camera....just so I could capture the steam coming off the water... My vacation would have been ruined had I dropped my camera into the water, however, I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to capture the feeling of soaking in a natural river hot springs pool either...Plan B was already forming in my head on how fast I cold replace my camera body, should it fall in...
@socalgal LOL. That's awesome Patty. Glad you didn't drop the camera in, and more impressed that you had a backup plan. Had to be an amazing experience being in the hot springs.
I let paint drip all over my arms and fingers and then stood there to let it dry...I'm not much of a risk taker compared to y'alls...I'm gonna have to change that I think!
oooh !! I found one! At the ranch, my hubbs went about 90 over the cattle guard and was pretty mad at me for how close I sat to the road to get this shot. Afterward, he took me over the cattle guard just for fun ;)
The only risk i ever took was changing a lens in a very, very humid Zoo jungle and let me tell you i will never do that again lol
oh and 2 weeks ago i was laying in the muddy grass while rain was down poring just to get a shot. I ended up with a very wet camera and nothing to show for =(
I find myself on the edges or middle of race tracks for all my racing stuff... I would say that's pretty risky... especially when a car is coming 150mph in my direction with only a small concrete barrier in the way.
When I shoot rally, my cameras and gear often end up covered in dirt and mud, which I suppose many people would find risky to the equipment (and I suppose my lungs, lol).
I've shot in the rain without something covering of my camera...
@hmgphotos Definitely. Especially when you consider that racecars, or any moving object goin that fast doesn't crash softly. Hell, a hundred pounds of feathers hitting a wall at 150mph would be violent. (Everything I just wrote sounds like the question to a math quiz by the way. LOL)
I'm not much of a risk taker, but it happens that last week I did take a shot that involved some risk... or stupidity, depending on your viewpoint... :) And it's not even that great of a shot!
From the back of the motorcycle... over my shoulder... on the freeway at about 70 mph. Again, not as risky as what some of you have done, but as I said, I am not much of a risk taker... and at least this one is a pretty good shot! :)
@tanja_1211 LOL. Any child under 5 is a risk in itself. While trying to capture the photo of the little yellow flowers a few days ago, my 2 year old had found a pocket of river sand and was pouring it on my head. Makes for an interesting shoot.
@losthorizon I had to throw it 11 times, and only got two decent shots with me in frame, and only kept this one. I have several of the house, a few of the gardens, and two of the sky :)
My camera came within an inch of smashing on rocks while climbing around stuff on our trip all over Western US this summer. Or close to dropping in that sulfur water in Yellowstone. That's why we have neck straps :)
@grizzlysghost That's pretty funny Aaron. And damn near incredible. But I think you can do better! Juggling three cameras and a resulting collage. I'll be waiting. Lol
@marilyn I can appreciate that. I cycle in a 600 mile bike ride every year from Boston to Washington DC. Can't tell ya how many photo's I've captured while pedaling.
@naturekt Would love to see Yellowstone someday. Can see where dropping it in sulfur would be a problem. I find it interesting that most people feel the risk is more to their camera then to their well being. Lol.
We went for a ride on a beautiful 71 degree day last Saturday and encountered some snow. Being the risk taker we are (or stupid) we ended up in a 2 foot hole made by melting snow. Four hours later we were rescued by the sheriff and others by snowmobile because they couldn't drive out to get us. $1040.00 to get our car out of the hole and brought to our house. I did get another photo of my husband dragging branches to our car to try to get traction if you want to look at my next days picture!
In college once, I climbed up a fairly steep cliff for an angle of the beach, hwy and stars in Northern California. Nice and light when I went up, pitch black when I went down.
That was also the day I learned how to fall so the camera landed on my body and not on the ground. I only slid about 10 feet, but it felt like it was going to be a lot farther.
Climbing on rocks and having a foot slip into the water is the worst I've done. Was a tad bit cold but dried off, eventually.
While doing a time-lapse video, a skunk approached behind me. A jogger passing by mumbled something and pointed. Puzzled at what he said, I looked in the direction he pointed, and saw the skunk approaching. I backed off, leaving my camera on the tripod which the skunk investigated and hung around exploring. After a few minutes the skunk went on its way and left my camera untouched.
Wow.....great response everyone. I think Mary said it best, "being the risk takers we are (or stupid)" definitely fits. LOL But in the end, its the results that really stand out. A while ago Aaron an I had a discussion about the difference between photography and photo journalism. I think the risks a photographer makes is probably equivalent to the journalist, but as we do it more for fun, hobby, or even work, they're tryin to bring a story out. And most times they may not enjoy what they capture (crime, war, death, etc) but take the risk anyway.
Thank you all for the responses. Really appreciate it. Gonna follow you all to keep up with the adventures.
@losthorizon, Haha you are so right. It's all about the camera. I have a funny story about that. While hiking with my dad we tried to cross a raging steam that was right above a huge waterfall. He pulled me off my footing and almost would have gotten taken away but he caught my pack straps. And despite the fact that I could have died I was yelling "The camera, the camera" because my pack was in the water. (PS the camera was fine in a zip lock bag :)
Walked up the cliff through the gorse then crouched very low over the gorse to get this
Gorse is very prickly! I very nearly sat in it but steadied myself by putting my hand on a gorse bush - took two weeks to get all the spikes out of my hand
To get this I got up at 5am, and stumbled along a cliff path and down the somewhat shoddy steps to the bottom of the cliff with the help of my torch. 48 hours later, there was a news report that someone had to be rescued by helicopter from the same area!
I think this was my biggest risk - the hornets were huge and I had to get close and take loads of shots. Chickened out and cleared off when my dog started barking!
@mummarazzii Great shots and worth it. We used to have an abandoned mental facility near us. Used to go in all the time, and a few times the police took us out. Lol.
@michaelelliott Just looking at this shot of yours made my stomach feel squeasy..afraid of heights and I felt I was way up there to look down.
hanging out a window at that height is unthinkable.
@bruni - hahaha yes I do not like heights either. I was kidding about the hanging out the window part. But I was pressed up against it so only a thin peice of glass kept me from falling 45 floors so still risky :)
I was shooting this waterfall out in the middle of a national forrest and kept shooting way past the sun going down. I was trying to get as many long exposure shots as I could get. My last one was this 8 seconds exposure shot. It was so dark that I could see my camera controls.
When I realized it was time to go, it was dark, I was in the middle on nowhere alone, and without a flashlight. But, I got the shot.
Taken on my doorstep, after drinking 2 bottles of wine, I kept telling myself it was stupid, that could drop the camera, but I carried on regardless!! ; )
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oh and 2 weeks ago i was laying in the muddy grass while rain was down poring just to get a shot. I ended up with a very wet camera and nothing to show for =(
When I shoot rally, my cameras and gear often end up covered in dirt and mud, which I suppose many people would find risky to the equipment (and I suppose my lungs, lol).
I've shot in the rain without something covering of my camera...
I think that's about all.
I climbed across unstable rocks to get these:
Fell into a cactus for this one (that was pretty painful):
And stood really close to these tarantula hawks:
I have more but I will stop there.
That was also the day I learned how to fall so the camera landed on my body and not on the ground. I only slid about 10 feet, but it felt like it was going to be a lot farther.
While doing a time-lapse video, a skunk approached behind me. A jogger passing by mumbled something and pointed. Puzzled at what he said, I looked in the direction he pointed, and saw the skunk approaching. I backed off, leaving my camera on the tripod which the skunk investigated and hung around exploring. After a few minutes the skunk went on its way and left my camera untouched.
http://365project.org/jeancarl/videos/2012-01-24
Wow.....great response everyone. I think Mary said it best, "being the risk takers we are (or stupid)" definitely fits. LOL But in the end, its the results that really stand out. A while ago Aaron an I had a discussion about the difference between photography and photo journalism. I think the risks a photographer makes is probably equivalent to the journalist, but as we do it more for fun, hobby, or even work, they're tryin to bring a story out. And most times they may not enjoy what they capture (crime, war, death, etc) but take the risk anyway.
Thank you all for the responses. Really appreciate it. Gonna follow you all to keep up with the adventures.
I climbed through a broken window (and cut my hand) to get some shots in a deserted mental institution
And went into a deserted derelict power station on my own to get some awesome shots...sooo worth it (the adrenalin rush was a bonus lol)
Gorse is very prickly! I very nearly sat in it but steadied myself by putting my hand on a gorse bush - took two weeks to get all the spikes out of my hand
Leaning over the edge of an brittle castle wall, I don't have the claws like this guy to cling on...
Taking the picture while driving an ice-covered road and no special tires or such (didn't "have time" to pull over...)
i have lactose intolerance! :-)
hanging out a window at that height is unthinkable.
When I realized it was time to go, it was dark, I was in the middle on nowhere alone, and without a flashlight. But, I got the shot.
OK, not as scary as bees or hornets, but he was flipping huge! And anyone who knows me from this project knows that I do NOT like bugs to touch me
No I've not really taken any risks that I'd consider to be risks anyway.