I have, on a few occasions, experienced this strange phenomenon - knowing exactly what photograph I want to create, but being unable to pull it off...
A couple of nights ago, as I took my dog out before putting her to bed, I noticed these really interesting-looking icicles hanging from the guttering of our house. As I walked away from the house, looking back, the light from the outside lamp (right by the front door) shone through the icicles, making them look even more intriguing. It struck me that this could make a really cool photo!
I then thought, "what if I positioned coloured lights behind the icicles?" Instead of just the white light of the outdoor lamp, that could give the photograph a really magical, surreal quality, and the icicles would look amazing with different coloured lights shining through them in the darkness!
Unfortunately, however, I didn't have any coloured lights to hand. I decided to try the shot just with the white light of the lamp instead. As they were hanging from the roof of the house, and I wanted to be looking through the icicles, not up at them, I fetched a step-ladder from the house, and climbed it with my camera. Even pointing right at the lit-up icicles, though, there was not enough light to make a handheld exposure come out well, and I kept getting shots which were blurry and useless instead.
There was no way my tripod would go that high - and a couple of tentative experiments with balancing the tripod on top of the step-ladder showed me that not was the quality of the photos no better, with that precarious arrangement, the chances of my camera crashing from roof-height to the ground were vastly increased, so I abandoned that idea.
My camera's ISO performance is its Achilles' Heel, as a dSLR, so I could not have simply increased the ISO and shot the icicles handheld, without compromising the quality of the picture to an unacceptable degree.
So, after half-an-hour of wrangling, I went back inside - soaking wet and freezing cold, with a grand idea in my head of how I wanted a picture to look, but with no way ever of achieving that.
My actual 365 Upload from that day (when I get around to doing it!) will be a rather uninspired shot of the inside of a train. Nothing actually wrong with that - but it's not a patch on what the Icicles picture could've been, if I hadn't been such a horrendous amateur!
Does anyone else have any similarly frustrating stories to share, about shots they've wanted to get, but couldn't, for whatever reason?
Yeah I get this all the time! I imagine the shot, and then it just doesn't happen. So frustrating. But occasionally, the shot I get, wasn't the one i started off with, but I ended up liking it more!
This will be a shot I will do again. I started doing it after work, originally wanting to do it outside in the garden but then it got dark. Thinking I would just Blu-tack the brocolli to the wood...forgetting when you cut brocolli, it's wet, and renders the blu-tack useless. I played about for an hour, using various methods of trying to keep the brocolli upright, but then when one bit when, it took all of them and the soldiers with it.
I used kebab skewers, sellotape, force, creative cutting. And in the end got the shot through a bit of blind balancing.
Really, it's not how I wanted it to look. I was so consumed with brocolli the rest of the picture sort of went out of the window. Then I was annoyed. And ate broccolli for tea.
yes I think we all suffer that from time to time. I know that I have had a shot in my head and before I know it have wasted the whole day trying to get it right ! I tried with the icicles yesterday too - even putting a black piece of card taped to the conservatory, behind the icicles but failed :(
Haha. I know the feeling, since I only use my iPhone. I'm not a professional photographer in any way but I sure do like my project. So, I post anyway :-)
Sometimes with disastrous results, although personally I think it's a wonderful shot because of the story behind it. Like this one:
@manek43509 Yes, happens to me all the time! Sometimes takes me 2, 3 or even 4 goes, but I do get it eventually :) If you have a specific idea in your head, nothing can stop you!
Yep - just the other night I envisioned a break of pool balls, with the focus on the 8 ball and all of the other balls moving on the table (long exposure). Unfortunately, my helpers gave out before I could get the shot plus, I would probably need to find a way to 'attach' the 8 ball so it didn't move. It looked awesome in my head :)
@amyamoeba Could you have used a piece of cardboard (the back of a breakfast cereal packet, say)? Punch a hole in it to hold the dreaded broccoli, then place the card on something like a baking tray or so (anything that would give room for the end of the stalk poking through the "ground"). Garnish with toy soldiers to taste. That's a great shot though, even if it's not what you planned. Is the rightmost figure being shot by the leftmost?
@Cheesebiscuit I tried a similar idea using kebab skewers & potatoes! :P On reflection, cardboard may have been helpful. And yes, general soldier massacre. Poor fellas!
Sometimes the shot you imagine is a wonderful thing and leaving it in the imagination is OK. There have been times when I didn't have a camera with me so I just framed the picture with my hands and thought "click." I have a great mental shot of walking down a trail on Lamu Island in Kenya. The trail fades off into the background. There are palm trees and birds flying around.
I'm sure this visualized image is far better than reality would have been. No trash, the trail fade is perfect. Enjoy your vision even if you can't get the shot.
you should have seen me try to shoot snow flakes on my black railing last night. I did not have a cord to bring my light out far enough to make it work. I ended up with a blurry mess.
But aren't you having fun and learning while you try these things? Photography is photography whether you get a perfect picture, an imperfect one or nothing at all except enjoyment and experience. My photo today took lots of planning. I spent a couple of hours on it. It taught me a lot and I'm looking forward to having another go and getting a bit nearer to perfection next time, and next time.
Oh, and ever since I was at school and read the enigmatic poem 'La Figlia Che Piange' by T.S.Eliot, I have this image of that woman and the sunlight in her hair. Maybe, just maybe, one day I will be experienced enough to take that photograph. But after all this time, could the reality match my expectations? Better perhaps, to keep dwelling on it in my mind.
I hear what you are saying about the frustration of unrealized shots.....but i have found that some of what i consider to be my best work comes in those moments where i can't get "the" shot....and instead catch something out of the corner of my eye.
Last night I was playing with stacked margarita glasses, trying to do a cascading shot with different food coloring at each level. Before I could ever get the shot I knocked the table and broke 2 of the 4 glasses. Not only was it frustrating I could not get the shot but I had a mess of water and broken glass to deal with, not to mention the verbal crap I got from my wife for breaking 2 of her 4 margarita glasses. That won't deter me though, I will try again... with different glasses next time though. Keep trying is my philosophy.
sorry you didn't get that shot - it sounded really cool
This sort of thing happens to me all the time with photos, drawings, decorating. The trick is to pretend that what you ended up with is what you had in mind all along.
@manek43509 Funny you mention this, it happened to me today. I had in mind a self portrait that I wanted to take in the office, when the sun would come in at a certain angle through the blinds to create shadows (for the week theme light and shade). Nothing went as I thought, the sun did not have the position I expected (!!!) and I was not able to make a self portrait. I ended up making this shot, which might seem very simple to you but is actually my favourite own shot so far.
I guess sometimes it's a good idea to let go what we have in mind.
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This will be a shot I will do again. I started doing it after work, originally wanting to do it outside in the garden but then it got dark. Thinking I would just Blu-tack the brocolli to the wood...forgetting when you cut brocolli, it's wet, and renders the blu-tack useless. I played about for an hour, using various methods of trying to keep the brocolli upright, but then when one bit when, it took all of them and the soldiers with it.
I used kebab skewers, sellotape, force, creative cutting. And in the end got the shot through a bit of blind balancing.
Really, it's not how I wanted it to look. I was so consumed with brocolli the rest of the picture sort of went out of the window. Then I was annoyed. And ate broccolli for tea.
Sometimes with disastrous results, although personally I think it's a wonderful shot because of the story behind it. Like this one:
I did want my youngest son in the shot in the heart but well toddlers are not easy to work with. :D
I'm sure this visualized image is far better than reality would have been. No trash, the trail fade is perfect. Enjoy your vision even if you can't get the shot.
Oh, and ever since I was at school and read the enigmatic poem 'La Figlia Che Piange' by T.S.Eliot, I have this image of that woman and the sunlight in her hair. Maybe, just maybe, one day I will be experienced enough to take that photograph. But after all this time, could the reality match my expectations? Better perhaps, to keep dwelling on it in my mind.
http://365project.org/medusa/365
This sort of thing happens to me all the time with photos, drawings, decorating. The trick is to pretend that what you ended up with is what you had in mind all along.
I guess sometimes it's a good idea to let go what we have in mind.