How much luck is involved in photography?

TheGreatGasMaskMan

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I was discussing the differences between two different scans and edits of this photograph with a non photography friend:
I mentioned I wasn't out looking for anything specific, rather I was just out and about trying to use up a flashed roll of cinefilm when this shot presented itself to me; and he asked me a seriously interesting question:
"How much luck is involved in photography?"
I was thinking... Yeah, that's literally the one important element nobody ever talks about, even in a controlled studio setting. there is so much that can go wrong, yet how do external elements play into the final product? How many chances do we get for that one phenomenal shot? I say it's the thrill of the unknown combined with careful thinking- the thing that drew me to film photography in the first place.
 

peter k.

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Well put and agree with you totally!
The shots that we get when were not being specific, have always been the best, and it is at those times, that luck can and seems to show up more often, .... at those times.
 

Don_ih

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The main non-luck element is having a camera in the first place. If you're not ready to take a photo, you won't get one. So, it's a bit of "you make your own luck".
 

wiltw

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Luck certainly can enter into a shot, but the same shot might also be plannable, you simply need to devote the time to come at the appropriate time of day for the various elements to appear. But some things are not regularly scheduled to occur, and you cannot plan for the various elements to be there when you are there. So luck certainly plays a part...being at the right place at the right time, for a set of circumstances that cannot be planned to come together.
 

chuckroast

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Chance favors the prepared mind.

Almost anyone can accidentally produce a beautiful photograph, but doing so consistently, requires discipline, skill, and a relentless focus on excellence.
 

koraks

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Don_ih said:
The main non-luck element is having a camera in the first place.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have the time and access to materials and equipment needed to do this. So it's all luck as far as I'm concerned! Most of the people on this planet are not in the kind of fortunate position I find myself in.
 
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VinceInMT

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Being “out” along with have a photographic device along is important. I spend lots of time outside, running, all over my city and other cities I visit so I am constantly getting a change of scenery. One thing I’ve learned as I go along is to occasionally turn around and take a look as that interesting shot might sometimes be behind me.

For example, I was out for an early morning run last month, running up and done some hilly streets. At the bottom of one, as I was turning left, I glanced back to see this:

 

Hassasin

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Hardest part of recognizing luck is admitting it.
 

DannL-USA

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I'm a true believer that "you make your own luck". So many folks that I know never do anything. You have to do something to generate luck. So, lets talk about bad luck vs. good luck? ;-) Good luck . . . I got a photo of that piano falling off the truck. Bad luck . . . it fell on my new car.
 

Sirius Glass

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Luck includes being their at the right opportunity for a juxtaposition of things or happenstance. Timing of releasing the shutter can be luck and or skill [either or both].
 

MattKing

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Luck has a role in life.
In most cases for people posting here, photography has a role in life.
The two intersect from time to time.
There are some situations where you want to decrease the chances that luck will need to play a role.
And other times ....

MSA-Batteries, Propane Bottles, Scrap Metal, Recliners????

A roadside discard near the entrance of the parking area for the commercial fishing marina near...
 

Daniela

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I have found that the more I go out to find street photos I like, the more I find. And the more I encounter them, the keener my eye becomes at catching new ones...so, I think luck is only a small part of the process. Those scenes are there whether I see them or not...and while I do find it magical how that one person walked by at that one moment in the background, etc, how it all ends up together in my shot has a lot more to do with walking, observing, planning and waiting than with serendipity.
 

Maris

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Nine tenths of the challenge of photography is the successful pursuit of expressive subject matter in the right light. That's the part where out of control elements can deliver good luck or bad luck. As for the rest: modern cameras, lenses, film, light-meters, and darkroom work can deliver predictable and consistent results; no element of luck at all.
 

Vaughn

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I prefer serendipity. And the patience, knowledge, experience, skill, and desire to run with it.

One can have a ton of luck and die. Remember to wish for good luck!
 

Mr Bill

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I once had the opportunity to chat, briefly, with a well-known sports photographer. (I would say this was a bit of luck on my part, although I actually played a hand, inadvertently, in how this came about.) He had a story about some certain luck in one of his photos.

As an aside, for those who don't know, there used to be a line of cameras called Hulchers, after the inventor, that could do high frame rate sequences on film. Some had been adapted for use by sports photographers. I knew something of the cameras but not what they looked like.

Anyway, there used to be a photo gallery in one of the well-known Las Vegas casinos, under the name of the photographer, Neil Leifer. Large mounted prints of some of his more well-known photos with price tags of several thousand dollars. (Some had been been cover photos on Sports Illustrated magazine.)

I was sorta acquainted with an older guy who worked there (he had shot 8x10" "chromes" in a former life). Long story short he told me that Neil was there, in the back room, ahead of a book signing event. Neil came out to say hello and the first thing I said was, "Can I ask you about this photo over here?" He says sure, although I imagine he has heard that question thousands of times. As I recall it was the famous shot of boxer Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, prone on the canvas. (But could'a been a different one.) But I don't have the usual questions... I'm sorta weird in that way. I point to one of the ringside photographers on the other side and ask, is this camera a Hulcher?" (I had been wondering about that for years). Leifer starts laughing and says yeah, then begins to explain the ups and downs of using them. Then HIS lucky part... there is a photographer on the other side - the senior SI photographer who had his choice of seat. Neil says it was SOP to have a guy on each side so one would always have a front-side view of the action (in other words, one is lucky, the other is not). His senior cohort (Herb Scharfman ?) picked the wrong seat that day.

By the way, you might think that Neil Leifer became famous - by a stroke of luck - that day. Not so; the so-called stroke of luck didn't pay off back then. There's a more complete story found here: https://slate.com/culture/2015/05/a...-story-behind-neil-leifers-perfect-photo.html
 

Richard Searle

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The French photograher Robert Doisneau was asked how did he take such marvellous photographs. He replied that if he knew that he would do it every time.
 
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