I had a strange thing last weekend when shooting in the woods

[Willie Jan]

Last Saturday very early in the morning I went to the woods nearby to make a picture of a little creek "de beerze" where some trees fell over a couple of years ago. I go there a few times a year to make the same picture (4x5) so that I have a serie after 10 years about how the trees disappear over the years.

I put up my shen hao 4x5, measured light at 1 minute at F22, put in a sheetholder, hit the extension cord and initialized the timer.
After that i watched the scene to see if no wind was going to mess up my picture.

After some 15 seconds I saw something on top of the tree that was lying across the creek. When looking at that spot, I saw a young fox walking from the left to the right over the tree and disappearing into the woods at the other side. He had not seen me standing there 10 meter away.
Directly after the fox disappeared, a kingsfisher flew over the tree over the creek.

Sure nothing is on my film, but it was a very nice experience that made my day.

 

[Mike Wilde]

And to think that my wife, when she accompanies me, thinks I am too slow moving when I shoot LF. You have been subtle enough in your movements to not even alarm a fox. Glad that you had the experience that you did. Some things in life are best just experienced, rather than forever thinking that you should have got a picture of it.

 

[bsdunek]

Such are the pleasures of being out in the woods. Like Mike says, some things are just good experiences, and we don't always need to have a picture.

 

[bill schwab]

Amazing the things that happen out there when you're hyper tuned to your surroundings.

 

[Bruce Watson]

Yep. This is one of the reasons I love LF photography. LFers create the opportunity to see things that everyone else just passes by without a clue. Reminds me of the old Dorthea Lange quote: "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."

 

[reellis67]

Some things in life are best just experienced, rather than forever thinking that you should have got a picture of it.

Well stated...

- Randy

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

Amazing the things that happen out there when you're hyper tuned to your surroundings.

Amazing indeed.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Well stated...

- Randy

Seconded....

It's very easy (too easy) as a photographer to see the world exclusively through a split prism.

 

[keithwms]

I agree with Mike as well; anyway the photograph will always remind you of the fox!

Anyway foxes are very curious creatures that will come close and investigate what humans are up to (usually their downfall) and also will return to the same territory many times, so... just go out there and sit down and relax and you'll probably see it again.

 

[Pompiere]

Some things in life are best just experienced, rather than forever thinking that you should have got a picture of it.

I wish I could get my wife to believe this. She wants me to photograph everything, so I frequently miss the event while trying to get the shot.

 

[reellis67]

I wish I could get my wife to believe this. She wants me to photograph everything, so I frequently miss the event while trying to get the shot.

Heh, same here. Perhaps that's why I felt so strongly about the quoted comment

- Randy

 

[Willie Jan]

I wish I could get my wife to believe this. She wants me to photograph everything, so I frequently miss the event while trying to get the shot.

Give your wife a digital camera and let her do it herself...

 

[Pompiere]

Give your wife a digital camera and let her do it herself...

She has one, but she hasn't mastered the settings, so the pictures don't come out as well as she would like. Dark faces in bright sun, auto focus on the wrong thing, delay on the auto focus, etc. So, she hands it back to me anyways.

 

[Willie Jan]

She has one, but she hasn't mastered the settings, so the pictures don't come out as well as she would like. Dark faces in bright sun, auto focus on the wrong thing, delay on the auto focus, etc.

This is called digital and should make things easy for users.

My wife has a pentax W60 and loves it. You can also make pictures about 3 meter under water. That is fun (i find so also). Shrinks in waterpools, sealions under water(galapagos), sharks beside the boot (watch your hands thoo...)
But if i want to under/overexpose i have to adjust the menu setting $%^(*)(!.