your holy grail...

[Ed_Davor]

Do you have a sort of a special light or event or anything that you have been waiting for a long time to capture?


I remember, few years ago, I was walking somewhere just outside of town, and there was this perfect light, like I never saw again. It was a sort of combination of a stormy sky and a warm misty late afternood clear sky, though the sun was still behind the clouds. It gave a sort of a directional softbox-kind-of-soft light comming from one portion of the sky, while the rest of the sky was covered with heavy threatning dark stormy clouds. It was just after the summer storm, and everything was wet, the bushes and trees looked as if they were painted. It gave such a surreal light, like I've never seen before. Even some of my friends who don't give a darn about light and photography commented on it the next day. I was stunned how many people noticed it.

I didn't have a camera back then or a tripod...

And I've been sort of waiting to see something like that for a few years now.

 

[Andy K]

I have a view from my front door across old Victorian buildings to a 19th century military barracks which is now private housing. Once or twice a year we have a cracking thunder storm and lightning always strikes into the old parade ground. I am waiting to capture that from my front door. I have come close, but failed to notice I had my 28mm lens on the camera. So I got a pathetic little squiggle of lightning rather than a magnificent strike :rolleyes: . See first attachment, the lightning is what looks like a hair about a third of the way in from the left. The second attachment is the view (in daylight) where I want to capture the lightning.

I continue to wait...

 

[anyte]

There's a rusty old thresher out in the woods with two small trees growing up through the middle of it. I need just the right lighting and the right kind and amount of snow to get the picture I desire. I can see it clearly in my head but the weather has yet to help me.

 

[John Bartley]

At a local golf course is a rusty old John Deere tractor (this picture is similar to Anytes - my apologies) with a Birch tree growing up thru' the steering wheel. I photo'd it once in the spring a couple of years ago - trudged thru' a half mile of snow carrying my 4x5 gear - I got a "not too bad" picture, but .... not what I wanted. I am waiting for the towering puffy white cumulus clouds of summer and those deep dark blue skys for contrast and then I want an 8x10 contact print on AZO ... I can wait ....

 

[Flotsam]

Do you have a sort of a special light or event or anything that you have been waiting for a long time to capture?

I haven't really thought about it but I'm fairly sure that it would somehow involve Brooke Burke.

 

[John Koehrer]

As I was driving through Hernadez, New Mexico one day.............

 

[donbga]

I have a view from my front door across old Victorian buildings to a 19th century military barracks which is now private housing. Once or twice a year we have a cracking thunder storm and lightning always strikes into the old parade ground. I am waiting to capture that from my front door. I have come close, but failed to notice I had my 28mm lens on the camera. So I got a pathetic little squiggle of lightning rather than a magnificent strike :rolleyes: . See first attachment, the lightning is what looks like a hair about a third of the way in from the left. The second attachment is the view (in daylight) where I want to capture the lightning.

I continue to wait...

Looks like you need to get rid of some ground clutter.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

A couple of times I've had that sun-shining-through-storm-clouds lighting at The Twelve Apostles and managed to capture it. Just this morning in Melbourne we had that extremely dramatic effect where there is almost a vertical immediate change from very dark storm clouds on one side to very bright section on the other, with the sun crossing between the two sections. Of course I was driving, without a camera, on a freeway where I couldn't stop even if I had a camera. On my way back it looked even better, as the light part had these incredible puffy clouds very low in the sky...no camera, no chance to stop.

 

[Dracotype]

You might gag when I say this, but I really find grey overcast days to be my favorite. Wet rocks, plants, etc on wet grey days. Not that we aren't getting enough of that here in El Cerrito at the moment...

Actually, now that you mention it, I have been waiting for the right fog shot to come along. I think it is more a matter of the right subject matter than of conditions. I just don't seem to be as attentive when it comes to fog shots.

Drew

 

[kunihiko]

Flowers in Asphalt

I've been expecting for the perfect one.
what I have been and am doing on photography is just for that one.
I don't want to miss the perfect one at the perfect moment. That's why I'm learning photography.
When I got it, I will be searching for another hobby.
However, I don't know what perfect means:rolleyes:

 

[Andy K]

Looks like you need to get rid of some ground clutter.

But then it wouldn't be the photograph I want. I want to catch that huge bolt of lightning as it arcs over the buildings.

 

[George Papantoniou]

Do you have a sort of a special light or event or anything that you have been waiting for a long time to capture?

Yes. It's been years that I've been waiting for a girl to call me and ask me to photograph her in her birthday suit. In fact, I was waiting for Kathleen Turner to call, but then she grew old and then it was Isabelle Adjani and she grew old too, then Sophie Marceau, Maruschka Detmers, etc etc etc... nowadays even that vulgar girl, Monica Belucci has wrinkles (that she meticulously hides under her oversized breasts).

Now I am not so optimistic about this kind of things. My long experience has taught me that it's kind of unlikely something like this might happen. But if Jessica Alba is reading this, I have to tell her to hurry because in the near future, my skills (the photographic ones, of course) might not be as good as they used to...

 

[Claire Senft]

I am having dicussions with Dan Brown right now about the Holy Grail. He it was that informed me that the MM on my Contax lens mounts refers to Mary Magdelene. Also I have been advised by Mr Brown to use gold toner. He thought that I should have much sucess since I am already very much a relic.

 

[anyte]

At a local golf course is a rusty old John Deere tractor (this picture is similar to Anytes - my apologies) with a Birch tree growing up thru' the steering wheel. I photo'd it once in the spring a couple of years ago - trudged thru' a half mile of snow carrying my 4x5 gear - I got a "not too bad" picture, but .... not what I wanted. I am waiting for the towering puffy white cumulus clouds of summer and those deep dark blue skys for contrast and then I want an 8x10 contact print on AZO ... I can wait ....

No apology necessary. I rather like that someone shares a similar vision. Coincidentally, I too would have to trudge a half mile through the snow to reach my photo destination.

 

[Gay Larson]

We have a refinery here in Tulsa that sits across the river and on cold crisp days the steam that rise off it is impressive. I had scouted out the perfect spot on the riverbed to catch that one moment. All last winter I kept watching for it and the sky was generally grey which is not what I wanted. When it finally happened I was on my way to work in high heels with a meeting with my boss in 15 minutes. Figures. I'll wait for this winter.

 

[David Brown]

Everytime I go grocery shopping, I look for just the right pepper.

 

[BWKate]

My holy grail is any Frank Gehry building. The Disney Concert Hall in L.A. is my next place to photograph and that might take awhile.
When I was in China there were huge metal sculptures everywhere in Shanghai but my camera was broken by that time! Arrgghh! The fish that got away and haunts me but I will not torture myself with the could haves.

 

[Gary Holliday]

I've given up on my holy grail picture.

It was 6am on a freezing cold foggy morning, extremely tired after a nights work, the light was perfect as it always is at that time of the morning. The camera was in the boot of the car ready, as fog was forecasted. Walked for ages to the spot I knew the photo needed to be taken. Was chased out of the boggy field by a herd of cows (they are dangerous creatures believe me!).

Tried another route and hid from the nasty cows. Set up the tripod and camera, changed lenses, quickly press shutter...ahhh dammit...jammed hasselblas lens.

The photo is etched in my mind, who cares if I never got the shot.

 

[reellis67]

<french accent>I've already got one!!</french accent>

- Randy

 

[DirkDynamo]

the holy grail shot, as you put it, is definitely a hard shot to describe. its not so much the subject matter of the shot as it is the beauty of all of the details coming together in just the right manner. but i will try to describe it anyway. its a simple shot. small town type. i pass it everyday. its a small mom and pop type antique shop filled with mostly garage sale items. it has these big glass windows with mismatched shelves stacked full of paperweights, knicknacks, and other fist sized 'antiques'. at night though, when the shop's inside lights are still on, the rows of backlit items matched with the darkness of the parking lot take on a rare simplistic elegance. ive only seen it come together like this once, naturally, without camera. usually the owner closes before it gets dark and turns the lights out when she leaves, ruining the backlit aspect of the scene. rarely she stays open right as its getting dark but there are always cars parked in front of my shot when she does. i just need her to forget to turn out the lights one more time...

 

[Christopher Walrath]

I am waiting for the towering puffy white cumulus clouds of summer and those deep dark blue skys for contrast and then I want an 8x10 contact print on AZO ... I can wait ....

You could always cheat a little, make a cloud exposure and then cwet cut and wet paste it into your print.

 

[Ole]

Perfect light is rare. I think I've seen it about twenty times (it's a little less rare around here), and only twice have I had a camera ready. One is
Dead Link Removed
The other time I had a little zoom point-and-shoot, and I don't know where that picture is (nor the negative).

 

[AeisLugh]

Do you have a sort of a special light or event or anything that you have been waiting for a long time to capture?


I remember, few years ago, I was walking somewhere just outside of town, and there was this perfect light, like I never saw again. It was a sort of combination of a stormy sky and a warm misty late afternood clear sky, though the sun was still behind the clouds. It gave a sort of a directional softbox-kind-of-soft light comming from one portion of the sky, while the rest of the sky was covered with heavy threatning dark stormy clouds. It was just after the summer storm, and everything was wet, the bushes and trees looked as if they were painted. It gave such a surreal light, like I've never seen before. Even some of my friends who don't give a darn about light and photography commented on it the next day. I was stunned how many people noticed it.

I didn't have a camera back then or a tripod...

And I've been sort of waiting to see something like that for a few years now.

Oh boy, do I ever. A couple of years ago, I was on my way to work during the mid-late fall, which meant I was on the bus during the sunrise. I woke up from my usual bus-ride snooze, and was treated to the most amazing sight I've ever seen. The sun's light had caught the atmosphere in such a way as it just peeked over the horizon to create what looked like a pillar of flame shooting into the sky. I swear, if I'd had a camera with me, I would have said to HELL with work, I was getting that shot, got off the bus, and clicked off as many frames I could to make sure I got a good shot.

While I have seen the situation happen a couple of times since, but not with the same glory, and, coincidentally enough, every time I was without a camera *grumbles*

 

[davetravis]

The ghost of Elvis wandering the Vegas strip, in drag...

 

[George Papantoniou]

Perfect light is rare. I think I've seen it about twenty times (it's a little less rare around here), and only twice have I had a camera ready. One is
Dead Link Removed

Oh, that .... we have it every morning 9months/year around here. What's so special about it ? ;-)