There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.
William Shakespeare; Hamlet
"f/8 and be there" is an apocryphal motto for street photographers and photojournalists. I was out walking the dogs and came across this bird mere moments after it had struck a window. It was still warm and limp when I picked it up. The only camera I had with me was my Apple iPhone 3GS. The white breast feathers were a real problem to photograph because of the bright morning light and the ratio difference between the white feathers and the grass. I shadowed the fallen bird as best as I could, but the white highlights still blew out.
I went home to grab my Nikon D700, but by the time I returned, the only evidence of the fallen bird was a few scattered feathers. Hello, kitty.
A wave of regret all out of proportion to the lost photographic opportunity of a little broken bird crashed over me.
- Vince Hemingson
The PJ Postscript -
William Shakespeare; Hamlet
"f/8 and be there" is an apocryphal motto for street photographers and photojournalists. I was out walking the dogs and came across this bird mere moments after it had struck a window. It was still warm and limp when I picked it up. The only camera I had with me was my Apple iPhone 3GS. The white breast feathers were a real problem to photograph because of the bright morning light and the ratio difference between the white feathers and the grass. I shadowed the fallen bird as best as I could, but the white highlights still blew out.
I went home to grab my Nikon D700, but by the time I returned, the only evidence of the fallen bird was a few scattered feathers. Hello, kitty.
A wave of regret all out of proportion to the lost photographic opportunity of a little broken bird crashed over me.
- Vince Hemingson
The PJ Postscript -
Posts
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ReplyDeleteOh Vince, you great romantic beast you. Somewhere deep beneath the Viking lurks and beats the heart of a poet.
ReplyDeleteBack in the old days...we'd have overexposed the negative and then underdeveloped it...in order to redude the contrast. Of course, some unscrupulous photog could have removed the bird to some more reflective background, like a patch of gravel. Are you a purist, Vince?
ReplyDeletePJ, you know very well I am an obsessive compulsively anal purist. But yes ( as you well know) I am also an equally sneaky, conniving Machiavellian manipulative operative with no shortage of cunning and guile.
ReplyDeleteSee above added photo.