I was once again fortunate enough to be able to present at the Member's Slideshow. This is a fun event and you get to meet some great people, like Artie Morris who was also a presenter. Here was my written presentation (what got me in) but I managed to change it as the stage fright took over. The theme of the show was "Luck." 9 Habits of Highly Lucky Photographers
How many of you feel that all your good images are the result of luck? So that many of you have good images?
I’m convinced that ALL of my good images are the result of luck. But luck doesn’t have to mean accident or chance.
Here’s a quote by Ray Kroc: “Luck is a dividend of sweat…the more you sweat, the luckier you get” Sweat, work, whatever you want to call it...basically you need to get out there and do something in order to get the shot. I want to share with you my own “Habits of Luck” based on 9 memorable images.
1. Go out when it’s cold. Montréal Botanical Gardens, 30 degrees, windy, and wet. What’s a boy from FL doing in a place like this? It had been cold and the ponds were freezing, what were the chances of seeing this if I had listened to reason?
2. Go out when there’s rain. Pre-dawn forecast, rain, cold – a sure prescription for sleeping in. Not according to Brenda Tharp, “We came here to shoot not sleep in!” If not for that kind of loving encouragement I would have missed the cloud show in Camden Harbor after the rain cleared.
3. Stop the car. I was in Mill Valley on the road to Muir Woods. How many times do you just drive and say to yourself, “Ooo, nice shot, can’t stop, nice shot, can’t stop, nice shot. Well you got to STOP. I pulled over and set up the tripod. Then I stayed and just enjoyed the view.
4. Look down and listen. Ok, I spend a lot of time looking at the ground but not “hearing” what is there. One fern kept whispering to me, “look at me, look at me” and I’m glad I did.
5. Look up and find something. Typically I don’t walk in the woods looking up at the trees. I tend to bump into a lot of things. But something made me look up and I found the beginnings of autumn.
6. Never put your camera away. Don’t you hate those people in a group that can’t seem to put their camera away when it’s time to go? But there’s something about leaving that relaxes your mind, so be ready if something appears.
7. Make the best of where you are. It was February 2005 and lucky me, a sales meeting in …Las Vegas. It so happened that was the time the wild flowers went crazy in Death Valley, what an orgy of color!
8. Be nice to your neighbor. When you are nice to your neighbors, they tend to bring you things to photograph. Wow!
9. Play. Nancy Rotenberg was trying to get us all in touch with our feelings and I wasn’t getting it. Nancy I’m still working on it! Shooting with my eyes closed and waving my camera around just did not make sense. See what happens when you just play?
I’ll close with a quote by Wayne Gretzky (wasn’t he a Canadian sports photographer?) “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”
Friends…Work, sweat, and get lucky. Make it a habit. Thank you.
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It occurred to me that my image posts were repetitive..."hey I've seen those images before..." Well that goes to show:
a) I don't have a lot of good stuff b) I'm lazy and don't like processing new stuff c) It's all part of the plan to get the most from what you've got