Reticulated – A One shot story

This image is a testament to always looking and always shooting.  It is also a testament to the serendipity of success.  I shot hundreds of images last year, both casually and working on some personal projects, eagerly awaiting development and scans for dozens of rolls and many specific exposures, but this is one that I actually forgot about entirely.

This particular shot makes me realize I am most often happy with family candid shots, most frequently chasing the Stephen Shore style compositions, and almost always making too many exposures out of desperation (hope?) that there could be something there.  I do find myself overanalyzing a scene, trying to get it just right.  This year, it seems those hyper-orchestrated shots almost never work to my satisfaction.  Perhaps that is part of why I find more fulfilment in the spontaneity of candid frames featuring people: a little room to arrange a scene, but beyond that, no choice but to wait and press the shutter when instinct demands.  Street photography, while very impressive, has never been my flow. So, it is quite unexpected that I seem to have found success in the more impromptu moments where there is a glimmer of possibility, a few seconds of visualization, and then a rapid fire.  

This image is from a zoo with 35mm HP5+ pushed two stops, likely in my FE2 or FM, with either the 50mm 1.4 adapted pre-ai or the 50mm 1.8 series E glass (a huge overperformer for the price in my opinion).  I like how the clouds in the sky and the markings on the reticulated giraffe mirror each other.  It’s an uncommon perspective, shooting straight up, and one I almost never undertake because I want a horizon line.  It is also extraordinarily far out of my typical approach because it is so minimal and contains so few elements.  Perhaps these significant diversions from the norm are a big part of what makes it stand out to me so much.

Happy shooting!  

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