Do you go for hopeless shots ?
 

Do you go for hopeless shots and surprise yourself how well some of them come out ? Gordon's Eagle shot go me thinking, how many of us go out on a limb and hope for the best ?

My garden woodpeckers turn up in poor light and this morning was no exception.

Very overcast and raining, plus under the shade of the willow tree.

Shot some 30 feet away through the double glazing of the kitchen window. ( good job window cleaner called last week ) :D

1/20 Sec f6.3 -1/3 stop ISO 400 Tripod 300mm

I resisted increasing the ISO to keep the noise down.

Patiently waited for a lull in the hammering of the tree.

Not my best pecker shot but much better than other attempts under better conditions.

Do you have any examples of hoping for the best ?

The answer is yes in this digital age. The question is do you feel pleasantly surprised and happy it came out so well or slightly miffed the conditions and shooting through glass has taken the edge off the quality a little bit? Glass half full or half empty?

Absolutely yes, now I'm using digital. I used to try now and again with film, but it was very rare it worked. Now, I blast away with th digital camera without a second thought. If it doesn't work (as usual), then what have you lost? A few seconds of your life and a couple of dozen shutter aactuations off the cameras life. Who cares if it means that now and again you get a real gem.

certainly yes as you sometimes don't get another chance; getting the surprise is evidently a bit to do with some skill and cunning as you record and where I find this forum encourages and gives good tips

Agree and me too, can't get tired of praising the digital world for throwing an endless array of color in our album with fraction of cost and effort, of film area. My motto is "Click as long as you can, select only what you like".

With digital I find myself frequently going for hopeless shots. Quite often the results are awful, as yesterday when I tried for a Speckled Wood butterfly. But sometimes they turn out, as today when I photographed a fly feeding on some goo, using a 1/10 second exposure despite its feeding tube constantly moving.

They say you learn from your mistakes, and hopeless shots are often a way to learn now methods. When they don't work, I think about what went wrong, and either change tack, or forget the idea.

Leif

When I was given a digital camera it revolutionised my interests in the environment, and when I saw the first woodpecker in my garden I just had to take a picture through the window, then I grabbed the binoculars and took a picture through them. The pictures were awfull but after a while they improved and I have never looked back and my life-long interest in wildlife has taken on a new meaning. Thanks to the inventer of the digital camera and the computer to edit the rotten pictures into reasonabl ones.:)

I agree, digital has increased my enthusiasm for nature as I am much more willing to go out there and to try and get shots knowing I will enjoy it and it does not really matter if most or all the shots are rubbish. My family always pull my leg about 'little brown jobs' somewhere in the distance on the shots. Always an excuse for another lens which soon shuts them up! :)