Share the story behind one of your best photos

[lynnb]

It would be interesting to hear the stories behind the pictures that you consider your personal best.. please limit to just one picture per member to start with.

What were the circumstances around you taking it?
Tell us about the picture - the subject and any interesting background to put the picture and why you took it in context - including when and where was it taken.
Lastly, what did you take it with? Camera/lens/film type or digital.
(Bonus for Joe: what bag were you carrying? 🙂)

Hopefully this will turn out to be a most interesting, and perhaps educational, thread.

 

[lynnb]

I’ll start with one of my personal favourites:

sleeping beauty #513 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

This was taken with my first “serious” camera - an Olympus OM1 with Zuiko 200mm f/4 on Kodachrome 25 - at the Australian National Surf Life Saving Championships at Kingscliff, NSW in 1978. I was attending as a member of my local surf club, from Sydney.

There had been much partying and drinking at the pub the night before, and I noticed Cheryl, one of the club members had fallen asleep in the sun against one of the surf boats. I wanted to isolate her so quickly grabbed the 200mm. I noticed the boat crew next to their boat in the background so I moved to put them in the frame, and this was the result.

All these decades later, I’m still pleased with the picture.

Edit: Sorry Joe, can't remember what bag!

 

[Arbitrarium]

Maybe not 'best', but this is still my favourite photo I've taken. Yeah, it's a photo of someone's back which is about the lowest form of street photography, but nevermind.

I visited Reykjavik last year and we went for a saunter around the suburbs. Despite the overall affluence of the country, the buildings in some areas of the city look very 'council estate' and grim. Lots of grey and pebbledash. This shot was taken the morning after halloween, hence the pumpkin. I noticed the bright road markings, fire hydrant and pumpkin laid out so perfectly against the grey maze of windows and had to run (as stealthily as possible) down the street to catch this old man entering the centre of the scene. I'm just really pleased with how all the shapes and colours fit together here.

Pentax ME Super w/SMC 50mm 1.4 on Agfa Vista 200 (I think)

 

[sebastel]

nice idea.

people square metro station by sebastel23, on Flickr


it was early november in 2014.
a pal and i had agreed to meet for an evening photographic outing in the streets of shanghai. we met in a snack venue, where he had a big mug of coffee. bad idea ... we had only taken pictures of one of those multi level street crossings where i tried out a (new to me) 21mm lens. we were on our way to some old style shikumen living area, when the coffee caused him stomach pain so badly, he had to call it a day. we both left, targeting our respective home.
my way brought me to the metro station "people square", with a looooong underground passageway. fortunately, i had changed to my 50mm summilux (version 1), when i saw this scenery of nightly commuters right before me. i only needed to lift the camera (M3) and press the button. aperture wide open, shutter was probably 1/60 or 1/125.
the film was Rollei RPX 400 exposed at ISO 800, developed in ilfotec LC29.
the bag was a billingham hadley small.

 

[brbo]

For me "best" equals "favourite". My daughter asked me if I could set-up an Instagram profile for her so she could follow her brother and her mother. I reluctantly agreed but insisted that her profile picture shouldn't be something "generic".

After a few minutes she returns from her room with "take a picture of that"!

I did:

 

[rhl-oregon]

Hello Lynn! I'm trying to come back more consistently to RFF, so thanks for the intriguing invitation to leave my burrow ;-)

This face to face with a Pacific Newt took place a few years ago at the surface of a large water lily pond in Yachats, Oregon. The newt was interested in why I was sitting barefoot at the pond's edge, but all I saw was the movement of lily pads as something came closer--koi, I thought--until the newt came into the open a foot or so away. I was shooting the lilies with Ektar in a 1937 Ikonta 520/16, and everything else with my Ricoh GR. So I knelt over the water with the GR as closely as it would focus, and took this image.

It has had 10x as many views as any of my other images in the RFF gallery. It certainly isn't technically clean, but I like to think of it embodying what Roger Hicks calls 'perfect exposure.' There is something about the direct gaze that compels viewing and, I assume, meditation about the nature of the shared gaze among souls of different species. Or something similar.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Untitled #1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

While visiting the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Reims, France, I sat on a stone bench across from this little prayer area. After a couple of minutes, this lady walked up to the little altar. She just stood there, motionless. Her hair, her dress, her white high heels all seemed to be such a contrast with the rest of the environment. I took about four shots before she walked away. I never did see her face.

Leica M9, 35/1.7 Voigtlander. I was fortunate to have this photo run in The New York Times as a 1/2 page with the above caption in November 2011.

 

[raid]

I tried to get into Preservation Hall (New Orleans) to attend traditional jazz music performances, but the waiting line to get in. I was using my Canon FD 50/1.2 then. I walked outside Preservation Hall. and I saw the drummer through the steamed up window, so I took this photo. I may have used the grainy slide film Scotch 1000.

 

[Corran]

These two images have basically the same story. I was doing a documentary project on a cotton mill that was being demolished and my partner and I had unfettered access to the inside while they salvaged a lot of the materials from inside the building.

Anyway, due to the removal of the roof and general leakage from a building that was over 100 years old, when it rained there was a lot of water that would come into the building. I would dash over to the building when it had rained to see what kind of interesting shots I could get.

The problem with shooting inside the building was that it was really dark. I used mostly 4x5 film and so I often had no way of really knowing what the composition was except by experience. I also used 10 to 15 minute exposures usually, if not more, with extremely contracted development to pull down highlights from small sources of outside light and control the brightness range in conjunction with reciprocity failures.

Both of these images were shot with extremely long exposures after a rainstorm and composed by guessing. I printed both to 20x24 in my darkroom a few years ago and they are still some of my favorite prints.

 

[kxl]

This is one of my personal favorites because it speaks to me on several different levels:

1) I find the aesthetics pleasing - the composition, the sharpness, the colors and the gentle non-distracting bokeh.

2) The image defines a time and place without the need for words by capturing a woman in a traditional outfit during a particular season.

3) The juxtaposition of traditional costume and a modern-day selfie always brings a smile

4) Cherry blossoms are celebrated not just because they are beautiful, but because that beauty is fleeting.

5) Last but not least, I like the photo because it reminds me of the brief time that my wife and I spent in that beautiful country with its beautiful people.

PS (Because this is a gear forum) - Nikon D800e with a Sigma 35mm/1.4 ART

 

[tunalegs]

Tokyo Night (remix) by Berang Berang, on Flickr

I was on my way back to the U.S. after visiting a friend in Okinawa. I was determined to see some of Tokyo before leaving Japan, but realistically, didn't have much of a window of opportunity for doing so. I took the train to Shinjuku station, bought film at Bic Camera across the street from the station and began to walk around. Since I didn't have much time, am not familiar with Tokyo, and didn't want to get lost, I more or less just walked along the rail line. Came up this street near the station:

Shinjuku Evening by Berang Berang, on Flickr

It was getting dark, so I was already maxed out on my camera's settings, 1/25 shutter, and f/6.3 on the lens, with Fuji 400H loaded. As I continued along, I came up to this intersection, and knew I wanted to get a good photo of it. The illuminated no-entry sign hung in the cyan twilight would look nice, and the odd angle of the street exaggerated perspective in somewhat surreal way.

Tokyo Night by Berang Berang, on Flickr

I walked up to the cross walk, focused the Pilot 6 (which is darn near impossible in that light with that slow lens) and stood to the side so I wasn't blocking anybody. I waited for a few seconds when the truck came by, and got ready to get a shot - by chance a man stepped into the crosswalk at about the same time, and I had a good deal of foreground action to complete the picture.

I wasn't sure if I had gotten anything though. I knew I was really pushing my luck with the film and equipment I was using for the light that was available, but in the end it turned out about as well I could have hoped for considering.

 

[lynnb]

This is turning into the interesting thread I'd hoped for - thanks for the excellent contributions so far.

Don't forget to include a brief note on the gear used (not that that's important for the pictures, but after all, this is a gear forum 🙂).

 

[kiemchacsu]

Exactly 3 years ago, in July 2014 I was taking a photo walk with a friend in Dong Xuan market, Hanoi area with no specific photographic idea in mind. Suddenly, it was raining very hard and we had to stop in a kiosk near by. A woman, a street vendor, with the same intention was waiting for the rain to stop in front of me. I captured about 10 frames but the first one is the best. Why this is special for me? Because I can feel the emotion and the whole atmosphere is so touchfull. I printed (digitally) and framed it in 20x30 inches size and hung it in my kitchen/dining room

Extra information: Leica M2/ 35mm F2 version IV / Kodak T-max 400 developed in HC-110 (B), So far, this is my most faved photos in Flickr (116 faved as 27 July 2017)

waiting for the rain by Trung Nguyen, on Flickr

 

[RichC]

2007: summit of Mt Etna, Europe's largest and most powerful volcano. Took a day to climb, and being on the caldera of an active volcano was definitely memorable! The yellow is elemental sulfur, and those fumes were harsh, containing sulfuric acid and other things best not to breathe! The caldera is on the left, and if you fell into that, you'd be dead!

(My then new Leica M8 + '60s Summilux 35mm, both now long gone.)

 

[Richard G]

It was a hot late Sunday afternoon and I had been working flat out and was resting on the couch. The sun was low in the sky and I hadn't been for a walk and hadn't taken a photograph for days and I was restless and impatient. I knew I'd get nowhere going on foot with the camera, so I drove to the highest ground a few streets from my house knowing the last rays of the sun would still be in play. I took a shot of a stone wall with a repeating shadow of the pillars, and another through trees of a white house and its balcony all romantic with the golden light. But still no real satisfaction. And then I found this. At the steepest point in that street which I had driven and ridden my bicycle down many times there was this wonder of artisanal devotion and ingenuity. Council workers had fashioned, who knows how many years before, a unique drain which diverted the water from the gutter in three streams to stop it overflowing and water-logging the grass above in a heavy rain. After this I could relax. I was most pleased with the subject itself, but making this abstract of it was also pleasing. It was taken with an M9-P and the 35 C Biogon.

 

[ForestCap]

IMG_1595

This is not one of my best or should I say favourite shots, however it made me win a university photography contest.

I chose it for the contest because I know it would be a mainstream-ly pleasing picture (The theme of the contest was "Urban Biology"). Before I submitted the photo, I showed it to my girlfriend and asked her opinion about the photo. She said:"It looks good. But it is not your type of photos at all."

I was very glad.

Shot with Olympus PEN E-P3 + 17mm f/2.8 lens. Cropped and Auto-Leveled in ImageJ.

 

[mike rosenlof]

October 1999, I was visiting New York City for the first time. This was on Wall Street, I honestly don't remember if the fog is dust or from steam pipes, but scene with the fog along with the masks, in the hole caught my attention. OM-1n, probably hp5+, and probably with the 50mm/1.8 lens, but possibly 100/2.8.

 

[lynnb]

Hello Lynn! I'm trying to come back more consistently to RFF, so thanks for the intriguing invitation to leave my burrow.

Robert, I'm glad I succeeded! I like your newt very much!

 

[x-ray]

One single frame changed me life

One single frame changed me life

It was early 1970 and I was a Junior at the University of Tennessee. I was working my way thorough college as a PJ and always carried cameras wherever I went, even to class. I was leaving my pathogenic microbiology class and noticed a small group of about 20 students close by protesting the appointment of the new president of the university.

I made a few images and walked into the Admin building to see what was happening. The tension was high and one professor called for the campus police, "pigs", to come in. When the cops arrived things escalated quickly. Now several thousand students had come to see what was happening and the city police arrived and started sweeping the street of students and arresting people. In all I believe there were 21 arrests and one student was credited with starting the event and deported back to Brazil in the end.

The best photo was of a young black man who was in the area to visit another student friend. Ray Alexander was his name and he wasn't even a student but got caught up in what was happening. When the police arrived he hid in a group of bushes but they didn't provide enough cover. Sadly he was arrested.

Just prior to making the photo, I had just come out of the admin building and was photographing the police in combat gear when a friend tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and noticed Ray in the bushes. I had a 21mm Super Angulon f3.5 with TX loaded in my M3 and raised the camera to my eye and fired a shot. As I raised the camera Ray looked up at me and gave me a peace sign and then lowered his head and hand. I wound and shot another but by that time the shot was over. One shot was it.

Because I had my 21mm and my aperture was around f5.6 or 8 I had plenty of DOF. My exposure was good for the shadows where Ray was but the bright areas were about 2-3 stops over and will say this neg has made me a better printer.

At that time I was a stringer for AP. When everything calmed down I went to the darkroom and ran my dozen rolls of TX. I quickly made contacts that another AP photographer saw. My friend with AP saw the image and told me to print it to transmit on the wire service. At the end of the day we transmitted the image and it was picked up by over 200 news papers in the US. A few weeks later I received a call from a writer with Esquire Magazine and they purchased rights to run it full page in the October 1970 issue and later used it in advertising.

Not too bad for a kid 21 years old. The image alone brought a lot of attention to my work and this and the series opened the door for my career. To this date I still sell stock use and have netted well into the six figures with it. Who would have guessed what one single frame could do.

 

[raid]

There are so many excellent contributions here. Thanks.