While working on a long time project called Emigus Landscape Photography, I had decided to make several solo visits to the beautiful Pena Park, in Sintra, Portugal. This was in October, 2012.
I was tired and heading to the car, happy with all the photos I had made on that day, when suddenly light changed and I looked back and saw the sun looking through the trees for the first time in the day, creating this beautiful sight that lasted just a few seconds. The Giant Thuja backlit, the colors, the mood, all was perfect.
Fortunately, I still had the camera mounted on the tripod. I put it on the ground, composed the shot as fast as I could, quickly checked the settings and pressed the shutter only to realize that the timer was still on a 2 second delay for using mirror lock up. Shacking and nervous to get the shot, those were probably the longest 2 seconds of my life, while I watched that beautiful light fading with the camera on countdown and the taking the picture. Yes, I almost missed it for a fraction of a second.
After reviewing it, this was perhaps the most rewarding image of the whole month of work.
Amazing photo! Well worth the stress and anxiety to capture it at just the right time :)
Thank you, Angela. One could write a book on the role of stress and anxiety in Photography! The advantages and disadvantages of adrenaline and attention span... I feel that experience creates less anxiety, but the thrill of finding what you're looking for always surprises you and makes you somewhat nervous. It's that fear of missing the shot. This usually comes when you know what you want. The less you know about your objectives, the more relaxed you are, but it's in that balance that you must find yourself: knowing what to achieve, doing whatever it's in your reach to get there and accepting what the universe throws at you.
Very true indeed! I understand the fear of missing the perfect shot.
What a striking, fantastic photo! I like everything about this picture. The lighting. The composition. The color. The mood of the picture. I'm sure you would have freaked if your timer was on a longer delay!