Q-102: Captured... in Post-Edit

Captured in Post-Edit

It finally happened. You did everything you said you would--

You cleared the passenger seat and placed your purse on the floor, you plopped your camera bag on the passenger seat, and unzipped it's lid, flipping it away from you. You pull out the camera and set it up, taking a test shot of the clouds in front of you.

Looking at the result you delay your commute home and exit the vehicle and stand in the parking lot, taking a moment to truly capture the beauty before you.

Then you clamber back in, make sure everything is set and turn the camera off. You place it lens up in the bag, ready to grab so you can pop off the cap adjust your grip, turn it on and start shooting at a moment's notice. You start the car, crank the radio, roll down the window next to you and thank the heavens it's 79 degrees instead of 39.

Leaving the parking lot you wind around the one way streets back to the light that will allow you to make your way to the freeway. You practice your grab and shoot technique at the red light, capturing a funny sign... 

and snagging a cool shape....

You make your way home, take a detour trying and failing to catch a rainbow, get lost making your way back to the freeway, and almost change your regular route until you remember you have a plan.

You snake through familiar streets, wind through traffic until you're there. Approaching the stoplight you pray (for once) that it will be red instead of green. You creep forward and for a moment, you think that all your preparation will be for nothing. The shot is there, not exactly the way it was before, but it IS there. But the light is green and you're coming up in line... and then-- yellow. Roll. Red. Roll. STOP.

And that's it, you grab the camera, pop the lens cap, wrap the strap around your hand and adjust your grip, you fiddle with the zoom, and the car in front of you rolls forward... you panic--- NOT AGAIN! But they're just adjusting... the light is still green... but not for long. You glance at the cross-light-- already on it's left-turn cycle.

You turn back to the birds on your left, snap a few shots and swear-- realizing the shots are too dark. You adjust your shutter, cursing now-- sure you've missed it. The next shots have the shadow of the wires, the shadow of the birds, the next is only slightly better... but now--- Green, Go. People creeping up behind you. You place the camera back in the bag, and move forward. Swearing. Disappointed.

At home you leave it for last edit. You pull the shot up reluctantly, deleting the black-screened captures, and sighing as you bring up the dark dark silhouettes on your program. Suck it up... maybe it's fixable.

You know it's not... not without noise at least. There's only so much a computer program can do. But you try. You decide to dive in with brightness and contrast. See if it's even worth fiddling with anything else.

You drag the adjustment sliders, play with the contrast and hit "ok" as you close your eyes-- too disappointed to look.

But you have to look sometime. You crack open one eye, then the other. You stare.

It's terrible. It's full of noise, and it looks ancient, there's almost no color and one of the birds flapping wings is a blur of action.

But it's your favorite shot ever. It looks purposeful, even.... artsy. You play with saturation, bringing out a deeply buried blue hidden somewhere in the photo's features. You sigh, and try to remember--

Sometimes the best shots--- are just happy accidents best captured in Post-Edit.