For me, the perfect shot is the one when where I had this moment of "yes!" when I was out in the field. This moment of joy and play and exhilaration. The one I take with the wind in my face, the one when my eyes see something otherworldly, something unexpected, the one I make being fully in the moment. I don't know what the perfect shot might look like because the "perfect" happens in my mind - the shot is just a by-product. I own an old rangefinder camera (which I never use, I must admit) where you have to perfectly align two overlapping parts of the image in the viewfinder to focus. It's a bit like that - when heart and mind align with place - something very fulfilling is happening. If that's the perfect shot - I don't know. Thank you so much for this thought-provoking video!
Hello Astrid! Yes, that is what l was saying in my comment but probably didn't express very well! It's like a point of focus in the process, where the image resonates with us with the alignment of those things.😊
Fantastic video, I always really enjoy seeing the thought process of the photographer 👍 I really do love a the very simple scenes you captured and processes so elegantly. Cheers
Just editing some photos for a retrospective - totally agree how we see the same image differently from the day it was taken as time goes on. Another advantage is software continues to improve for RAW processing, which adds another level. Thanks for this and all your videos!
Thank you, Alister, that's a careful process which leads to great images. I particularly tend not to process the images too quickly after taking them. I usually get too excited and make poor choices and decisions. I do prefer to look back at them several days (even weeks) later, and the results are often of better quality. Cheers!
Indeed, editing with less emotions, after a while, is much more effective. And I start by a first quick editing on the go: to select (swiftly, goods/bads), reframe (second composition),… like a sculpture, to work on it again and again.
Thank you ever so much again, Alister, for sharing your thoughts on the „perfect image“ and all these fine images! Yours seems to me a perfect approach…
“The one that my mate took” reminds me of a spoof impersonation of the famous racing commentator, the late and great Peter O’Sullivan, “And in the final furlong it’s the bastard I didn’t back followed by the other bastard I didn’t back and the other bastard I didn’t back….”’etc. Some super images. You have some there with the longer shutter speeds where you have got atmosphere and balanced perfectly with maintaining the movement and flow, which resonate with me. There are also a few with the quicker shutter speeds I also like. They are less atmospheric and have a sense of urgency about them. They somehow make me feel more alert this morning. I think there are also a few of the more panoramic crops I really like. I am going to be staying in Eastbourne in the second half of next week - a totally different coast to anything in Lewis, but seeing some seascape photography is getting me excited for next week. Debussy completed La Mer after staying in Eastbourne, so I’m hoping to channel my inner Debussy and inner Alister for inspiration next week.
The times I go out to take "the perfect shot", things become complicated and I'm likely to bind myself and flop. I go out to enjoy nature and that I can capture the beauty of it the best I can. I look at it as an exercise, and sometimes I succeed to take a good shot. "Perfect" doesn’t exist in my vocabulary, only "good", "not so good", "better" and "best", and I am content when I see I manage well.
Great comments. The sharp jagged rocks were captured very sharply. The variabilities of a given scene were demonstrated. I tend to agree with your one thought, the shot I didn't take is often my favorite.
Thank you Alister for sharing your thinking process that obviously took time to compose 18 alternatives. I like the idea of widdling down the look and feel of a composition vs taking one shot and moving on. This is something I need to work on. Cheers!
What a good exercise! The whole process reminds me of manual focus. You go this way and then that, all the time seeking the point of clarity that resonates with us. But sometimes we might wonder if we are at the true apex of clarity!
I meant to say "We go this way and then that". I was was talking collectively and certainly personally about the process of creating an image. Often when I'm manually focusing, l question if it's at the perfect point. So too do l ask myself the same question of a finished image.
Can’t be said enough; your way of teaching and talking about photography and photos is lovely to listen too. I will miss the EPF, but looking forward to what’s coming next on this channel and what else might happen 😊 Kjell
I once heard a wise man (not myself!) say: perfection is not a point - its a direction. Which means that we can only aim for but never reach it. Which is probably all the better; once you reach perfection you're done. Thanks for taking us into your thought process: it gives me some more confidence about my own photography! .. (Btw: why is everyone always talking about shutterspeed instead of exposure time?)
“Once you reach perfection you’re done.” Agreed. I’ve occasionally thought that if I ever took a photo as perfect and iconic, say, as Hal Moray’s “Sun Beams Into Grand Central Station,” I’d probably just call it a day and sell off my camera gear as there would be nothing left to shoot for.
I think the biggest mistake that photographers actually make is trying to be perfect now I'm not criticising the video itself all the title but I think we too often chase perfection and we end up taking a whole bunch of bad photos trying to chase absolute perfection and I think what happens is I see people setting up trying to get the perfect shot and they probably potentially missed a number of really awesome photos because they are chasing the perfect homerun sweet spot with one And that one image might be really good but I suggest that the more you chase perfection potentially the more images you lose that could be very good and sometimes very good is still good enough.
When you'd like the one your mate took, they'd probably say the same about one you took, we're a fickle lot! Perfect, shmerfect, yada yada, I'm sure it was on RUclips I heard wise words before, I can't remember who, maybe Gibbs or someone, "shoot what you see, what catches your eye!" What could be more perfect!? :-)
I'm not convinced to talk about a "perfect shot". Perhaps to the photographer himself who took it... but as we know, photography is subjective, so what is perfect for one person may be different for another when they look at the same photo. Regards.
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For me, the perfect shot is the one when where I had this moment of "yes!" when I was out in the field. This moment of joy and play and exhilaration. The one I take with the wind in my face, the one when my eyes see something otherworldly, something unexpected, the one I make being fully in the moment. I don't know what the perfect shot might look like because the "perfect" happens in my mind - the shot is just a by-product. I own an old rangefinder camera (which I never use, I must admit) where you have to perfectly align two overlapping parts of the image in the viewfinder to focus. It's a bit like that - when heart and mind align with place - something very fulfilling is happening. If that's the perfect shot - I don't know. Thank you so much for this thought-provoking video!
Hello Astrid!
Yes, that is what l was saying in my comment but probably didn't express very well!
It's like a point of focus in the process, where the image resonates with us with the alignment of those things.😊
"...the one that our mate took"... precisely why I am alone most of the time while photographing. That was a very good collection....
Haha, thanks mate. I always prefer to shoot alone too (except on workshops) ❤️
Fantastic video, I always really enjoy seeing the thought process of the photographer 👍 I really do love a the very simple scenes you captured and processes so elegantly. Cheers
Just editing some photos for a retrospective - totally agree how we see the same image differently from the day it was taken as time goes on. Another advantage is software continues to improve for RAW processing, which adds another level. Thanks for this and all your videos!
Time is such an interesting perspective changer. Thanks very much for the comment
Thank you, Alister, that's a careful process which leads to great images. I particularly tend not to process the images too quickly after taking them. I usually get too excited and make poor choices and decisions. I do prefer to look back at them several days (even weeks) later, and the results are often of better quality. Cheers!
Indeed, editing with less emotions, after a while, is much more effective. And I start by a first quick editing on the go: to select (swiftly, goods/bads), reframe (second composition),… like a sculpture, to work on it again and again.
Thank you ever so much again, Alister, for sharing your thoughts on the „perfect image“ and all these fine images! Yours seems to me a perfect approach…
“The one that my mate took” reminds me of a spoof impersonation of the famous racing commentator, the late and great Peter O’Sullivan, “And in the final furlong it’s the bastard I didn’t back followed by the other bastard I didn’t back and the other bastard I didn’t back….”’etc.
Some super images. You have some there with the longer shutter speeds where you have got atmosphere and balanced perfectly with maintaining the movement and flow, which resonate with me. There are also a few with the quicker shutter speeds I also like. They are less atmospheric and have a sense of urgency about them. They somehow make me feel more alert this morning. I think there are also a few of the more panoramic crops I really like.
I am going to be staying in Eastbourne in the second half of next week - a totally different coast to anything in Lewis, but seeing some seascape photography is getting me excited for next week. Debussy completed La Mer after staying in Eastbourne, so I’m hoping to channel my inner Debussy and inner Alister for inspiration next week.
I like how you go through your thought process. Very illuminating!😊
Awesome, very happy to hear that, thanks
The times I go out to take "the perfect shot", things become complicated and I'm likely to bind myself and flop. I go out to enjoy nature and that I can capture the beauty of it the best I can. I look at it as an exercise, and sometimes I succeed to take a good shot. "Perfect" doesn’t exist in my vocabulary, only "good", "not so good", "better" and "best", and I am content when I see I manage well.
Great comments. The sharp jagged rocks were captured very sharply. The variabilities of a given scene were demonstrated. I tend to agree with your one thought, the shot I didn't take is often my favorite.
Thank you Alister for sharing your thinking process that obviously took time to compose 18 alternatives. I like the idea of widdling down the look and feel of a composition vs taking one shot and moving on. This is something I need to work on. Cheers!
What a good exercise!
The whole process reminds me of manual focus. You go this way and then that, all the time seeking the point of clarity that resonates with us.
But sometimes we might wonder if we are at the true apex of clarity!
Thanks man, I had fun and it seems logical 🤫😂
I meant to say "We go this way and then that".
I was was talking collectively and certainly personally about the process of creating an image.
Often when I'm manually focusing, l question if it's at the perfect point.
So too do l ask myself the same question of a finished image.
Can’t be said enough; your way of teaching and talking about photography and photos is lovely to listen too. I will miss the EPF, but looking forward to what’s coming next on this channel and what else might happen 😊 Kjell
Another fantastic teaching video, Alister! Many thanks!
Nice collection of shots and some great advice there, thanks
Very inspiring, thank you Alister. As your book, Out of Darkness, recently received 🙏🏻
Thank you so much, I appreciate that
Some great insights and thoughts & images as always😂 Anthony
I once heard a wise man (not myself!) say: perfection is not a point - its a direction. Which means that we can only aim for but never reach it.
Which is probably all the better; once you reach perfection you're done.
Thanks for taking us into your thought process: it gives me some more confidence about my own photography!
..
(Btw: why is everyone always talking about shutterspeed instead of exposure time?)
“Once you reach perfection you’re done.”
Agreed. I’ve occasionally thought that if I ever took a photo as perfect and iconic, say, as Hal Moray’s “Sun Beams Into Grand Central Station,” I’d probably just call it a day and sell off my camera gear as there would be nothing left to shoot for.
I think the biggest mistake that photographers actually make is trying to be perfect now I'm not criticising the video itself all the title but I think we too often chase perfection and we end up taking a whole bunch of bad photos trying to chase absolute perfection and I think what happens is I see people setting up trying to get the perfect shot and they probably potentially missed a number of really awesome photos because they are chasing the perfect homerun sweet spot with one And that one image might be really good but I suggest that the more you chase perfection potentially the more images you lose that could be very good and sometimes very good is still good enough.
When you'd like the one your mate took, they'd probably say the same about one you took, we're a fickle lot!
Perfect, shmerfect, yada yada, I'm sure it was on RUclips I heard wise words before, I can't remember who, maybe Gibbs or someone, "shoot what you see, what catches your eye!"
What could be more perfect!? :-)
I'm not convinced to talk about a "perfect shot". Perhaps to the photographer himself who took it... but as we know, photography is subjective, so what is perfect for one person may be different for another when they look at the same photo. Regards.