Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Lens
B-25J “Betty’s Dream” wreaking havoc
captured D5 / 200-400VR2
Flatly stated, I missed the shot. The client wasn’t happy and I was instantly made aware of it! The business of photography does come down to simply one thing, the photograph. You don’t get it and no matter what excuse you might throw out, the bottom line is the job you’re being paid for was not completed. Cause you still don’t have that one photo. What was the shot I missed? I don’t have the aircraft smack dab in front of the glowing red ball of flame. Another photographer not part of our team was in the right place at the right time with the right lens and he got the image, and he got his image right to my client. It is a very cool shot and I congratulate him. And I didn’t have it. Is the mistake, the lost photograph, a recoverable business proposition? Given time, more than likely but faith has been lost and that hurts. What do you do in this kind of situation when you’ve missed the photo you’re being paid to get?
P-40k “Aleutian Tiger” on strafing run
captured D5 / 200-400VR2
The first thing when you miss the photo, fall on your sword, take all blame and offer no excuses! It’s real simple, no matter what you say, you don’t have the photo and if another photographer did, in reality what excuse can make up for that? Next, figure out what went wrong causing you to not get the photo so it doesn’t happen again. Simply, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time for the explosion and the plane with the wrong lens. Shooting with the D5 / 200-400VR, even with “knowledge” of where the explosion was “supposed” to go off and when the plane was “supposed” to be in place, I needed a long lens to get the shot desired (cause I don’t crop in post) from a different position. I will be shooting with the 800mm next time from a totally different location with exact knowledge which pack is going to explode and when. This still guarantees not a thing but I know that was one big part of the problem in missing “the” one photo. Does this solve the problem though of the photo missed, the opportunity gone for the client?
Spitfire MkIXc “Half Stork”
captured D5 / 200-400VR2
If the project depended on this one photo, my ass would be fired. It’s just that simple because I missed the shot. Luckily for me, this project is not about just the one shot but about the whole story. Reminding a client of that when they are pointing out you missed “the” shot doesn’t work either, especially in those first moments so just shut up. While the client might have doubts I know since I’m telling the story, their story my way, I got what I wanted and there are times as a photographer you gotta go for YOUR photo as much if not more than the photo the client thinks they need. Getting shots of WWII aircraft over the battle front can’t be captured for lots of reasons, like WWII is over and some folks just don’t like big ass explosions going off randomly these days. For this project, I need to tell the story of the war visually and while I love planes flying in blue skies, staging A2A mock combat, when it comes to talking about the tragedy of war, black, smokey skies screams it in a single click. While the big firey ball behind the plane is visually very cool, to me it screams “airshow.” In staying true to the story I’m telling, the shot of the B-25J making a “parafrag” run or the P-40k that appearing to be making a strafing run over China or the Spitfire over burning London speaks volumes about the deplorable state of war. So I missed “the” shot and that I regret but did I miss the story I want to tell? Only time will tell if the story will win over the one shot, if I lost the battle but won the war. Just understand that if you’re putting your butt on the line with your camera, there will be times when you’ll have to rise above being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong lens.
