Can you Improve on Good Luck?
Long Shadows Part 2: Trying to Improve on good luck, is it possible or do we make our own luck?
Contact sheets: Kawaguchi, Saitama, Long Shadows part 2.
What and Why
The what and why of this shoot crossover so much they have been combined into one section.
With similar weather two days in a row, my chosen course of action was to use day two to improve upon day one. The success of the first days is key to understand. The truth is there was no need to reshoot. However, the sun had plans to cooperate with a very similar quality of light. I must abide.
The day two images taken in the same location and at the same time of day were underwhelming compared to day one. Only a handful of images made it out of the selection round. Of these images 4 and 5 resonate, the others fall short.
In the moment I knew something was off, but kept shooting, stayed patient. The light began to peak and I had little to show for my patience. It was time for a change. I switched from a 35mm to a 135mm lens and moved locations, but continued with the day’s theme, long shadows. The results are # 2 and # 3, similar in idea, but a little more subtle. It seems you can not improve on good luck unless you move forward.
The argument here is not which group of images is stronger, but that I have both. Two images, two experiences, and two creative trains of thought. On the third day of great light, it helped to produce similar but different versions of the original idea. Had I continued to make copies of day one’s images I would have a contact sheet full of the same image.
To answer the title’s question, “Can you Improve on Good Luck?” if you move forward, yes you can. A resounding no, if you choose to live within luck’s warm embrace. Comfort is creative cancer.
How:
All of the images in the gallery above were created by shooting very early in the morning. The sun is low and the shadows are long. A 135mm, 50mm, and 35mm lens were used to capture these shots. Camera settings are typically F8@1/500 with varying ISO (64-800).
When: 6:15-6:30 AM
During the summer on a clear day between 6:00 and 6:45 AM, these images can be created. Tall buildings and other man-made structures may alter this time. Long shadows can be seen from 5:00 AM, but are very long.
