The camera's eye

I have a photo from St. James' park in London. I intended to take a photo of a nice bridge with some birds swimming on the stream underneath it. When I took a look at it once I got home, clearly in the center of the photo is a pelican with his head up, swallowing a fish that he had just caught. You can even see an outline of the fish as it is going down his throat. There is no way I could have intentionally caught this photo in a million years.

Most great shots are accidents -- as opposed to stage shots. And lot are taken with inexpensive equipment. I always simile at people lugging a lot heavy, expensive equipment knowing that most of their shots will be no better than the average person with a point and shoot camera. I have won two photography prizes -- one was shot with a cheap RF camera. The open window for the shot was ten seconds -- and everything was perfect.

As Frank says, lots of great pictures happen by chance--serendipity, if you will. However, good photographers know that you often have to create your own serendipity. Pros, for example, can't rely on chance luck to get the great shots they get. Being in the right place at the right time counts for most truly great photographs. I've taken literally thousands of travel photographs and know that getting a good photo often takes planning and knowing how to make the best of given situations. For example, I have prize-winning photo I took in the rain at night on Red Square in Moscow. No one else was out taking photos ("It's raining!"). The situation was serendipitous to me but, in most folks minds, not good for photography. I knew what to make of it.

As for equipment, yes, as Frank also says, it does not take expensive equipment to take good photos. There are lots of travelers taking nothing but snapshots with costly DSLRs. I've taken my share of "GWSH" (George Washington Slept Here) photos with my SLRs and DSLR. Yet there are times when good equipment is necessary for a great photo. Once on safari in Tanzania a woman kept urging the driver to get closer to the wildlife so she could get a picture with her P&S camera. I, with my SLR and telephoto lenses, was able to get photos she could not get without violating the animals' space.

I've had my share of lucky shots. And among them are some of my favorites. However, to get consistently good photos I cannot rely on getting a few lucky shots out of a thousand. I take photos with purpose and intention. Then I celebrate the serendipity when it happens. As someone who teaches a "Photography and Seeing" course, I know it's not the camera gods that make for memorable photos. Nor, is it the equipment, although that can enhance the chances of getting good photos. It's one's "eye" by which I mean one's heart and mind. Congratulations on your fortunate accident. I celebrate it with you. And yes, I also shoot with a digital P$S,

My philosophy regarding travel photography is much the same as Dwayne described. While it's possible to get good photos with small P&S Cameras, there have been many occasions in my travels where the capabilities (and Lenses) of an SLR were a significant benefit. I also take photos with "purpose and intention", and it's nice to have the ability to get the type of images I want.

Serendipitous moments sometimes happen, but it's nice to have equipment which is capable of capturing them. I've experienced several occasions in the past where a P&S simply wouldn't have been fast enough to capture a spontaneous situation.

I'll continue to travel with the "heavy and expensive" equipment, even if it does make fellow travellers "smile".

Cheers!

I have taken thousands of photos on my trips, thanks to the digital revolution. On my first big trip 5 years ago, I took my camera without thinking too much about the photography, but with each trip I take my photos more and more seriously. I went on safari last year in Africa, so I bought myself a DSLR. I knew that my P&S was not up to the job.

Sure some of the best photos are by accident, not pre-planned. But if you are technically competent using the equipment and you have an artistic eye through practice, your great photos don't quite seem so spontaneous anymore. My next great photo will be my 10 000th photo in 5 years.

I don't consider myself a talented photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but fortunately, my little Canon point and shoot usually compensates for its bad handler. ;-)

My favorite picture from my last trip to Italy was taken of the Colosseum from Palentine Hill. We were on the backside of it and since we were some distance away (I used the zoom), the framing of the trees and scenery around the Colosseum itself was very neat.

However, the funniest 'happy accident' I had was from the prior trip, also around the Colosseum. I snapped a picture of one of the dressed up "gladiators" from some distance away. It was probably the third or fourth time that I looked at that picture, before I realized that he was holding a gladius (Roman short sword) in front of his waist, at a location and angle that was very...um...suggestive. I burst out laughing in the middle of a family gathering for no apparent reason, and then had to explain why to everyone present!

I have a few of those (I love travel photography and average 1000 pictures a week), but one stands out in particular. Instead of a happy accident, it was a real accident!

In 2007 my wife and I were in Vienna and after a morning and afternoon of exploring we needed a break. We just left the Sisi museum and headed to some benches by a fountain. The area was pretty empty and the sun was warm so we stayed there for a while, almost falling asleep as we soaked in the sun.

While were where there, I took a number of pictures of the area. Included was this picture:

Well we noticed Police cars and an ambulance coming into the area in the next few minutes. We were curious, but were too busy relaxing. When I got home, I looked at the picture more closely and zoomed in. Here's what it caught:

Yes, a car accident! Looks like a car went out of control and hit a pole. The noise of the fountain directly behind us completely masked any sound of the impact.

Just thought it was cool :)

Pete

I had a retired Marine as a photography teacher who drilled into us knowing everything that is in the frame you shoot.

In college, I shot photos (for very little pay) for a couple of publications. They got very upset whenever a photo had the smallest item that didn't meet their needs (before photoshop), most of the time I could get what I wanted by cropping but sometimes the photo was worthless because of a small piece of trash, dirty dish or grafitti.

Sadly, serendipity doesn't happen for me anymore. I look for photo oportunities with an eye toward exactly what I want in and out of my shot. I still take multiple photos of subjects, then pick the best one or two to keep.