Luck or Talent?

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Status
Not open for further replies.
Member's gallery
Len Shepherd said:
This was taken in poor lightt - with "interesting " action that lasted about 2 seconds.
Click to expand...
I am asking myself what the lens you were using .. ;-) 60mm is very unusual to see people using in Africa. It might be 24-70 or other standard zoom, but 60mm prime ... very seldom.
Sometimes I usee 135mm or 105mm and Voigtländer 58/1.4 for landscapes becasue I like the rendering. But I've never seen somebody bringing some special (MF!) primes to Africa becasue of its rendering 😅 So, you must like that lens .. definitely :)
 
Member's gallery
Doug Herr said:
Context? How often had the other photographer had opportunities to photograph tigers? If he had seen tigers multiple times the odds are he already had quite a few photos. If it were my first and possibly only opportunity to see and/or photograph a wild tiger I'd get as many photos as possible.

For an animal I see often, I already have many photos and I might or might not be inclined to make any more unless the animal was doing something extraordinary or the composition and/or lighting was extraordinary.
Click to expand...
That's a really good point, Doug. I was with a friend in Rocky Mountain NP looking at elk. I say looking because my friend did not take a single elk photo. There was nothing that showed up of any real value - even with a harem of 30 elk.

I've spent some time shooting with Arthur Morris and he has a similar approach. He shoots 1000-1500 frames per day or more when he is at home or traveling and just making photos for personal enjoyment. High frame rates give him a lot of choices, but some choices are better than others. Of those images, he probably keeps no more than 2-4 images even with good subject matter. After the first 500 keepers of tern chicks, how many more do you really need unless they say something new.
 
Member's gallery
Feiertag said:
It didn't start out that way. Someone, for some unknown reason, named the person. I purposely left out the photographer's name, to avoid personal nonsense.
Click to expand...
You must have missed my post top of page #4 where I clearly outlined my reasons for sharing the source material. So no, the reason is not unknown.

But I don't think Tibor was referring to discussion about Tin Man when he is talking about things getting too personal.

I'd still like to know where you feel the line is drawn between luck and skill? I agree there is no skill in holding down the shutter button longer than someone else. I'd also agree that there is always luck involved in getting a good shot, especially a wall hanger.
But I still think there have been many well written and thought out replies showing where skill is involved in a situation like this even if it isn't the act of holding down the shutter.
 
Member's gallery
arbitrage said:
You must have missed my post top of page #4 where I clearly outlined my reasons for sharing the source material. So no, the reason is not unknown.

But I don't think Tibor was referring to discussion about Tin Man when he is talking about things getting too personal.

I'd still like to know where you feel the line is drawn between luck and skill? I agree there is no skill in holding down the shutter button longer than someone else. I'd also agree that there is always luck involved in getting a good shot, especially a wall hanger.
But I still think there have been many well written and thought out replies showing where skill is involved in a situation like this even if it isn't the act of holding down the shutter.
Click to expand...
Your outlined reason was not a good reason to do what you did. It appears that you are very proud of the fact that you mention him. I still don't get it. Poor choice.
How do you know what Tibor was referring to? Nice try.
Why would you care where I draw the line regarding luck and skill? I couldn't care less where you think it is.
 
Member's gallery
Feiertag said:
Your outlined reason was not a good reason to do what you did. It appears that you are very proud of the fact that you mention him. I still don't get it. Poor choice.
How do you know what Tibor was referring to? Nice try.
Why would you care where I draw the line regarding luck and skill? I couldn't care less where you think it is.
Click to expand...
Obviously we disagree on that as do the many who gave a like to my explanation. You referenced the video in the OP...describing it well enough for me to know which video it was. In order for me to argue my point I had to show the context of that video because it helped me explain why I think he took so many shots of a lion and also provided better context to how long of a time it actually was.

As per Tibor, we are both making an assumption so either of us could be correct or incorrect. Doesn't really matter but maybe he will qualify it.

I only cared because you created an entire thread on this so I thought you would be open to discussion about it and I thought you'd want to share your opinion on where the line between luck and skill are. If you don't care about my opinion, why create the thread? Or is it just those of us who hold a different opinion that you don't want to engage with? Seems that way as you were "done with the thread" until shortly after someone posted the story of the Tiger guide only taking a single shot....that really sparked your interest back to the thread didn't it? First person over 4 pages to vaguely agree and boom....guess who's back!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top