Happy Accidents - how many keep "mistakes"?

[Photographer_Bill]

"We don't make mistakes... just happy little accidents" is a famous quote by an incredible artist - Bob Ross. With photography we are painting with light instead of a brush but many parallels can be made. Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever made a mistake (or your equipment made a mistake) that turned out to be something useful. Here's a couple happy accidents that occurred during a beach walk a couple weeks ago, feel free to share your own happy accidents.

In this shot, I was trying to track a seagull flying by but he was moving too fast so I just pointed and shot and found this in the mix of unusable OOF images, I love the big bokeh balls and the silhouette of the bird, no crop involved...

Here's another shot where my equipment made the mistake and decided to focus on the background seascape instead of the pelican, if you look close the pelican is a shadowy blur but there is something that drew me to this image

 

[DRwyoming]

I kind of like the first image in a surreal kind of way. The second one is something I wouldn't keep but if you like it, that's all that matters.

 

[Larry S.]

The first image is in my opinion. You’ve captured a series of shapes that makes the viewer interpret the image….. well done! Not so enthusiastic about #2. The gull is the only thing out of focus and my eye is drawn to what is…..

 

[Photographer_Bill]

I agree Dave and Larry, the top shot (seagull) turned out kind of surreal while the bottom shot is distracting and almost fools my eyes looking at it - am I looking at a pelican or am I looking at the surface of the water, but what is that shadowy thing? When I shot weddings these types of images would often occur and if they had enough interest I knew I'd use them as background images in the digital albums I would design, often times a mistake turned out to be a key element in the album design the client ended up really liking. I mostly just threw these images in to get the thread started, really curious to see others' "happy accidents".

 

[Larry S.]

Bill, I recall a surprise image I didn’t even consider worthwhile until I saw the shot. This was from a Galapagos trip in 2004. I saw a Nazca Boobie chick walking on a sandy trail and was following him in the viewfinder hoping he would stop. He did! Right next to the chick was a sign warning people not to go on the trail. The bird looks like he’s looking both ways before crossing a street.

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[Photographer_Bill]

Bill, I recall a surprise image I didn’t even consider worthwhile until I saw the shot. This was from a Galapagos trip in 2004. I saw a Nazca Boobie chick walking on a sandy trail and was following him in the viewfinder hoping he would stop. He did! Right next to the chick was a sign warning people not to go on the trail. The bird looks like he’s looking both ways before crossing a street.
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I love it Larry, it does look like he understood the sign, and here you were thinking the sign was for humans . I’ve often wanted to capture a deer crossing a road right in front of a deer crossing sign.

 

[Flyboy]

"We don't make mistakes... just happy little accidents" is a famous quote by an incredible artist - Bob Ross. With photography we are painting with light instead of a brush but many parallels can be made. Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever made a mistake (or your equipment made a mistake) that turned out to be something useful. Here's a couple happy accidents that occurred during a beach walk a couple weeks ago, feel free to share your own happy accidents.

In this shot, I was trying to track a seagull flying by but he was moving too fast so I just pointed and shot and found this in the mix of unusable OOF images, I love the big bokeh balls and the silhouette of the bird, no crop involved...

View attachment 75431


Here's another shot where my equipment made the mistake and decided to focus on the background seascape instead of the pelican, if you look close the pelican is a shadowy blur but there is something that drew me to this image
View attachment 75432

The first one is a "happy accident" as my art teacher would say....I like it! The second one, not so much.

 

[Rixpx]

I was photographing a pelican in flight. Later during processing, I discovered one shot with the last quarter moon in the background. Accidental, but it's framed and hanging on the wall.

On the other hand, I took a lot of photos of my feet, before I realized my new camera default setting was to activate the shutter by touching the rear screen.

 

[Photographer_Bill]

I was photographing a pelican in flight. Later during processing, I discovered one shot with the last quarter moon in the background. Accidental, but it's framed and hanging on the wall.

On the other hand, I took a lot of photos of my feet, before I realized my new camera default setting was to activate the shutter by touching the rear screen.

I have many "feet" photos myself, almost always from after a photo shoot

 

[Rassie]

I had a Sony Mavica back in 2004 that my company provided me for business use.
I took some images of my cat Sylvester practicing his halloween act when the camera's autofocus decided to get in on the act. Images are very poor but I hang onto them for the memories and sentimental value.

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[Chappy]

I know this is not wildlife or nature pictures but I had to show these two for the accident that happened. I was commissioned to document the construction of a wind farm in Texas. I had been shooting wildlife in low light the night before and pulled the camera out and started shooting the next morning. I don't know why I didn't even think about changing the settings. The second image was what I was trying to get. I loved the look the rising sun was creating on the wind turbine blades with them being made of mostly fiberglass like material.

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[Flyboy]

I know this is not wildlife or nature pictures but I had to show these two for the accident that happened. I was commissioned to document the construction of a wind farm in Texas. I had been shooting wildlife in low light the night before and pulled the camera out and started shooting the next morning. I don't know why I didn't even think about changing the settings. The second image was what I was trying to get. I loved the look the rising sun was creating on the wind turbine blades with them being made of mostly fiberglass like material.

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Cool!