[Leica] Am I too tough??? maybe... maybe not : )

[dbirkey at hcjb.org (Duane Birkey)]

Hi Ted,



Thanks for the kind words and compliment as well as the frank--tell it like 
you see it--harsh words of a photo editor...



You are right...  yes  "A) I've got to do a reflection shot for the LUG." 
was sort of what I was thinking...  Actually it was... Reflection in a car 
window...?  Really???  That's our assignment???  Car window are curved... 
and you see all the stuff inside of the car...?  ARGHHHH....  I liked the 
theme blue and reflections I can do...  Car windows???



After not really seeing anything I wanted to shoot for a week and 1/2...  I 
took a day and headed off to a couple of towns in the mountains where I had 
never been before to take some photos...   with the assignment sort of a "if 
I see something I'll shoot it."



So I was looking for something interesting to shoot and actually..  I really 
liked the reflections I was getting in 
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/dbirkey/abstracts/DuaneBirkey20139156_lg.jpg.html



So I figured...  I  wonder if there is a car window I can get this 
reflection in...  Well the only thing there was this stupid old Chevy pickup 
with dirty windows, and dirty windows aren't ideal for a reflection..  I 
thought about cleaning them... and then remembered that I was in Colorado 
where people tend to carry guns and don't really like you messing with their 
truck...     I took one frame... wasn't happy with it at all... So I gave up 
on that...  and didn't even notice the mirror at that point...   I came back 
a couple hours later hoping there would be another car there...   there 
wasn't...  So thought I'd try again...  at which point I saw the pink hand 
mirror haphazardly duct-taped as the side mirror....    So I changed 
directions and made the photo more about the humour of the pink mirror and 
duct tape on a Chevy pickup than the reflection....    Which is why the 
focus is on the mirror and not the actual reflection...



Normally I wouldn't bother to even take a photo of a pink duct-taped mirror 
on the side of Chevy pickup... let alone show it to anybody....   but I 
thought the LUG might find it humorous....      (Did at least somebody smile 
at it???   : )  )  But I never could find an angle for the shot I was happy 
with...  So I moved on...



I did actually try to think of some other situations that might make for an 
interesting reflection...  and most of those  involved lighted signs at 
night....   which if I had had more time or motivation... and no security 
concerns....   I would have worked a bit harder at it...



As you said,  it was not my best effort...    But I still had fun doing 
it...   And it got me out to take a whole bunch of other photos that I 
really enjoyed getting...  which is sort of the purpose of the assignment 
anyhow...



Thanks for the honest C&C,



Duane







Ted wrote:



> > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/dbirkey/DR_Ted/DuaneBirkey20139193_lg.jpg.html
>

>You sitting in your car or van and think?

>A/  "Damn I've got to do a reflection shot for the LUG."

>B/ You grab camera hop out, see colourful object and some kind of reflection
>and go click! Get back in car ! There done and over! You feel better???" :-)
>I'm right? Right? :-)

>I look at it and think "What the hell was he thinking?? Let alone was there
>worth shooting?"

>Really? Is this one of your all time best ten images you've ever taken?

>This isn't personal, I'm re-acting just as a hard assed as I've had
>Photo-editors treat me over the years ! And possibly me doing exactly what
>you did. Or I assume it had about that amount of effort put into your
>"ASSIGNMENT" shot. I have fallen into this kind of mood and had the howling
>bejjjjjeeessuuuss hollered at me. So you are not alone!