A Shot in the Dark

Let’s talk for a minute about taking a shot in the dark. Literally and figuratively. Obviously, this photo is not “what I do.” Other than the fact that it is natural light it is the opposite of what I do in my photography. It is dark and moody rather than bright and sharp. The subject is nature, not people or things. It is ominous, not joyful. I could go on and on but I LOVE it.

As a kid with my camera, I used to think how neat it would be to capture lightning. The funny thing is that once I learned how photographers actually do it, it took the magic out of it for me and I never tried once I was capable. Plus, I am “so busy” photographing other things (insert eye roll).

On Wednesday, I was on set at a styled shoot running like mad back-and-forth between different sets and subjects trying to get it all in before it started raining and/or we lost the light earlier than expected. There was a thick cloud-cover rolling in. Then, the first one hit. CRACK! The sky lit up followed by a loud bang and rumble. I had to really hustle now, not only for the sake of the photos but also for the safety of all on set. Lindsay, from Caroline’s Rentals, had her two girls, Olive and Edie, there as models and as I was running by them, the sky lit up again with another flash of light.  A memory from long ago raced across my mind. I remembered how I had wanted to capture a lightning bolt when I was their ages.

I thought, “what are the chances though?” and I almost kept going. But something stopped me in my tracks. I looked at the girls, turned and pointed my camera at the field across the street where the storm was coming from. I focused on a point in the alfalfa field and fired one shot. ONE SHOT. As the shutter snapped the sky lit up again. I smiled and looked back at the girls and said, “I think I may have gotten it,” and kept running.  My camera’s exposure was not properly set for that type of shot so the LCD screen on the back of my camera didn’t really show anything.

With everything going on, I went right back to work and forgot about it until 10 minutes ago while going through the photos from the session. I looked at the photo and almost blew right past it. Why did I take a photo of the field? Then I saw it. A lightning bolt! Granted, this photo is heavily edited but I did it! I LITERALLY took a shot in the dark, and got it! And, I’m pretty happy about it!

Today, take that shot in the dark. The only thing you are guaranteed, is that you will miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Ever inspired by Marc and Angel Chernoff

XO – Megan