One Chance…

Will you ‘nail it’?

Or will your camera ‘fail it’?

A once in a lifetime trip

A wedding or christening

A special birthday celebration

A significant life event

A rare bird or animal sighting

An amazing sunset

Or just a steam train passing!

The West Country Class steam locomotive ‘Braunton’ was due to pass near my home just once, this year…. I had a few days notice (thanks to a local community group on Facebook) and spent a few hours on Google Maps and a quick recce drive around, to find a location with Black Combe in the background. I chose this one for the old rusty signal adding to the timeless nature of the shot.

On the day, the weather was variable - alternating between downpours and clear blue skies (and everything in-between). Sometimes the sky was darker than the grass, sometimes 10x brighter. Sometimes ‘iAuto’ would have got it right, sometimes it would have been a disaster…

But I only had one chance to get it right…

When you’ve only got one chance, why leave the camera settings to chance?

I always shoot in full manual mode for anything remotely important or unrepeatable: Always have done since I got my first SLR in 1981 and suspect I always will do - despite the incredible advances in ‘AI’ algorithms and features that come with recent cameras.

Why?

Because I ‘know’ the exposure will be correct, the main subject will be sharp and in focus, the quality will be as good as it can be, there won’t be unexpected flashes (or lack of) and all I have to worry about is composition and hope nobody’s blinking or sticking their tongue out!

OK, so I’ve had 40 years experience, but those first ‘once in a lifetime’ shots are also pretty good (if I dare say so myself), as I took the time to understand exposure and focus before I set out on my first ‘one chance’ shoot - the Manx International Rally in 1981, armed only with a couple of rolls of film and a Pentax ME Super with standard 50mm lens, borrowed from my sister!

This is why my beginners courses all start with an understanding of exposure and focus settings on your camera: if you understand how the camera works you will always be able to work out what settings to use - not just try to remember them for a particular set of circumstances (or leave it totally to chance, in the camera’s ‘Auto’ setting).

My first ever outing with a ‘proper’ camera

12 September 1981

Pentax ME Super / 50mm standard lens (Borrowed from my sister) and a bit of reading to understand technique!

Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer in a Porsche 911SC