I think it was in the early eighties when I was wandering in my garden in New Jersey with my Mamiya C220 and an 80 mm lens. A Praying Mantis perched on a nearby leaf and turned his head to look at me, as though to say, "what are you doing?" I was alert enough to open the shutter. Another timely, but very tragic moment occured when I was shooting in the turn three photo area at the 1982 or 83 Indy 500. I was tracking Danny Ongais' car when it turned and went head on into the wall, destroying his car and crushing his legs. I pulled the shutter, cocked, pulled the shutter again and got a couple of dramatic although heart rending shots. After it was over I was shaking. Danny was very seriously injured. I don't think he ever walked again. I know he never drove again. He was one of my favorites, because he came from the drag racing ranks. One of the photos was published by the magazine I was shooting for.I buried the original transparencies in a box in my basement, and I've never looked at them again. They're still down there somewhere.
"Paul F. Stregevsky" wrote: > > I'd like to start what I hope will be an intriguing thread: > > As photographers, we've all known our share of bad luck. But sometimes we > are visited by a stroke of timely good luck, otherwise called serendipity. > > For example, when The Bridge Over the River Kwai (spelling?) was being > filmed, the camera was trained on an aimed rifle, when a butterfly lit on > the barrel. The film captures the landing and the dutifully surprised look > on the face of the actor. > > What have been your most serendipitous photographic moments? > > Please include moments that happened "only because I happened to be > carrying my camera." It's OK to help make your own luck. > > Paul Franklin Stregevsky > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
