Story of the Photo I

Story ID:	1886
Written by:	Carol J Garriott
Organization:	home/retired
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Seadrift USA
Year:	2007
Person:	Carol Garriott

Often the story of how I get a photo is almost as interesting as the photo. There's the oft-told story of my shot of bluebonnets taken near Lake Granite Shoals. I was prowling the Texas Hill Country in bluebonnet season in search of splendid wildflowers when I came upon a beautiful scene incorporating railroad tracks curving off in the distance. The problem was there was trash everywhere--plastic bags, beer cans, styrofoam cups, you name it, it had been tossed or blown there. I spent about an hour tiptoeing through the flowers picking up the debris. A huge wheel and tire was just to the left of the shot I wanted, but I couldn't move it, and it would have left an unsightly scar anyway. I took about a roll of film of that area, coming up with one snap that excluded tire and other trash. After winning a blue ribbon at the Calhoun County Fair, it won Best in Show at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Photo competition.








Then there's the serendipity of when I'm going somewhere else, or FOR something else, and I get a great shot of something different altogether. On a trip to the Northwest with friends, we stopped early one morning in an Oregon park along the coast, and headed on foot to the shore to an advertised "blow hole" with cameras at the ready, as that would no doubt be spectacular. The path led through an intriguing stand of unusual trees, and just as my friends excitedly spotted the blow hole ahead of us, I turned back to see the morning sun streaming mystically through the amazing tree trunks. I missed altogether the blow hole performing, and I didn't even care.










Another photo I'm proud of was taken in Rockport, Texas. In the Beach Park is a most interesting sculpture, 3 curvy columns beside the Bay. Again I wanted some action in my shot. I had the idea for the friend who was with me and munching popcorn, to toss popcorn toward the sculpture so the seagulls would swoop in. And thus they did! I had to buy her more popcorn.











Next there's the photo of the little abandoned farmhouse in a plowed field just north of town. I've been drawn to shoot it often since moving to Seadrift, but I wanted something else in there, storm clouds behind, or a sunset, you know. One clear, sunny afternoon, no wind except for a slight breeze, coming home from a neighboring town, I noticed what appeared to be an odd bank of clouds to the south, over the bay. It seemed to be strangely increasing in size, moving toward me. All of a sudden it became apparent it was something like a fast-moving fog, the likes of which I've never seen. Fog is usually still, damp, in morning or evening, and here it comes across fields in a brilliant sunshiney day! I made the turn onto Hwy. 185 toward Seadrift, and there was the little farmhouse, with this strange fog zipping over it. I screeched to a halt, frantically backed up, grabbed my camera out of my purse and at the same time rolled down my window. No time to exit the car and get situated--from behind the steering wheel I snapped two shots out the window, focusing with the house to lower right in the first one, and lower left in the 2nd, before the fog was gone. Bright sun again, still no wind other than a slight breeze. I sat there in astonishment--had I imagined the whole thing? I flipped up the viewer on my digital camera, and sure enough, there was the phenomenon. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.





Classic fortuitous happenstance provided this photo of the Seadrift Bayfront, which I had photographed dozens of times from other vantage points. I was wandering around in the harbor area, trying to get a snapshot of all the oyster boats crammed into and around the harbor. I had trekked down the west side, trying to find a view I liked, to no avail, too much clutter. It was an unusually calm, overcast morning, evoking a moody feeling to the waterfront. Giving up the hunt for a suitable composition, I turned around to leave, and there, before me, was a view of Bayfront Park with the palm trees reflecting a double image in the still water. It looked like an island resort in some far-off exotic locale! Needless to say I forgot my disappointment in not being able to find a photo op at the harbor.

And so it goes. I find I must allow extra time to get to places I’m scheduled, to allow for delays due to the call of the shutterbug!