02-25-2023, 12:44 AM
hal wrote:
My fav instamatic moment was when a bear entered our camp at dawn. While 1/2 alseep in my tent, I heard one buddy say to the other, 'Hey eric - get up - a bear took my backpack - we gotta get it back.'
That woke me up. I was outta the tent and looking around. My pack had been messed with too. By the time I was ready to go after the lost pack, they were already returning with it. I guess they scared it out of the bear's possession.
You could hear him stomping around in the thick brush nearby and then he popped out on this log that crossed a tiny creek. He was stopped right in the middle - it was a perfect shot. The bear was in profile on the log over the water, lush greenery was all around him. I had ONE shot left on my instamatic.
I lined up and took the shot. It was magnificent! It was like he was posing just for me. I couldn't wait to get it developed.
What I failed to take into account was the fact that it was pre-sunrise dawn and this scene was in a rather thickly forested area. It was dark. I wasn't much of a photog in those days. I didn't even realize that it was WAY too dark to get the shot with that camera.
My perfect shot was a brown blur in front of a green blur of a background. It could have been a bear - it could have been a bottle of beer or a car or just about anything.
So disappointed! But I still have that pic somewhere...
Oh, yeah. My brother and I both had lots of shots like that. He had an early '60s Agfa with the focus ring that had little icons on it: mountain, people, flower. I have some shots of buffalo in fading light. Sigh.