meant to be

I took a few dozen shots of her that late afternoon. Effortless, expressive, fun; her. 99% of them didn't look anything like this one. And even after adoring all the shots that really captured her lightness and ease, her playful spirit, it's this single image that stays with me. 

It was the first shot I snapped before I checked my manual settings and it's (obviously) about 3 stops underexposed. 

There's no telling what magic can happen when we're least prepared and not all all expecting it.

I'll admit, I took it into Lightroom and thought that maybe a little processing might "correct" my mistake but nothing I did actually improved the image. This is exactly how the image needed to be. Underexposed and unaltered. Unapologic in every way. A rare gem. A true gift. Totally real.

Share with us a rare gem of yours. Maybe it came through calculated planning, by accident or by fate. Whatever the case may be we want to see your images, exactly how they were meant to be. 

Comments

[Kat]

I love this image you have shared. It is powerful! I think images with dramatic light or exposure can be especially surprising to us as the creator, because it's so different from what our eyes saw at the time of capture. While that's often what I'm going for, what my eyes see, it's so much fun to be suprised too.

Here is one of mine, where I saw an opportunity but the actual capture of it was so much more dramatic than I expected:: http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/04/beautifully-backlit-boy.html

[Marcie]

What a hauntingly beautiful portrait!!!
Here's one of mine. I didn't see the face in the tree:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2011/2/8/ode-to-picasso.html

[xanthe]

gosh, this is beautiful x.

[Jennifée]

A powerful image indeed!

I was out shooting last night without a tripod, and placed my camera on the little box fastened to the traffic light (with the button you press to get a green light for pedestrians) to shoot the still road. I got this beautiful sequence of starburst streetlights and a double green starburst from a traffic light. No idea how the latter happened, but I love it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85057042@N00/5429142538/

[hurworld]

This was certainly overexposed by accident. However, I like it enough that instead of tossing it away, I thought I'd just convert it to monochrome and let the exposure stay as is.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hurworld/3294081798/

Works for me :)

[Patty]

What a beautiful portrait! Those happy accidents are amazing...and certainly meant to be.
Yesterday I was looking to find a little colour in the bleakness of winter and took some shots of marbles on my kitchen table. When I looked at them I thought the colour of the table took away from the experience of the colour of the marbles so I did a little selective colouring....the result was a nice pop of colour...that's how it was meant to be:

http://pmaherphotography.blogspot.com/2011/02/losing-my-marbles.html

[Jill F]

http://fingerontheshutter.com/2011/01/26/amaryllis/

I was photographing my mom's amaryllis and not until I downloaded the pictures, did I see the birds in the background. They look real, but are actually cut outs in her window.

[Puna]

This image was just a fun way to experiment and play and revel in the joy of discovery.

http://visionandverb.com/2011/02/new-planet-of-discovery/

[melissa]

for me, this photo sheds all pretense...it's like she's staring into my soul. and showing hers with such beautiful power. absolutely gorgeous, tracey.

[Stephen Hockman]

I'm pretty proud of my latest shot. Its of a single leaf after a snowstorm.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5394714996_8020e36387_b.jpg

[Dotti]

Oh, Tracey! This portrait took my breath away! It is soooo powerful!!

[Diane]

That's a perfect image.

[Stephanie]

Here's my happy meant-to-be image. I didn't check my settings (so the front patch of sun is super bright), I didn't intend for it to be black and white (leftover setting from previous shots that I forgot to change), and the plaza was busy so getting a good composition was nearly impossible. I figured, what the heck - I'll just shoot something and hopefully capture the energy of the plaza. Instead, I caught two old friends out for a morning stroll. I love how the two old men are link arm-in-arm, something you don't see often here in the States. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniecourt/4797235040/

[spread your wings]

your portrait is beautiful. it has a classic painters lighting that i like.

here's one of mine that i thought came out kinda cool - even though i didn't see it this way at the time (it was a quick iphone shot from the hip) the leafy ground follows almost exactly the pattern of the horses mane and stirup.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/5134415472/

[Leslie]

So many beautiful, moody shots. Love the one of the boy looking up. Mine is similar:
http://www.lightsandletters.com/storage/Pumpkins.jpeg

I could not have planned this shot if I tried. Sometimes, you just have to be in the right spot at the right time. I think I had my ISO set to 3200 to capture the candle and ambient light. And most of the other shots I took were very blurry. This one just worked.

[Kimberly]

This was the first shot I took in this series of trying to capture the softness of a woman's neck and shoulders. I was doing this with my remote and window light. I loved this first shot. The colors, the details, the focus, and I could NOT for the life of me recreate it. I changed just about all of the rest of these to b/w but this one I had to leave alone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/junebugphotography/5398806404/

[sarah w.]

I love the tender lighting and silence in your photograph.

Here's mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/galphoto/5424560623/

I took this thinking I would get a full silhouette and when I viewed it big onscreen, I realized that there was this tender highlight off of his fedora with just the hint of some detail.

[Jess]

The intent look on her face is so amazing. Exposed "properly", I don't think the same effect would have resulted. This is perfect. I have one that my husband actually shot of me and my youngest son. The opposite "accident" happened where we were totally overexposed.

http://jessicavescera.blogspot.com/2011/02/overexposure.html

[Hannah]

It's funny that you posted this today. I just got a roll of film back from my Holga, and I knew that the camera was set wrong (to bulb mode) for more than half the roll. This is one of the shots that was taken with that setting, and I ended up loving the surrealism of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahmayo/5430925487/

[writemuch]

I have very sheepishly given you an award.

http://writemuch.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-could-never-fit-into-dress-anyway.html

[Suki]

I hope it speaks for itself.

http://sukiphotographyblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/untitled.html

[Hannah N.]

I love this post! I also love all the photos that everyone else has been sharing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58304012@N08/5431244851/

[Mira]

wow! this was really meant to be! i love it!
Mira

[Tamar]

I love 'meant to be' photography - in actual fact some of my best photos have been meant to bes...
Brilliant shot. Glad you posted it. Thank you. ;o)

[Siobhan Wolf]

I instantly thought of this image. This is the one that got me started.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91125354@N00/5431429855/

[Dani]

Total luck, these two never sit still - http://www.danileighblog.com/2011/02/09/40365/

And that is a gorgeous photo!!

[Alex]

You're right - this image stops you. She looks both fierce and at peace.

Here's a recent capture of mine that NONE of my editing could help.
http://wildfledged.tumblr.com/post/3205817417
I had been frustrated because my vision while shooting (on the highest ISO possible to my chagrin- my usual sacrifice for being obsessed with mood lighting in the evenings in my home) was of a much sharper image, and I wanted to focus on her eye through the plant.
It was cool when I saw the result, which captures her personality so well anyway- the constant halo of light that is the perimeter of those ears, which are enough to encompass her ENTIRE personality.
She's like a little automatic negativity vacuum which constantly circulates the apartment, turning everybody's sadness into dust. I love these fluke images which prove that there are no real mistakes. :)

[Sarah Kenney]

I know nothing about photography but have decided its time to learn. I have just discovered blogosphere and am elated. I took this photo today and used it for my blog title. It evokes everything I was feeling today. Coziness indoors, new growth and hope, and blurred visions for the future. http://rileymadel.blogspot.com/

[Carmina | Custom Picture Postcard Printing]

This simple photo conveys the strong personality of the subject. Nice use of lighting. It's like the woman in the photo is still keeping a secret from the photographer.

[cigi]

Beautiful shot!

[Cynthia]

What a lovely accident! My SOOC post came out of laziness after a snow (no school) day.
http://apictureintime.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/snow-day-soocs/

[Nicole]

That's photo is beautiful. I love happy accidents.

We spent a (very cold) afternoon playing on a frozen lake with a friend and her kids. It was so amazing, and the photos were brilliant. Happy accidents.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54849226@N05/5411397839/

[bridge]

she is beautiful.

[Trude]

Isn't it so wonderful when that happens? Absolutely LOVE that shot, so gorgeous and moody. This shot of my parent's cat plotting his next move is underexposed too, but I really wanted to draw attention to his white nose and catchlights...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudem/5412711340/

[kat]

i love happy accidents too! I was sitting in my car...sorta bored waiting for my daughters soccer game to start. i didn't want to wait out in the rain so i brought out my camera and took photos of the rain on my windshield. when i was home later...and dry!...i downloaded my photos and saw this...the upside down trees in the raindrops just blew me away!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathrynhansen/5307962978/

[Christine]

Here is mine:http://www.flickr.com/photos/bugcycle/5435466318/

It was one of the first photo's I ever took with an DSLR and had no clue how to set the thing. Turned out to be one of my all time favourite photo's of him :)

[Pam]

Here is one of mine. I had my camera set on inside, and I ran outside to take a picture of this apple, I ended up really liking it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidewalkshoes/4935209951/in/set-72157623117334376/