I sat next to a woman on my flight to New York City a few weeks ago who was heading up there to see the Allman Brothers final show before the band breaks up forever. She was going by herself, treating herself to a nice hotel and getaway, and I would later learn that she went through a divorce this year from a man she’d been married to for 40 years, since she was 18. It was difficult for her to talk about although she shared quite a bit, but we switched subjects a few times, which led me to learn that she’s also a prize winning skeet shooter (I don’t even know if that’s the legit name for that… apologies if it’s not!) I asked her what the secret was for being the best. She said, “You can’t focus on shooting 100 (which is a perfect score). If I go up there and think ‘I’m going to shoot 100. I have to shoot 100.’ I’ll shoot 95 every time.”
“You have to think about something else,” she said, “and not make the perfect score and the technique the main thing. You have to make something else the main thing.” So, she listens to classic rock while she shoots, which relaxes her and makes her happy, and then she pulls that trigger and goes home with blue ribbons (or whatever prize winning gunwomen are awarded these days).
I look at this photo, which is from a wedding I photographed last month at Ellis Ranch in Loveland, CO, and I feel similarly to my new plane buddy. I have been trying to find my right rhythm for taking shots like this since last summer, when I photographed a wedding with my pal Shea in Florida. She got all these amazing reception shots with streaky lights and people having the time of their lives! And I know there are techniques and settings I need to master in order to make these happen more often, but I got this one. (& I LOVE it)
And I wasn’t trying to focus on shooting 100, which makes me love it even more 🙂
