The white whale concept, what if........

So this has been brought up before along the lines of "What is your white whale". A little different this one.

So you have an extremely elusive and special subject that you chase for years and years. The hardest thing to capture in your field. You might go through a lot of pain and struggling to get a shot of your elusive white whale. Then, finally one day that special fleeting chance arrives. You steady yourself, you have been waiting for years and the nerves kick in, I hope I can hold it steady, I hope it stays here just like this, I hope I've set the camera properly, just so many hopes and click, bang there you have it. Your white whale shots.

So ok, you now have what you have been dreaming of. The goal is reached, the light at the end of the tunnel had been attained.

Now what. Back to normal nature photography, or do you have another white whale to concur. Has you final goal been reached and the target has now gone or are you fixed on another prize. Do your goals end right then and there or are you on the chase again.

Maybe its a case of "Beware what you wish for". You might just get it and then what. Maybe its just a goal or a step to the next elusive subject.

How does it work for your white whale ??

Danny.

Danny,

If I captured the white whale in early morning sunlight, I would want to catch it in afternoon light, or in the fog, or with snow in the background, or with food in the mouth.

Even if I got one "perfect" image, I would not stop because the passion just doesn't end for me.

I'm with Lia. So many white whales out there, so little time. I bagged my white whale last fall when the black wolf trotted up and stopped and stared at me from 15 yards away. But I have many more white whales to pursue, and after all the white whales have been got, I'll move on to the gray whales, and then the blue ones and brown ones. We invent our own white whales. Their number is limited only by our imagination.

I agree...there are enough white whales on my list to last a life time.

Danny, I am always careful regarding the 'light at the end of the tunnel'. It could be an oncoming train!

There are so many white whales on my list (not all of them photography related) that it will take a whale of a lot of time and effort catch even a few. That's what makes life so much fun!

-PB

I actually do have a photo of an oncomming train inside a tunnel. And, I have photos of two beluga whales which should count as a white whale photo. I have a pet project I'd like to do in the coming two years but I don't have all the equipment yet. The busiest rail line in North America is the shared UP/BNSF coal line that snakes through the southwest corner of my state and into Nebraska. Near Crawford Nebraska there is a very steep grade called Crawford Hill. They use helper engines to get over it. What I would love to do is photo the thing--at night. At least, about half a mile of it. I need more lights! I think that's the thing, most dynamic photographers are constantly coming up with even more creative and daring stuff to try and photo.


Kent in SD

Danny, Without white whales and the excitement of the chase what fun would it be. That perfect scenic in the right light,,,the beaver cuttting down a tree, the grizzly with 3 cubs, elk dueling in the river,,,sleeping on location in the back of your van, trying to make a cup of coffee over a campfire, this is what photography is all about what a great life!

Danny,

Good morning and very good question. The way I see life is that there always is that 1 thing, or in this case that 1 picture, that you try to achieve. My white whale right now is a bald eagle in the wild.

When I see & photograph my eagle, I know I will want different shots of it, angle, background, etc. Even then if I was able to take any picture of the eagle that I wanted to my liking, then there would be a different white whale for me.

There has to be, because if there is nothing to look forward to, then what is there? This would be a great a question to be discussed around a campfire with the beverage of choice after a great day of shooting. The best thing I ever did for myself was buy a digital camera.

Next question?

Rich Hahn

ps This is why I love this site, where else can you get a vast amount of input on
photography & philosophy at the same time?

THANK YOU JIM

My white whale this week is turtles!

They are out sunning themselves so I'd like to get a decent photo of them -- hard to do because they sun themselves in direct sunlight so you get glare and stuff.

For a while it was Great Blue Herons -- easier than turtles -- I got a pretty good (but not great shot) but would love to have another crack at one or two.

But my ultimate (right now off the top WW) is a Pileated Woodpecker i -- they are just plain shy so I've only seen 'em 2 X. Maybe i just need to get out more!

Frank

Mine is a landscape shot that requires a complicated set of winter weather conditions and a +10mile hike (that is 20m round trip with overnight and all the gear required for that) in the snow... two winter seasons have passed, I read the weather radar maps, it teases me, I get ready, it falls though on the last minute, I stand down and go back to the weather radar... I'll be looking out for it again next winter.

my goal would be to enjoy the experience w/ or w/o the camera and hopefully get more than a second or two with it.

I'm reminded of a neighbor's dog that I knew growing up. It lived most of it's life tied to a heavy chain in the driveway in front of the house. Every time a car would pass by, that dog would bark and pull with all of it's might on the chain. He wanted one of those cars real bad. Over many years of doing this, the dog wore that chain out until one day a car came by and the chain finally broke. The dog ran out to catch the car and was immediately run over and killed. True story.

Reminds me of Captain Ahab and his White Whale. I'm perfectly satisfied with catching a few nice fish every now and then, thanks.

Great to see the very positive side coming out in here. From wild eagles to the perfect time of day, or should that be, the perfect day and perfect landscape. Great news.

Its Charlie's story there that made me think about myself at the end of the day. The dog and car episode. For me the white whale has been taken and now, its simply a challenge to get the same type of shots..........except better. Better light, better comp's, better DOF, etc. I can also think of a few more subjects.

Very interesting read and time for another coffee and read it again.

Thanks folks, fascinating

Danny.

I'm not interested in photographing anything other than a "white whale". If its not unique or something I can provide a unique take on then why bother? In that regard the only goal I have is to pursue "white whale" photos. In this regard my expectations are super high or I've lowered them across the board :)

My photography isn't subject driven. There are things in nature that interest me more than others, but when I put I camera in front of my eye, everything changes. I enjoy the orchestration of the elements I frame, compose and do what I can with technique. I fret later about success. Certainly, where I go and what I look at will influence what I photograph, but there is no Moby-Dick.

Pete D.

Danny, Each and every time we capture a keeper image, that is/was a white whale. And every time we look thru the lens we are still trying to capture yet another one, it never ends and never will for me. Ron (aka whaler)

For many years, it was a praying mantis. It seemed that I never found one when I had a camera with me, although I have seen a couple of dozen of the when out walking at lunch donwtown, or with friends,

Now that I have a couple of decent (not great images), wither reshoot or find something else.

So much to shoot, so little time...

Danny, the following is a quote from the founder of Lions Clubs International of which I served as a member of the international board of directors a few years ago. -

"May there always be a land of the beyond. A land where there is something more just over the hill, just beyond reach, never quite attainable, but just within sight that we all continue to strive for".

To me this is a great philosophy for photography, community service and life in general.

Danny,

Noun vs Verb...

Photohraphy is just like "Fishing"... Why do you think they called it "Fishing" in the first place??? They could have called it "FISH"...., right??

It's something we do, and enjoy doing. The stories I've heard and told about the 'one that got away' always out-live the trophy hanging on your wall. Stories are passed on...

Weather it's Flyfishing, Photography, Bowling, or even preparing a good meal, it's brought to a different level if you can tell a good story to go along with whatever your "Whale" is.

With a little Insight, and a good Presentation, you can make the "White Whale Stories" better than capturing the Whale itself...

Dave Flaig
Green Bay Wisconsin
www.flaigphoto.com

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

LOL Dave thats a classic piece of writing right there mate

Thanks all, amazing how at the end of the day, its about nature and capturing THAT moment.

Danny.

Good evening. With reference to Charlie's story about the dog, it should have been the owner that was tied up with a chain & then run over. Dogs or any other animal do not deserve to be constantly tied or caged, but many people do.

Rich Hahn

I hope you don't fish Rich.

And if Rich does fish, I hope he doesn't catch your White Whale Danny . So out of a sense of pure noseyness and completion, Danny what was your White Whale?

My white Whale would be to instinctually know what to do each time I opened Photoshop, I hope I never find it, or for me, the whole process would become boring.

Thank you

Mike

Howdy Mike. Thats why I don't use Photoshop Mike, I use Photoimpact instead Aww, my white whale was a very tiny one Mike. An Aphid giving birth of all stupid things. Took me years to find and get the shots. The goal now is that because I know what to use, its actually pretty darn easy, so the goal is to get the shots again or similar, but better. A real crazy subject to take, but its a challenge mate.

So what would be your's Mike, one subject or a few ??. Kiwi based or overseas ??. I'm curious. And don't say Ngauruhoe when it goes up

Danny.

Ha, maybe getting my comments/post ratio somewhere near that 10:1 that I was reading about , no, I am being naughty . Ngauruhoe would be boring as well, as all and sundry would be pushing and shoving for that shot, the pub would probably be out of bounds and the place would be surrounded by white coats with newly found officiousness .

I thought that I had achieved most of all that I set out to do when I got international recognition for the product that I was producing, but then I was touched with my own mortality and I realised at what cost it took to get there, now the goal posts are constantly shifting, thank goodness.

At the moment no specific subjects, no specific places, no specific projects. I see photographs in so many situations. Perhaps the Kea with very early morning light, but I am in the wrong place at the moment for that . I love to be on the ocean; fishing usually, I have developed a fascination of shots across the water to the land mass especially morning and evening lights. I have missed more photographs in this area than I have taken, one very memorable one that I can still see in my minds eye.

I have learnt a very constant lesson, that is; essentially the amount of satisfaction derived is inversely proportional to how hard past a reasonable point that is pushed, in other words trying so hard that all else ceases to become important usually results in unexpected and unwanted consequences without the expected elation.

I am fairly cruisy nowadays; I go with the flow and find enjoyment in the smallest areas, always trying to find a positive from any perceived negative in my world or in anybody else’s.

Wow too much information .

I can't imagine anybody’s white whale ever being irrelative

Thank you

Mike.

Interesting Mike. Yeah I could be into the Kea idea, maybe a bit closer in macro though. Hey different strokes...right.

Whats interesting here, is that we all seem to look at it in the same way. There are always plenty of goals and plenty of white whales to go around.

Danny.

Danny,

Good morning. Actually I do fish or occasion & I use to hunt too. But any thing that was shot or caught was eaten, preferably cooked over an over camp fire.

Rich

ps I never ever caught or shot a white whale.

One of my white whales (yes they're many..maybe too many) isn't necessarily subject based - it's more personal. I would love to take a year and spend time shooting with the all the folks that have inspired me thru the years here at NPN. One such trip would to spend a month in the land of Kiwi and shoot macro with a M8t of mine.... Then I'd travel to visit the shoot macro with the LA Bayou boys.... then I'd drag Guy into the woods.... then find Lori in the Southern Appalachians....

You get the point - make that two years...

Danny, I have no white whale. My saying written under my name is: "I never stop going out in search of the beautiful picture that - for my great luck - I will never take". I think that the dream of a white whale is better than to have one.
Cheers.

Nah, ya got it all wrong. No more white whales to go find, you got your white whale right here and now! So, i say, jump on the back of the whale and keep shooting as he takes you down to your watery grave. That way, when they find your body along with your (properly sealed) camera, you've made your legacy all the more outstanding.

An Ocelot.

Many years ago I took a photo trip to Santa Ana and Laguna Atascosa NWRs that I called "The Great Ocelot Expedition". There had been sightings at both areas in the previous years, but it still would have been a stroke of luck to see one. It was also the middle of a drought in southern Texas, and many of the wetlands were dry. On top of that, there was a tropical storm in the Gulf, and rain bands were crossing over the area, and I was getting soaked in the leaky roof convertible I was driving. After a few days of being wet and miserable, and chasing a ghost, I finally gave up and headed for the drier climes of Big Bend.

Someday I will go back and catch the ghost....