Are you an opportunistic shooter?

[ctitanic]

In photography, an opportunistic shooter refers to a photographer who captures images spontaneously rather than planning shots in advance. They take advantage of unexpected moments, interesting lighting conditions, or fleeting subjects as they arise.

This approach is common in wildlife, street, and documentary photography, where conditions change rapidly, and the best shots often come from being observant and ready rather than staging or anticipating specific scenes.

For example, in bird photography, an opportunistic shooter might capture a hawk diving for prey simply because they were prepared with their camera at the right time, even if they originally set out to photograph songbirds.

Am I an opportunistic shooter? Yes I'm!

 

[TwoWheeler]

There’s another kind?

 

[ctitanic]

There’s another kind?

Casual shooter in opportunistic mode?

 

[TwoWheeler]

Casual shooter in opportunistic mode?

I hike with the dog and take my camera, sometimes. Sometimes I even deign to take it out of the bag.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Here is a Opportunistic photo of a failed Still Life.

The first photo I was experimenting with glassware on a mirror. Black cardstock for a backdrop and a single light source. I waited until night to keep ambient light to a minimum.

As this was setup on the dining room table, I was required by my Activities Director the next morning to put everything away. After coffee and the morning shower (TMI?) I came downstairs to see the morning Sun catching just a corner of the beveled mirror.

I grabbed white cardstock for the back drop and within a minute of taking the second photo the light had completely changed.

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[TwoWheeler]

Here is an Opportunistic photo of a failed Still Life.

I had one instance where the manual dials on my Fuji getting knocked out of whack when pulling the camera out actually paid off. I went to take a photo at a waterfall, and as I pulled the camera out of the bag, I somehow knocked the exposure comp down to -3. When I put the camera to my eye, all I could see were the white splashes of the water bouncing off the rocks. “WTF???…..hey, wait a minute….”

When I got it home, I black and whiteified it and it remains among my favorite waterfall shots.

within a minute of taking the second photo the light had completely changed.

We had had an ice storm and I was setting up to take some shots of Hawthorne berries encased in ice. While I was setting the tripod up, the sun came out and everything lit up like diamonds! “Oh, this is going to be so cool…” and the sun went away. “No problem, I’ll just wait for it to come out again”.

I looked around and it was solid overcast in every direction.

 

[woolno]

So I guess this qualifies as opportunistic - unfortunately for the catfish

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[ctitanic]

People, there is a poll!!!!

 

[Hali]

I hike with the dog and take my camera, sometimes. Sometimes I even deign to take it out of the bag.

the dog or the camera?

 

[Hali]

As Helmuth von Moltke the elder said "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" Not that anything to do with photography is a battle but you all get the idea. I often times have a plan (especially lately when I have an assignment for my class) but that tends to fall by the wayside as I see "shiny" or "squirrel" or "reflection" and I start photographing more opportunistically. I do tend to get what I want, but perhaps not in the organized manner I planned to get it.

 

[TwoWheeler]

the dog or the camera?

A cheap shot at the low hanging fruit.

…exactly what I would have done.

 

[Photofarmer]

guess so no opportunity to get other side of powerlines

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[RW2024]

My only plan is to make sure my kit is present. Never know when opportunity will knock.

 

[ctitanic]

Everybody is showing up their opportunistic moment, so here is mine.

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[Dave Williams]

An interesting topic Frank!
As I tried to describe in this month's competition, the thrill of capturing something special in the world of wildlife is something I can't see being rivalled in many other genres of photography. For the ultimate adrenaline rush it's probably something unexpected that unfolds in front of you but it can be very satisfying at a staged event too. I have had several holiday trips where I have used "professional" ie paid for hides. There are advantages in as much as someone else has done the hard work and you just wait and collect the rewards of their efforts. In some cases I would never have ever had the opportunity to get close to that particular species especially as they don't ever appear in my home country. The thrill of getting a shot is somewhat tempered when you realise that the shot is identical to many others that previous clients had taken. In other instances you might take a pelagic trip where a block of frozen bait is towed behind the boat, again none of your work goes in to the preparation but at least the sea is accepted as not as identifiable as a perch or rock .
I have seen criticism of staged shots but personally I don't see too much of an issue. In fact achieving your end result can be extremely satisfying as it was when I set out to capture some images of a Badger that was visiting the garden. We have lived in the same place for 38 years but I had only ever seen a Badger once. We went on holiday to Kruger NP in 2019 and I regretted not having a trail camera to capture what went on outside our chalet during the night so I bought one when I got home and put it up in the garden to see what was digging up the lawn. I was amazed to see a Badger!
They usually only visit after dark so I needed lighting, before long I had actually created a set....movie set not a Badger sett.
Sat in my little tent hide I eventually engineered the shot I was after. It took many hours of experimenting, improving lighting etc but seeing it come to fruition before my eyes and to be very close to these fabulous creatures was a thrill.
That achieved I decided to try something different!
We have an old water trough at the end of the garden so I set up the trail camera there.

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Most encouraging that the badgers were using it as a water source. I set about cleaning up the tank, making it more accessible and improving the lighting. I wouldn't use flash as it would startle them so the studio was moved. At the end of the trough there's an old wooden hut, a ready made hide in fact , the problem was it was too close and as it couldn't be moved I had to come up with another plan.
Before long the plan became reality.

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and some rather different images were captured too

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And for those who don't approve of set up shots you will really disapprove of these!
Why?
Because I was fast asleep in bed when I took them.

So I'm a hybrid shooter, and the only one declared so far.

Also apologies for using non RF equipment. The problem is once you have achieved your objective you stop what you are doing. I haven't taken a Badger shot for ages now. I already have hundreds and don't see the need for more at the moment.

 

[ctitanic]

Hi Dave, I do not feel that those pics are staged. Taking wildlife pictures is sometimes like hunting, you know where the prey will be and you ambush the prey. Sometimes you help the process by using a bait. You may call that cheating but... still valid in my book! I still see that as opportunistic because you may be there waiting a whole day and get nothing.

 

[Dave Williams]

Hi Dave, I do not feel that those pics are staged. Taking wildlife pictures is sometimes like hunting, you know where the prey will be and you ambush the prey. Sometimes you help the process by using a bait. You may call that cheating but... still valid in my book! I still that opportunistic because you may be there waiting a whole day and get nothing.

The effort went in to setting it up and using technology to take the shots. They are the most calculated shots I have ever taken, it was all down to anticipating and trying to ensure the correct depth of field to cover the target area while opening the lens as much as possible to maximise light , a fast enough shutter speed to capture action and to limit the noise using a higher ISO.
Meanwhile I'm asleep when the camera takes the shots.I couldn't be present, I tried to do it all manually but the Badgers kept away as they detected my presence. It didn't give you the adrenaline rush you get with some shots but it was still a wonderful moment to see what you had managed to get.

 

[ctitanic]

The effort went in to setting it up and using technology to take the shots. They are the most calculated shots I have ever taken, it was all down to anticipating and trying to ensure the correct depth of field to cover the target area while opening the lens as much as possible to maximise light , a fast enough shutter speed to capture action and to limit the noise using a higher ISO.
Meanwhile I'm asleep when the camera takes the shots.I couldn't be present, I tried to do it all manually but the Badgers kept away as they detected my presence. It didn't give you the adrenaline rush you get with some shots but it was still a wonderful moment to see what you had managed to get.

They are nice pictures. I love them.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Shots of Opportunities

Many times over the years I have seen the Green Flash with and without my camera. Countless times with the camera on the tripod setup waiting...waiting...nothing.

Once, though...

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Before I had an DSLR adapter for my telescope I was waiting and waiting for the 100 % cloud coverage to clear enough to view the Transit of Venus in 2012. Finally after hours of waiting there was about one minute to translucency and I had enough time to pull out my cellphone and place the camera lens up to the eyepiece of the telescope.

 

[Only RF]

I’m a hybrid but about 80% opportunistic. Today knew what I was going to shoot but I’ll always try to get that unique shot.

Always looking for those partly cloudy skies that would add to a great B&W urban or landscape. I love heavy dark clouds with the sun finding an opening.

My favourite of all time B&W was in Portugal in 2012. We were on a bus tour and it was morning. There was sunrise mist and I could not believe we couldn’t pull over. I figured if Servo works while I’m still and my subject is moving it should work the other way around. Shot from the bus window going highway speeds. I figure the dirty bus window helped with that capture.

 

[NGauger101010]

I'm opportunistic. I very seldom plan a shot. Mostly, I'll have the camera with me and if I see something, I'll shoot it.
Then, I may or may not plan different views, angles etc. of the same subject.
Then I move on to the next place or thing.

Most times, I just take the camera for a ride because it doesn't come out of it's case

 

[MikeZ]

I'm opportunistic. I very seldom plan a shot. Mostly, I'll have the camera with me and if I see something, I'll shoot it.
Then, I may or may not plan different views, angles etc. of the same subject.
Then I move on to the next place or thing.

Most times, I just take the camera for a ride because it doesn't come out of it's case

I'm also in that club. I do think about planning a shoot, and have actually planned a few, but I just haven't acted on the plan.

 

[TwoWheeler]

“Thinking” “planning” and “calculating” are the very antithesis of why I got back into taking pictures in the first place.

After spending an hour or so with my dog on the trails nearby, when I got back to the truck, I realized I hadn’t seen a damned thing. I was way inside my own head, thinking about what I had to do when I got home, the person at work who’d pissed me off that day….

I decided that had to stop. What better way to remind myself to open my damned eyes, than actively look around for images?

 

[chipman]

I throw the wildlife kit in the truck, head for the hills, and the only plan is 'Shoot anything that moves'.

 

[TwoWheeler]

I'm also in that club. I do think about planning a shoot, and have actually planned a few, but I just haven't acted on the plan.

I’ve tried planning a few things, but they never seem to "work". I get far better results just going with my gut.

I go places with a vague idea in mind, but that usually goes out the window. Case in point: I went to a local state park with FIVE waterfalls. I came home with this:

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[TwoWheeler]

I throw the wildlife kit in the truck, head for the hills, and the only plan is 'Shoot anything that moves'.

That's the same strategy some of the hunters around here use...

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I'm going to call your bluff on this one. You're not opportunistic. At least not most of the time. Not knowing what you're going to shoot doesn't make you "opportunistic", it just makes you more of a documentary photographer, albeit not in the traditional sense. An "opportunistic" photographer doesn't show up somewhere with their camera in hand. They don't bring the lenses and other equipment necessary to capture that thing they didn't know they would come home with. "Opportunism" would mean showing up to shoot one thing and, seeing something else, abandoning the original shoot and going off to shoot the other thing - and going from one bird to another doesn't qualify. Or it means seeing something and running into the house/wherever to grab the camera you didn't have with you.

Are fishermen "opportunists"? They show up with all their equipment, ready to catch something and bring it home, just like we do with our gear. But that's not opportunism, that's the hunt, as mentioned above. Opportunism would be catching a shark on a bamboo pole, or grabbing a passing eagle with a fisheye - you weren't ready for it, but it was there and you grabbed it.

So no, I'm not an "opportunist photographer", but when the moment presents itself I will adjust and become one.

 

[ctitanic]

I'm going to call your bluff on this one. You're not opportunistic. At least not most of the time. Not knowing what you're going to shoot doesn't make you "opportunistic", it just makes you more of a documentary photographer, albeit not in the traditional sense. An "opportunistic" photographer doesn't show up somewhere with their camera in hand. They don't bring the lenses and other equipment necessary to capture that thing they didn't know they would come home with. "Opportunism" would mean showing up to shoot one thing and, seeing something else, abandoning the original shoot and going off to shoot the other thing - and going from one bird to another doesn't qualify. Or it means seeing something and running into the house/wherever to grab the camera you didn't have with you.

Are fishermen "opportunists"? They show up with all their equipment, ready to catch something and bring it home, just like we do with our gear. But that's not opportunism, that's the hunt, as mentioned above. Opportunism would be catching a shark on a bamboo pole, or grabbing a passing eagle with a fisheye - you weren't ready for it, but it was there and you grabbed it.

So no, I'm not an "opportunist photographer", but when the moment presents itself I will adjust and become one.

I see your logic, but in the case of photography the opportunism comes from the fact that you do not know what you are going to see and photograph. It could be a bird, a bear, or you may end taking a picture of a hiking lady. Another point is that you do not stage your photo like you do in a studio. You just shoot whatever you see. That does not mean that you do not think about composition and you may tweak whatever is available to work in a better composition.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I see your logic, but in the case of photography the opportunism comes from the fact that you do not know what you are going to see and photograph. It could be a bird, a bear, or you may end taking a picture of a hiking lady. Another point is that you do not stage your photo like you do in a studio. You just shoot whatever you see. That does not mean that you do not think about composition and you may tweak whatever is available to work in a better composition.

I'm standing by the idea that by simply bringing a camera with a lens selected for a subject or range of subjects, expected or otherwise, is sufficient "planning" to eliminate any idea of opportunism. The plan is to stand where you are and wait for something to take a photograph of, linking photography to the plan and not the opportunity. Shooting wildlife while in the middle of documenting a family vacation in Yosemite? THAT is opportunistic.

 

[Dave Williams]

You're getting too pedantic Jake! If you go out with a camera and lens you are no longer opportunist....mmmm can't agree there. Perhaps then the ultimate opportunist is someone who goes out without a camera, spots something interesting and by luck someone with a camera as well. Grabbing the person's camera you get the money shot which you then offer to sell to them as you by law it seems you have the photographic rights to your shot!