Serendipity Yet Again!

Here are two more tips to help you encourage Lady Luck to bless your photography with serendipitous happenings.

Wait for Human Nature to Reveal Itself

Game Wardens

Luangua Valley Game Preserve, Zambia

All cars leaving the Luangua Valley Game Preserve in Zambia are searched for contraband such as elephant tusks and rhino horns. It was almost dark and the game wardens had lit a fire. They refused when I asked if I could take their pictures, so I asked instead if I could photograph the Cape Buffalo skull they had placed in front of the stop sign. Human nature being what it is, it was only a moment or two before they were jostling each other to get into the picture. I used flash and a slow shutter speed to catch the last of the twilight. And as soon as I made the photograph, the ranger in front fired his rifle, startling us all. (Olympus OM, 35mm Zuiko, Fujichrome 400, Vivitar 283 flash.)

Look for Different Ways to See the Familiar

The TransAmerica Pyramid

San Francisco

On assignment near San Francisco, I could steal only a few hours to go into the city itself. I arrived on Nob Hill so late in the afternoon that the base of the TransAmerica Pyramid was already in deep shadow, as was my position on a corner near the Mark Hopkins hotel. Framing the Pyramid in my viewfinder, I made a few exposures, then waited as traffic passed through the scene. Suddenly, a dark-colored car turned the corner, centered itself in the bottom of my frame, touched its brakes briefly, and was gone. But not before giving me what I wanted: a different view of a much-photographed landmark. (Olympus OM, 85mm Zuiko, Fujichrome 100.)

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone