Share article:
Share article:

Probably the question that I read and hear most often, online as well as on my workshops, is —How did you get that shot?! Man, you were really lucky! Actually,luck, which we usually think of as —fortuitous things happening on a random fashion— has little to do with it. A definition of luck that I much prefer is "preparedness in the face of opportunity". In this brief essay I'll explore the making of one successful recent photograph, and see how much of a role luck had to play. I will also look at the tools that were used (preparedness) and what lead up to theopportunityto take it. Not a Moose Vertical Landing — Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. June, 2003 ...

Read this story and all the best stories on The Luminous Landscape

The author has made this story available to Luminous Landscape members only. Upgrade to get instant access to this story and other benefits available only to members.

Why choose us?

Luminous-Landscape is a membership site. Our website contains over 5300 articles on almost every topic, camera, lens and printer you can imagine. Our membership model is simple, just $2 a month ($24.00 USD a year). This $24 gains you access to a wealth of information including all our past and future video tutorials on such topics as Lightroom, Capture One, Printing, file management and dozens of interviews and travel videos.

  • New Articles every few days
  • All original content found nowhere else on the web
  • No Pop Up Google Sense ads – Our advertisers are photo related
  • Download/stream video to any device
  • NEW videos monthly
  • Top well-known photographer contributors
  • Posts from industry leaders
  • Speciality Photography Workshops
  • Mobile device scalable
  • Exclusive video interviews
  • Special vendor offers for members
  • Hands On Product reviews
  • FREE – User Forum. One of the most read user forums on the internet
  • Access to our community Buy and Sell pages; for members only.
Share article:
Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
See all articles by this author

You may also like

image
Techniques

Learning to See: The Artist's Eye

Visual acuity gets you a sharp image and visual awareness gets you a great image. Good news - we can train our brain to be more aware.
Team Lula

Team Lula

·

July 22, 2026

·

14 minutes read


image
Landscape & Environment

Travel Photography - Capturing the Essence of Lisbon

Whenever I travel, I always wage an internal battle: how much effort do I devote to capturing the tourist attractions versus the place versus the...
Terry McDonald

Terry McDonald

·

July 9, 2026

·

10 minutes read