If you only had one shot left and suddenly saw a different image, would you risk it? I love stories where a decision that seems small in the moment ends up changing everything.
Yosemite, April 17, 1927.
Ansel Adams, his girlfriend, and four friends decided to take a half-day hike to the « Diving Board » —a rock jutting out over the valley with views of Half Dome.
Adams brought his camera and twelve glass plates. It was Saturday. A casual outing with friends where he might get some interesting shots.
During the climb, Adams photographed along the way. By the time they reached their destination, he’d already used ten plates. Two left.
The light wasn’t right at noon, so they waited. Talked. Rested.
Adams watched as the sun slowly moved across the massive rock face. Mid-afternoon, around 2:30, he saw « the moment. » He composed the image. Mounted his yellow filter —technically appropriate for landscape.
Fired plate eleven.
And the moment he did, he knew something was off. The photo would be technically correct, but it wouldn’t capture what he felt looking at that monumentality.
One plate left. One.
Adams looked in his bag. He had another filter —a red one, much more dramatic. He hadn’t planned to use it. For daytime landscape, it was technically « too much. » But in that moment, it was exactly what he needed to create a completely different image.
He changed the filter. Fired his last plate.
That night, when he developed it, he knew he’d captured something no « correct » photo had achieved before.
« Monolith, The Face of Half Dome » launched his career as a photographer. Not because he planned it perfectly. Because he had the right filter available when he saw another possibility.
As he wrote years later:
« Luckily I had with me the filter that made my visualized image possible. »
Luck? I think « luck » ultimately comes when you go looking for it.
The photographer or director suddenly gets « the idea » and the producer, while excited their artist is inspired, feels that little rush of panic —said with love, if you’re a producer you know what I mean— thinking: « what are they going to ask for now? Can I pull this off mid-shoot? »
Productions Sometimes Don’t Go According to Plan
The client changes their mind about creative direction mid-shoot.
The natural light you were counting on disappears and you need to solve it with artificial.
Talent shows up and their look requires a completely different lighting scheme than planned. You see another possibility —better, more interesting— and you want to explore it.
This isn’t a professionalism problem. It’s the nature of working with creativity.
The problem isn’t that things change. The problem is not having audiovisual equipment rental available when they do. Because often those on-the-fly changes produce the best results.
Options Available When You Need Them
Adams could have thought: « I already used the technically correct filter. I’m not risking my last plate. » He would have been right. He would have acted professionally. And he would have come down that mountain with a forgettable photo.
Instead, he had another option available when he needed it.
Over these years at openbcn studios, the pattern repeats: the producer who comes in for one thing and mid-session the director shooting a scene decides they need something more specific, the photographer shooting a lookbook who suddenly sees an editorial image that needs a different light modifier.
That’s why we’ve been gradually building a selection of video and photo equipment rental in Barcelona thinking about these moments: when you change plans and need another option immediately.
We don’t have everything —nor do we claim to. But we have the audiovisual equipment we’ve seen makes the difference when someone visualizes something different and needs to explore it.
And more importantly: there’s someone there who understands your project, knows the available gear, and can help you solve when you decide to change direction.
That’s why we created Essentials, our video and photo equipment rental section reorganized with these moments in mind. It’s a selection of what makes the difference when you visualize something different and need to explore it— available so you can solve when the project takes another direction.
Because just like Adams in 1927, the best results often come when you have the space to see another possibility… and the right options available to explore it.
And that’s why I love this story so much – it reminds me every day why we build this.
Marc
who also writes L’Atelier d’idées by openbcn studios