I was first introduced to the concept of a bucket shot by Peter McKinnon. It’s a pretty obvious concept, like having a bucket list of travel destinations, but for some reason, the thought had never occurred to me that setting specific goals for future shots was something to do. I’m a noob, forgive me.
Once I began thinking about it, I came to the realization that there are three shots that would constitute, to me, “bucket shots.” They are the kinds of shots that first got me into photography, and I’ve attempted to emulate at least a few times since I began my journey. Two of them will be simple to attempt, but getting the perfect version will likely prove to be a learning process. The third will be – well, difficult and possibly entirely unrealistic come to mind, but we’ll find out.
- The Devil’s Courthouse
- My wife and daughter and I have driven the Blueridge Parkway many times since living in western NC. We have favorite places we love to visit, just as a way to get out of the house. We will travel for 2 hours to the Devil’s Courthouse, just go get out, stretch our legs, have a picnic, and breathe in the air. The surrounding Red Spruce and Fraser Fir trees endemic to the region are some of my favorites – I would love to grow them, but they require a higher altitude and lower temperature to thrive than my wife would ever agree to. The region is otherwise sparsely dotted by low brownish-green brambles, green-and-gray rocky knobs, and patches of mint-green grass that when combined with the blackish-green of the trees, provide for one of my favorite palettes. I have seen sunsets, sunrises, snow flurries, and thunderstorms over the region, and in all my attempts, I have never been able to take the shot that fills me with the majesty I see while I’m there. I’ll get it though. Maybe even this year. Weather doesn’t matter to me for this shot.
- The sprawling oak framed by a sunset
- Maybe it’s cheating, but also on the Blueridge Parkway, there are a few areas that pass along rolling farmlands, often with the peaks of mountains in the background, and standing in these otherwise empty fields, are ancient sprawling oaks. I fell in love with the twisted, gnarly oaks while living in Charleston. The streets are framed by majestically and meticulously nurtured sentinels that drip Spanish Moss, and in the wilder areas, they grow uninhibited by human pruning to sizes and shapes that make one think of Fangorn Forest.
Those Charleston oaks are wonderful, but the image in my mind that I want to shoot is that silhouetted, almost blacked-out oak, with an orange-pink ball of flame behind it. For this shot, timing and weather are a bit more essential. - The full moon Aurora Borealis (over arctic ice)
- This is the one. This is the shot that will have me questioning whether or not a Bucket Shot is even worth pursuing. I mean, think about it – this requires such extraordinary precision and luck that I’m not sure I can even calculate the odds. You have to be in the areas of latitude where the northern lights appear. You have to be there at that time when there is a full moon (1-in-every-28/29-days for the fullest of moons). You have to be there when there are no heavy clouds (which will mostly block the Aurora Borealis). And you have to hope that at the time the northern lights are gracing you with their presense, they are giving you the full show.
Apparently, the Lights are a fickle mistress – sometimes they show their full beauty, and other times, they just give you a tantelizing glimpse. My wife and I have long talked about spending time in Scotland, and I also personally have dreams of spending time in Greenland (though my wife has problems with the “debilitating cold” and “neverending darkness of winter”). It seems like two-of-the-three aspects of this shot (full moon and Aurora Borealis) are doable in Scotland as long as everything else works out, but that third aspect – over arctic ice – is unfortunately only going to happen in the coldest, most desolate regions of the world. My wife has no intention of us living through our own personal Franklin expedition, so this shot may require compromise. However, it is worth dreaming of, right?