As we drove through Salina Colorado early in the morning we passed this vintage gas station motel and this scene immediately caught my eye. It was beautiful. Straight out of a movie. Unfortunately I we were on a time crunch and not able to stop to capture any photos. I made a mental note that on the way home I would hopefully have decent light and be able to capture a few photos.
Later that evening on the way back home I had completely forgotten about this gas station. The funny thing about mental notes is they don’t last very long unless you write them down or set a reminder on your phone. Luckily just a few blocks before we passed it, my brain jolted and I remembered this scene. As we pulled into the parking lot, it was there. The beautiful after noon light was perfect. I hopped out and snagged a few photos ensuring each one was purposeful in what I was capturing. I did not want to show any modern cars in the photo. Each photo had to contain no elements of modern day design. I love photos like this. If you didn’t know, this photo could have been taken a few decades ago and no one would know the difference.
I couldn’t wait to get home and edit the series of photos. Afterwards I had these beautiful images that were exactly what I wanted. What to do next? Well, I decided that I would upload this shot over on the Leica Fotografie International website…. Basically Leica’s magazine. I visit this site often and always wondered how photographers got their images featured. No the technical side, because I knew how to submit a photo and had submitted ones before, but more of the “what does Leica like”. How could I get a photo on there some day. I submitted this photo and all the details, not thinking much of it because I had never had any luck in the past. Not that I don’t feel like I am a good photographer but I have always held Leica in such high standards that I just never thought I could get to that level.
Fast forward to the next day. We were coming off the mountain and not having any service and I happened to check my email…. I had an email from LFI.. That was weird cause I don’t normally get emails from them unless a new edition of their magazine comes out. The email thanked me for my submission of the photo and that their editors had selected it as a Leica Master Shot. Ugh, what…. A Leica Master shot. An image that would be displayed on their website with my information and I would be ranked amongst the best of the best in terms of Leica. Now, I am not someone big on photography awards. Often times a good story or if you know the right people you can win but for me this was different. Getting a Leica Master Shot doesn’t mean anything in the grand term of things. No money, no one will ever really care, but for this one I cared. Having Leica recognize my photo as a Master Shot is something I am really proud of. It is an image that now hangs on the wall in our home and something I can look at every day and know that for a brief moment in history, I took an image that Leica was proud of. That is pretty killer.
Image taken on the Leica Q2
Link to the image on LFI
