in the last 3 days i've run into a handful of situations where i wish i'd had my camera / been more daring / been quicker on the draw...
in one case, i was pushing the grocery cart in the parking lot and passed a car with a big groomed poodle sitting straight up in the driver's seat looking just like s/he was driving the car... by the time i ran back to my car to dig out my bberry camera, the dog moved out of the seat...
and today, as i was crossing the road, i crossed in front of a mega monster truck with the license plate "4pig" and a honkin' silver pig with wings hood ornament... i had my camera, but i just didn't dare pull it out...
any other stories out there? or do you always manage to get the shot?
This is the very reason I carry my camera more than I'd really like. I see things that would make a great picture throughout the day. I have to balance reality with taking pictures of everything I'd like to photograph. I can't take pictures every moment and don't even try. I try to make time to carry my camera but to put it away when needed. It's a compromise sometimes but we need not to worry about the ones that got away. Many more new opportunites always, and I mean always, present themselves. ;-)
I don't always get the shot- I don't let people worry me when I want to take a photo, I just do it..lol. I carry my camera with me every where I go (99.9 %)-- I may not carry it in the store or such-- I have my phone for back up for that.
Oh jeez, this just happened to me the other day. I was shooting a waterfall with my Mamiya RB67 (a huge, heavy, medium format) when my attention was diverted to a couple of rafters floating by on the river behind me; flyfishing. So I spun the camera around and took some shots of them until I ran out of film (there is only 10 shots on a 120mm roll). When I turned back around to look at the falls, a HUGE jet was just passing overhead in the clear blue sky leaving behind two beautiful con trails. I thought; wouldn't it be cool to capture a modern aircraft in flight with this old vintage camera? So I scrambled to the car; rolled, packaged, and replaced the film and switched to my telephoto lens, all pretty quick considering how mechanical everything is on that camera. When I ran back to the front of the car all I saw were fading con trails leading over the opposing mountain range. I would love to get that moment back :)
@dmortega very true, Dorrena... and i don't sweat it - much... just that i haven't felt too inspired the last couple of days and so i'm kicking myself over lost opportunities ;p
@tklein ah yes... the camera / phone... i have a bberry and an itouch, but both cameras are pretty crappy... one of the ways i'm talking myself into an iphone is because of the awesome camera ;p
@grizzlysghost and... how did the rafters turn out? guess your situation scores a point for digital!
I missed a great chance at catching a beautiful bird at the lake with full reflection. I was honed in on the subject and someone interrupts me to ask if I'd seen a old woman wandering around, who shouldn't be. I know the woman was in fear for the old woman, but couldn't she have waited a few more seconds.
The lad with the full Mohican and tattoos in the supermarket on Tuesday night - I really wanted to ask him if I could take his picture, but so don't want to get banned from that shop. And the day the batteries failed just as I was about to get a police car making a tidal wave with a puddle.
Oh yes, Sunday, I could have had photos of; a python, 3 days old kittens, with 2 mums! They both carried the babies back to their bed, so adorable! 3 rather large pike (fish) and a whole family enjoying a conversation on Skype, France to Australia, well I have my memories, just no photos!!
I could be here all day listing the "ones that got away". The most recent one was: I was driving down the road in the early morning just as dawn was breaking. As I past a field I saw they were inflating a hot air balloon. Standing in front of it were a bride and groom. The light was a golden yellow orange that just illuminated the scene. I cursed myself for NOT having my camera with me. Biggest surprise was I didn't notice a wedding photographer there taking any pictures either! What a wasted opportunity.
I get bruses quite often because I don't have my camera, or I am in the wrong place to take a great shot. Last night was a good example. There was a fantastic sunset, I saw this but from where I was standing there was too much distraction also worse I didn't have a camera.By the time I got home where the sunset would havebeen right in front of my place, the stormclouds had taken over. truly a lost chance. I am sure though that there were some people in the area that got a shot of it
there was a huge brush fire in nj yesterday near where i work....and we had a pretty good view of it from our office....
however, i had taken my battery out to recharge the night before and forgot to put it back in my camera :/ so all i could get were pictures with my iphone.....
not to mention all the amazing sun rises i see while i'm driving to work....i don't have time to stop and take out my camera for a picture....
Oh man... there was this one day where it snowed very briefly in the morning and my husband and I went out to the grocery store... we passed this field, and the trees were just coated, and the sky was really moody... the image really caught me, but of course I didn't have my camera and the snow had all melted by the time we got back from shopping. That one haunts me, LOL
Then of course there was December 31st... It was the most amazing foggy day, and the kids riding in the outdoor arena at the barn... I only had my iphone, and I managed to take some shots, but boy do I wish I'd had my proper camera!! Gah! ( http://365project.org/polarvrtx/2011/2011-12-31)
Serveral times recently I've actually had a camera and for some technical reason I've missed the shot, or got a less than desired result. I brought three tripods with me for a moonrise time-lapse video. Forgot the mount on the best one. The second has a stripped handle and fails with a heavy telephoto lens. The third was a wimpy little tripod but did the job as best it could. An extra tripod is always handy, keep that in mind!
Then there's the forgetting to press record. Or the multitude of settings for stills: flash, focus, remote-timer (gosh I hate that ten seconds default on camera), image stabilization...and the lens cap. Did I mention forgetting/low batteries, timer-remote, tripod mount, or the memory card.
At some point you just start laughing at the failures. I now have a "go" backpack with everything I could need. Pick that up and out the door with everything I need. The tripods always stay in the car. The key is to remember to put the stuff back in the bag!
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@tklein ah yes... the camera / phone... i have a bberry and an itouch, but both cameras are pretty crappy... one of the ways i'm talking myself into an iphone is because of the awesome camera ;p
@grizzlysghost and... how did the rafters turn out? guess your situation scores a point for digital!
however, i had taken my battery out to recharge the night before and forgot to put it back in my camera :/ so all i could get were pictures with my iphone.....
not to mention all the amazing sun rises i see while i'm driving to work....i don't have time to stop and take out my camera for a picture....
Then of course there was December 31st... It was the most amazing foggy day, and the kids riding in the outdoor arena at the barn... I only had my iphone, and I managed to take some shots, but boy do I wish I'd had my proper camera!! Gah! ( http://365project.org/polarvrtx/2011/2011-12-31)
Then there's the forgetting to press record. Or the multitude of settings for stills: flash, focus, remote-timer (gosh I hate that ten seconds default on camera), image stabilization...and the lens cap. Did I mention forgetting/low batteries, timer-remote, tripod mount, or the memory card.
At some point you just start laughing at the failures. I now have a "go" backpack with everything I could need. Pick that up and out the door with everything I need. The tripods always stay in the car. The key is to remember to put the stuff back in the bag!