ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU!!!!!
I was reminded once again why photographer's rule #1 is to always have your camera with you by missing a great opportunity. As I was running an early morning errand I found a freshly cut hay field in front of a mountain with the sun dancing over the tops of the trees to illuminate wispy ribbons of fog like some exotic canopy. After a 20 minute mad dash home to get my camera and return to the spot the sun had risen just enough to burn off most of the fog. The only image I could get was the one posted on the right. While it is not a bad image, it is nothing compared to what I saw without my camera.
Many images you will want to capture will only show themselves for a few moments. Fog is one of these events. Sunlight and fog cannot coexist for very long. The sun will burn off the fog. But for those few moments when they embrace each other just after sunrise, magical scenes develop. The only way to capture these images is to be ready when they happen. And being ready means having your camera with you!
I started in photography nearly 30 years ago and I still have lapses when I break this #1 rule. And believe me, I have paid the price in lost images. I have the memories of those images burned into my mind forever. I am grateful for having been privileged to see those events but those memories also serve as reminders of missed opportunities.
- A TINY Sampling of Images I Have Missed Over the Years
- The Amazing Landscape I Described Above
- Two Hawks Fighting Over a Mouse in Mid-Air
- A Double Rainbow
- A Sparrow Landing on a Flying Hawk's Back and Proceeding to Peck the Hawk's Head Repeatedly
- Over a Dozen Black Vultures Spreading Their Wings in a Large Dead Tree as the Sun Rose