See it; take it!

A picture is an instant in time; frozen and captured forever. That picture is only available for that instant, then it is replaced by another instant ready for capture. I can remember sitting around a local lake club as a kid listening to the fishermen talk about the fish that got away. They were always the biggest and the best. Pictures are often like that too.

Have you ever seen a sunset that was more beautiful than you had ever seen before, but by the time you found just the right spot to stop and take a picture, it was gone. Sunsets are one of those fleeting moments. Sometimes you have to be content to just see it and enjoy the beauty but not capture it for everyone to see. This will be one that got away. You can talk about it to your friends, but all you have is the memory.

The sunset above didn't get away. It was taken at Mermet Lake, a lake in Southern Illinois near the Cache River system.

Here we have a nice picture of a lake with some fall foliage on the shoreline. It certainly would not win any prize. 15 minutes earlier, it was a beautiful reflection picture. The lake was smooth as glass. I thought, "what a beautiful picture, I'll be sure to get it on the way back. This is what I got on the way back! If you see a great picture, stop; go back, if necessary; and take the shot. It might not be there on the way back.

I remember another time walking up a long road at Allerton Park and just as we turned the corner, the now visible giant Sun Worshipper statue was upstaged by a beautiful deer standing silent in the middle of the road in front of us. In the excitement, I grabbed my camera and started exchanging my wide angle lens for the big telephoto so I could get the deer full frame. AS I raised the viewfinder to my eye, the deer vanished into the woods. Why didn't I just take the wide angle shot first and then change lenses. At least I could have had a lovely landscape with a deer prominently displayed. Here we had another fish that got away! This was a case of poor quick judgment; however, if he had stayed just a few seconds longer, I would have had a prize winner.

One of the advantages of digital photography is the availability of numerous shots. See it, shoot it. If you don't like it later, no harm done. There is always the delete button, but I have not seen the camera yet that has a button to add a few more shots from different angles. All the equipment in the world is worthless until you turn it on and press the shutter button.

Other examples of the shot that got away are too numerous to note; but fortunately, I am listening to my own advice and it doesn't happen nearly as often. We are turning off the main roads with their fast paced traffic. We are taking the roads less traveled in America's back yard. If you would like to join us on our journeys, you can catch us at http://em-t-nest.blogspot.com/ . But before you try to follow, check out the article on GPS navigation on the em-t-nest blogspot. So, clean the dust off the sensor, buckle up and follow along.