The Ones That Got Away/Photography

We have all been there.  Whether you are actually fishing or taking that spectacular photo, we know what it feels like to ‘just miss’ our idea of perfection.  As a photographer, I can tell you with certainty that rarely do I shoot one frame and find perfection in it.  Normally I am clicking dozens of shots to get one that I think is even close to spectacular.  So…..

I decided to share with you some of those “Oh shoot!” moments that normally get shoved into the virtual trash can.  In this instance, it involved a real ‘fish story’.

After a yummy meal at our favorite Italian restaurant, we decided to stop off at the pier for an evening walk.  There were the usual stragglers still fishing and enjoying  a beautiful day.  I love to catch the action of a real catch, even a small one, to get all of the expressions.  The fisherman who is excited to finally get something on the hook, the fish who is often caught between utter surprise and “oh….sh….it’s all over now”, down to the hungry birds hanging around waiting for the small ones to be tossed as sacrificial tidbits their way.

Auto focus is a great tool but when you keep your setting on action for those birds in flight shots, the camera tends to focus on the most movement or gets confused.  In this instance it was focusing on the water movement in the distance and not the action of the fisherman.

I love to get that moment of reeling it in but for this fellow I only managed one final shot.  Ummmm……I hope he has a good story for the ‘one that got away’….

‘Cuz that’s no more than a bait fish!  But it was good practice.

Then there was the bird perched on a post by the water. I loved the contrast of his dark feathers against the backdrop of dark blue.  Again the camera wanting to focus on the water instead. Usually I will zoom out, focus my target and zoom back  in, quickly snapping the shot.  It works if you have a still subject. But I eventually got the shot I wanted…

Or the rooftops….

Finally got it!  Often it is a secondary pose and not the one I originally wanted…..

Lastly, there are those moments that just slip through your fingers like sand, as your attention wanders and  you get distracted.  If you have your eyes (and heart) directed towards a brilliant sunset, take no prisoners. Listen to no one.

Put blinders on and forge ahead for that sun is a slippery subject, swiftly fading into the horizon in a blaze of color-and you don’t want to miss it!

Not even for small crafty crabs like this fellow, enticing you away from your purpose until…..

You are left with a flash of color and the disappointment of missing that singular moment you had hoped for.

Still…..he was a cute crab and isn’t the sky a grand shade of magenta and gold?

For every one that ‘got away’ I have a dozen that I managed to capture.   And I will keep right on clicking in the hope of freezing life’s glorious moments to share and enjoy again

and again…..

Happy Hump Day everyone!

The Laughing Leaf

If this one can laugh on his way out of life, I can smile my way through the rest of the week!