You Can’t Always Reshoot

Alternate title: Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

This entry is about the value of having your camera with you, and not being afraid to use it.

Abby's image of a U. S. flag painted on a boulder at Veteran's Park in Coalgate, Oklahoma, August 2003.
Abby's image of a U. S. flag painted on a boulder at Veteran's Park in Coalgate, Oklahoma, August 2003.

Much of the time we get busy or lazy, and skip photo opportunities because we are tired, in a hurry, or unwilling to make the effort. As I have iterated in talking about The Zone, I believe we should always make time to make pictures. It’s easy to say that we will come back another day when we feel more like taking pictures, but sometimes that day doesn’t come, and sometimes the place or thing might not be there when we return.

Or how about this: when is the last time you said to someone, “Remember that picture we didn’t take?” So be sure you always have a camera, that its battery is charged, that is has a card in it and a lens on it, and that you are ready to make pictures when pictures are there in front of you.

This is the same boulder that Abby photographed in 2003, as it appeared yesterday. Even if it were repainted tomorrow, we could never duplicate Abby's image.
This is the same boulder that Abby photographed in 2003, as it appeared yesterday. Even if it were repainted tomorrow, we could never duplicate Abby's image.