In my 50 plus years of photography I have images that exist because I stopped to act, and only memories of those I wished I had stopped to capture. On the “acting” side I submit this series of images taken in February a few years ago near the end of Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park. I noticed a small stream cutting through the snow a ways from the road. I found a place to park my vehicle and trudged through knee-high snow to observe a beautiful miniature waterway with lattices of ice.
Why did I stop? I shouldn’t have. I was on my way out of the park at the end of a week of winter photography; my wife was in the van coming down with pneumonia and ready to head home; my wrist was incredibly sore and aching (I didn’t know it was actually broken from a motorcycle crash that happened a few days before I left for Yellowstone); and I was tired from dealing with freezing temperatures during the previous week. To top it off, my father had passed away just as I arrived in Yellowstone the previous week and I’d traveled to the funeral and back. Leaving my nice warm van was a difficult decision. As you can see, I had every reason to just keep on driving, but I didn’t. It was a good lesson in acting on the possibilities, as I’ve gone to that same location several times since to find . . . nothing. The stream was either buried in snow or non-existent. If I hadn’t photographed that day, I would have missed a wonderful opportunity, these images, and a great memory.
Now, when I come across a photographic opportunity and I just don’t feel like acting upon it, I remember that day in Yellowstone. So I stop and take a better look, and often enough it pays off. Remember, it won’t be there tomorrow, at least not the way it is at this moment that’s calling to you.
Thanks George for the reminder to capture every moment as it presents itself.
Thank you! Seize the moment!
Sieze the moment is a good way of summing this up. Dewitt Jones has been using “carpe diem” for years.
Thanks, Mr. Lepp! One other note from an enthusiast of “seizing in the moment” with camera in hand. Make sure your clothing and shoes are the correct ones for the situation. Snow and ice can create the perfect conditions for slippage, says the woman who rushed to the river with the correct camera gear, but didn’t change her shoes from the uggs type to the snow boot type. After my fall crushing my hand, I got a few images and learned lots from my images of ice on the river in early morning cloudy light. So, take it from me, pause and assess not only camera gear (but don’t forget in excited haste) to check for proper clothing, too…Have fun shooting, because as you say, Mr. Lepp, it won’t be there tomorrow.
All of those situations would leave anybody in a terrible funk.
I wish that I drove all the time with my camera on the console. I’ve seen some beautiful pastel sunrises and said “Darn! I wish I had my camera with me!” Once, I was driving home and saw a Sundog; that doesn’t happen that often. I should get a second camera body to have one loaded with color and the other loaded with B&W.
Looking forward to another post on the blog from you soon, Mr. Lepp. Hope all is well!