Example: Why you need to take the photo when you have it – and not wait a few days…

This really can’t be said too often: If you see an interesting shot, take it, cause it’s not (usually) going to be there next time!

For example, I saw a really great sunset the other day. After the sunset I saw an old mill with Christmas lighting on it. I figured it would make a great photo if shot during the sunset, so next day I decided to visit the mill with my camera and tripod during sunset – but alas, no sunset. It was cloudy so no red or blue colors in the sky, at all. I didn’t go to the mill. The day after, almost all the snow had melted so there went the background. Unfortunately I was unable to actually go shoot the mill on the first day as I only saw it after the great sunset had occured. The point is – when you see a shot, take it, don’t wait.

Here’s another example. Remember the photo of the week: Snow tree, from last week? Here’s the same tree, a few days later:

ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/500, 50mm

Both this picture above, and the snowy tree, has a winter feel to it. I prefer the the snow version though as it’s far more “Christmassy” – but it really depends on what you want to show with your photo. Again, the point is, you can’t just dress up the tree with snow, so when it actually does have snow/frost on it, you gotta shoot it!

Shot using:

10 thoughts on “Example: Why you need to take the photo when you have it – and not wait a few days…”

  1. I can’t tell you how many times I have been with out my camera saw a shot and went back. You are right the shot isn’t always there and it can be hard to redreate what you originally saw.

    Reply
  2. Klaus, I definitely prefer the picture of the tree with the snow. It does not just look Christmasy, but snow is much prettier than the stark, drab look during winter. I have noticed, too, that you usually have only 1 chance for a perfect shot. I have a small child, so I learned a long time ago to have a camera with me, since I never knew when the time would hit for a perfect shot.

    Reply
  3. Good advice.
    I cannot even have a guess on the number of shots i missed because i was lazy to get the camera inside my bag (or because i didnt have it).
    And most of the time, when i come back, the beauty of it (the lights, the sky…) is gone…

    Reply
  4. We’ve had moments where a sunset looks amazing, then 15 minutes later when we had the camera ready to shoot, it wasn’t even worth taking the shot. Frustrating!

    Reply

Leave a Comment