Why oh why oh why

life through a lens · #1 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 09:11 AM

Is it me or does anyone else feel like they are cursed to see but never record things

Yesterday, driving home in the rain I noticed a double rainbow (one sitting over the other). By the time I'd found somewhere to stop and got the camera out of the boot they'd both faded

Got home and was putting some bits away in the spare room when I noticed 2 robins sat snuggled up on a branch sheltering from the rain. By the time I'd run downstairs and got the camera for a piccy they'd gone

This keeps happening to me and its getting to the point where I want to scream

Olly

paulthomas · #2 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 09:28 AM

If it's any consolation, it happens to me too Olly

Chalk Downlanders · #3 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 09:32 AM

It happens to me all the time. I always carry a camera when I go out, but can never get the shot in time. In the last month I have missed: a Fox at 10", a weasle at 15" and any number of paired birds.

Give it a few hundred years and we will be printing images from our own memories.

paulthomas · #4 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticky

Give it a few hundred years and we will be printing images from our own memories.

Mine'll still be blurred

nightshade · #5 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 10:00 AM

I always carry a camera after just going around the corner to a local shop and coming face to face with an owl sheltering in a tree at the enterance,But I still get carried away into the
serendipity of the situation and just forget the pics. anyway

life through a lens · #6 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticky

Give it a few hundred years and we will be printing images from our own memories.

True but I'd only have enough for a couple of low res pics

Olly

John · #7 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 12:23 PM

It happens to me every single time I go out. As a digiscoper it always takes too long to set up and very rarely does the moment last long enough to allow me to get to the stage where I can take a photo.

No wonder I have grey hair.

John

John · #8 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticky

Give it a few hundred years and we will be printing images from our own memories.

That would be a neat trick to print images from my memory in a few hundred years time.

Gill Catton · #9 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 12:33 PM

A particularly interesting bird is almost certain to show up when I go out without my binoculars.

rlchew · #10 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by life through a lens

Is it me or does anyone else feel like they are cursed to see but never record things

Yesterday, driving home in the rain I noticed a double rainbow (one sitting over the other). By the time I'd found somewhere to stop and got the camera out of the boot they'd both faded

Got home and was putting some bits away in the spare room when I noticed 2 robins sat snuggled up on a branch sheltering from the rain. By the time I'd run downstairs and got the camera for a piccy they'd gone

This keeps happening to me and its getting to the point where I want to scream

Olly

Me too ....

The times I miss an unusual or rare bird .... it flew off 5 minutes ago.

The times I miss an outstanding photo .... again, it flies off, runs off, walks off, dives, etc.

Oh, yes, and then there is the rainbow. Last Christmas holiday we were on our way to the Scottish Highlands. A torrential rain storm was followed by brilliant sunshine, the most amazing colours and a quite stunning complete 180 degrees rainbow. We were in a traffic jam on the M8 I think just outside Glasgow. Where was the camera? .... buried somewhere amongst all the other stuff in the back of the car from floor space to the roof.

Oh well ....

Richard

eeyore · #11 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 06:58 PM

I have a fuji F10 that goes everywhere with me on a little pouch on my belt ( 512Mb card and long endurance battery), plus a mini optocron monocular. At a push the latter can be shoved on the front of the former using the eyecup which by serendipity is the exactly right size.

glsammy · #12 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 07:42 PM

It happens to us all! The time I shot six images of an Owl, with no memory card in the camera, (thanks Canon for that beauty!) We no doubt can all reel them off!
Some others are more dedicated in getting their images, hence they seem to do better than us. I'm thinking of the real photographers amongst us, Klewis for example. They go that extra mile to make sure they get the image..It's all down to hard work and dedication in the end!

eeyore · #13 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 07:56 PM

Ive done that too, mind you on the 20D you can set it not to shoot when the card is not present.

glsammy · #14 (**permalink**) 24-05-2006, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

Ive done that too, mind you on the 20D you can set it not to shoot when the card is not present.

I know that now, I didn't then.

I mean, what possible use is the facility to shoot without a card present..bonkers if you ask me!

May · #15 (**permalink**) 25-05-2006, 08:27 AM

Oh yes indeed! We passed three baby moorhens lounging at the side of a lane at the weekend .. they were at their "Really, we're baby ostriches," stage. I whipped out the camera and as if they sensed it, whoosh! they were gone ..

eeyore · #16 (**permalink**) 25-05-2006, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glsammy

I mean, what possible use is the facility to shoot without a card present..bonkers if you ask me!

I think its for people like fashion photographers and some sports guys who are shooting tethered, they of course dont need a card because the images are going straight to the computer.

With a Wifi enabled camera (for Canon basically 1 series DSLRs) you can also shoot "tethered" without physically being tethered - I rember reading that wimbledon is set up for this this year.

glsammy · #17 (**permalink**) 25-05-2006, 09:28 PM

You've spoilt it for me now eeyore, Now I'm the dumb one not Canon!

Gill Catton · #18 (**permalink**) 26-05-2006, 10:22 AM

I'm going to play devils advocate here and suggest that actually, maybe, forgetting your camera / binoculars / spare battery/ memory card isn't actually an awful thing. Maybe it's an opportunity to stand and stare and see the beautiful thing that caught your eye and selfishly enjoy it all for yourself....
You don't have to worry about whether there's something more interesting amongst the knot, you can just enjoy them wheeling and flocking through the sky.
You don't have to worry about composition, shutter speed, white balance or digging a better lense out of the bag.
You don't have to think about whether that is a male or a female sparrowhawk you can just enjoy watching it circle lazily in the thermals.
You don't have to worry about getting a good shot before the crow gives up on it's mobbing of a buzzard or before the biggest bumblebee of the year finishes with her latest flower and buzzes off

You can just stand there and suck the images up into your memory, something to descirbe to friends or family later on with bright enthusiasm and possibly wild arm-flinging style gestures, or possibly something to keep just for yourself like: A silent moment with eye to eye contact with a curious jay, the damp and musty smell of a pile of colourful autumn leaves in oranges, browns, yellows and greys outlined in pure silver frost, the discovery of the first brave little snowdrop, a glimpse of a Fox through the trees watching you until it sees you looking...
These are special moments even without optical capture or enhancement and should maybe be sometimes valued just as that......

Gill Catton · #19 (**permalink**) 26-05-2006, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

I think its for people like fashion photographers and some sports guys who are shooting tethered, they of course dont need a card because the images are going straight to the computer.

With a Wifi enabled camera (for Canon basically 1 series DSLRs) you can also shoot "tethered" without physically being tethered - I rember reading that wimbledon is set up for this this year.

Hmmm does that mean if you sit close enough with a laptop you might end up with the professional photos on your machine?

Jonny · #20 (**permalink**) 26-05-2006, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I'm going to play devils advocate here and suggest that actually, maybe, forgetting your camera / binoculars / spare battery/ memory card isn't actually an awful thing. Maybe it's an opportunity to stand and stare and see the beautiful thing that caught your eye and selfishly enjoy it all for yourself....
You don't have to worry about whether there's something more interesting amongst the knot, you can just enjoy them wheeling and flocking through the sky.
You don't have to worry about composition, shutter speed, white balance or digging a better lense out of the bag.
You don't have to think about whether that is a male or a female sparrowhawk you can just enjoy watching it circle lazily in the thermals.
You don't have to worry about getting a good shot before the crow gives up on it's mobbing of a buzzard or before the biggest bumblebee of the year finishes with her latest flower and buzzes off

You can just stand there and suck the images up into your memory, something to descirbe to friends or family later on with bright enthusiasm and possibly wild arm-flinging style gestures, or possibly something to keep just for yourself like: A silent moment with eye to eye contact with a curious jay, the damp and musty smell of a pile of colourful autumn leaves in oranges, browns, yellows and greys outlined in pure silver frost, the discovery of the first brave little snowdrop, a glimpse of a Fox through the trees watching you until it sees you looking...
These are special moments even without optical capture or enhancement and should maybe be sometimes valued just as that......

Gill..................You are so right........When trying to capture the perfect shot, you are so consentrated on what you are doing, you miss what is happening.
Go out without your cameras, every so often guys and enjoy nature without any camera hinderance, and then get home and kick your self for missing a good photo opertunity..................Jon

Alan · #21 (**permalink**) 26-05-2006, 11:27 AM

Yes I agree, Gill has reminded me of why I got interested in the natural world in the first place. It wasn't to get that perfect shot. I'm sure most of us were gazing at nature with awe, when we were children, long before we ever owned a camera.

I tend to only take the camera out if there is good light, and instead take my sketchpad/notebook out with me. Many times I've been sat sketching an interesting subject when out the corner of my eye, an elusive animal such as a Fox or deer, has quietly entered the scene, completely oblivious to my prescence. These types of experience are treasured, and the images that they leave in my head are far clearer than some of my attempts with the camera.

So don't regret missing that shot, just be glad you were there in the first place to experiece it

glsammy · #22 (**permalink**) 26-05-2006, 12:25 PM

I'm in the 'always take my camera with me' group, On the odd few occasions I haven't taken it, I've kicked myself later..I ALWAYS see something I wish I could have photographed. I do take the point though that you miss the big picture, your always looking so locally you can miss the beauty of the surroundings. That's why my other half almost always comes with me, to make sure I don't miss everything!

eeyore · #23 (**permalink**) 29-05-2006, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Hmmm does that mean if you sit close enough with a laptop you might end up with the professional photos on your machine?

Nice Idea, but I think they are encrypted and on unique channels so that different pro's shots dont get muddled up - there was a great explanation of how this works in the a past issue of digital photographer.