Foggy Morning Fail

Sunday morning started like many mornings. I got up with Stacey grabbed some coffee, saw her off to work and parked myself in the garage for a few minutes to get a handle on the day. As I looked out over the neighborhood, I saw the most amazing fog. It was low and dark and my first thought was that I knew the perfect place to take a foggy morning sunrise picture. But it didn’t exactly work out like that.

For the past few days, we’ve had some family staying at our house to visit a sick relative. Specifically, we’ve added five people to the household, including two young nieces who need Uncle Hal to help with breakfast, computers, drinks, toilet paper… you get the idea. And, as I came back inside, it began. Then, I thought a shower would be a good idea and, after dressing, making a couple of breakfasts and a list for the store (multitasking, you know) I grabbed the camera and headed out to take my perfect shot. That didn’t exactly work out either.

As I drove to the location, I noticed that the fog had lifted somewhat and it was quite a bit brighter outside than earlier. Bummer. Hopeful there might still be time for the shot, I reached the location, scouted for the perfect spot, parked the van and reached for the camera. I turned the camera on and… nothing. Zero. Blank screen, no lights. I quickly pulled the battery out, reinstalled it and tried again. Power. Excellent. I grabbed a quick peek through the viewfinder to check the exposure meter, dialed in some settings and fired off a test shot. BEEP! The words on the display made my heart sink: “No Card Found”. It was still in the card reader at the computer – at home. I’m an idiot.

I put the van back in gear and slogged off to the local Mega-Mart for the second stop on the journey. Mulling my failure, a favorite photographer came to mind. He imposes frequent GOYA (Get Off Your A$$) assignments on himself. The point of the assignment is give yourself a photography task and just get out there and do it – NOW. For my shoot, I started with inspiration and good intentions and then things just sorta went South. It was completely my fault.

First, I should ALWAYS know the camera’s status, where all the gear is and have it ready to go. I usually do a pretty good job of this, but not on this morning. Second, when I saw the fog, I should have grabbed my wallet, keys and camera, left the coffee in the garage and gone shooting. I didn’t. It was an honest fail with several layers of complexity – some of which were out of my control – but a fail nonetheless.

So why am I beating myself up publicly? Hopefully, to inspire and educate. Obviously, we’d love to take as many of your “memory” pictures as possible (call or email to book your appointment) but we can’t be there for all the special moments. So keep a camera handy – whether it’s a simple point-and-shoot, your phone camera or whatever. Make sure the battery is charged, the lens is clean and there’s enough room on the memory card to grab what happens next in your life. Take your camera everywhere (easier when it’s your phone too). You won’t take perfect, professional-quality pictures, but you WILL get the kids with chocolate smeared all over their faces, the dog wearing someone’s underwear as a hat and your spouse doing something they never wanted photographed.

Finally, do something with those pictures. With digital photography, it’s easy to take hundreds (even thousands – trust me, I know) of pictures but they get lost so easily. Load the pictures on your computer and sort through them on a regular basis. Make prints of the really special ones. Upload them to your phone, laptop or Facebook account. Email them to relatives. Show them to people you meet at the grocery store. Enjoy your pictures. And don’t worry about me. The camera and I are already waiting for the next foggy morning.