The Story Behind the Photo, No. 4

It was a dark, cloudy day as I stood on the boardwalk at the edge of the harbor in Bar Harbor, Maine just enjoying the scene. As I stood there, the sun popped out! Instantly, this amazing scene was before me. I raised my camera and took the shot!

It is important to me to have my camera handy for those perfect shots that I may have missed if I didn’t have the camera ready - and being able to recognize the great photo at hand.

These days people do so much video with their phones that it may not mean much to most people if they capture that perfect photo – something I have always been interested in.

I have been privileged to travel a lot through the years. Sometimes it was with a large art group. Sometimes it was a group of three or four. I had one friend that I traveled with all around the southwest.

In 1999, I traveled to Israel with a group. We were walking down a street in the old part of the city of Jerusalem. I was carrying a large camera with a long zoom lens (it was before the days of the iPhone). We walked as a group, and took in the sights as we walked.

I looked ahead and saw the perfect scene… not a tourist in sight, only the local people. I stepped out of the group, raised my camera and took the shot!

Note: In those days we also had to carry a dozen rolls of film with us, to be developed back home. iPhones have changed our world of personal photography so small and convenient. Back in the day of the big zoom cameras, we would have never dreamed the changes we now take for granted with the iPhone.

I love these words I saw on Facebook a number of years ago: “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what is important, and capture the good times. Develop from the negatives, and if things don’t turn out, just take another shot.”