Missed my moment

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“I guess they’re called a moment because they don’t last very long.”
― Sarra Manning

Sometimes thinks just don’t work out when you are taking pictures. A moment is passed and you just can’t get it back and so what you end up capturing is not what you intended and maybe even disappointing. This is particularly true when you light source is completely outside of your control. In a studio setting everything is controllable but the moment you step out into the world and rely on the sun or even the moon then suddenly things are much harder to control and if you miss your moment it is often gone forever.

I spent a while setting up this shot. Trying to get the angle right to get in the snowdrops and make sure they were in focus and centre the gap in the trees in the image. The whole thing was bathed in sunlight as you can see. The snowdrops almost sparkled in the light and the sun created a light leak through the image. I knew exactly what I was aiming for but I failed to notice one important thing.

There was a huge black cloud looming across the sky to my right.

I got into position, checked my remote screen on my phone. Perfect. I stripped off. Hide my clothes behind the tree and then realised everything had changed. The sun was gone. The light was different, dull and grey, unlike moments before when it had been warm and golden. I took a couple of shots. Surely the cloud would go in a moment but then I looked round the tree to see that far from going away it was rolling across the shy, vanishing all the blue. The wind picked up. Goosebumps littered my flesh.

I had missed my moment.

But that happens sometimes. I just thought on this occasion I would share it so you can see that not every self portrait adventure ends with a good image.