When I made the decision to come to Orlando for Edmodocon and FETC, I knew I would be traveling to the west coast to try to get some pictures of an ocean sunset. I had tried a few times before, but I had the wrong camera equipment. Or the clouds were bad. Or maybe I just didn’t know what I was doing.
Regardless, I was committed to going. I knew what time I needed to leave the hotel in Orlando to get there with plenty of time to get my camera set up where I wanted it. I knew where I wanted to be. I even knew something about the angle from which I wanted to take these pictures.
And so I did. I left on time. Early even. I had time to snap a few other pictures (none of which I liked, all of which went into my Trash file). I got to where I wanted to go, walked down the beach, found the jetty I wanted in my shot, scouted around to find the angle I wanted, and then set up to wait. I was committed to the shot.
As the sun started to get into range, I knew I had the right equipment. The cloud cover was cooperating. Even the people standing out on the jetty fishing seemed to stand still for my camera. I knew I had it.
And then it happened.
A bird off to the right of me dive bombed the water for fish. I wanted that shot. Then dolphins started rolling just out of camera range. And I wanted that shot. And then a sailboat….
You get the idea.
A friend of mine is fond of saying to me (repeatedly I might add), that life is all about choices. And I had to quickly make some. Taking these really cool pictures would have required changing lenses. Changing ISO speeds. Changing aperture settings. Getting rid of the tripod. And doing it all uber fast.
I might get the shots. I might not. One thing was certain: I would not be getting a sunset shot. It was a painful ordeal. For about 1/2 a second I struggled. Then I saw this blog post forming in my head. I had committed to a sunset shot. I stayed the course and got what I came to get. (You can see my photos here)
Life for me is a series of these choices on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. It is my nature to try to help people. To try to help everyone. Even at the expense of my own priorities. I rationalize I can always do my work later, but this needs to be done right now. As a result, it seems to friends that I am always working. Always online. And I guess I am.
I am constantly trying to catch up.
In life, like in photography, I really need to learn to commit. Stop chasing shiny objects. Stop putting my priorities on a shelf for another day. Learn to say a simple “no” from time to time. As Yoda says, “There is no try. There is only do or do not.”
And once you’ve made the choice to commit…commit.
Tim, thank you for this post! I can relate and appreciate your thoughtful writing. Patience and focus are my take aways. Two things I know, but don’t always do. Your photos show you’ve got those down.
On a second note, I follow much of what you write & share, and I want to say THANK YOU. One of my goals for 2012 is to actually comment on the blogs I do read instead of commenting on Twitter or sharing them in trainings I do. So I am committing to that, but also just want to say I appreciate the time and effort it takes to share a blog post. Have a great time at FETC!
Thank you for your kind note! And the Twitter re-tweet! I am also trying to do a better job of posting comments on blog rather than just a comment on Twitter or Facebook. Glad to see we are in the same boat!
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