backin the late 1980's i was in upstate new york on the last weekend of september and all the trees were at peak color. i was staying at my grandmothers house and i got up at sunrise to shoot pictures with my canon ae-1 program. it was a perfect morning and i proceeded to take a lot of great pictures. at my grandmothers house you can usually hear a car coming from over a mile away by the sound of the tires on the road so i was a little suprised when i heard this low rumble start and didn't know what it was. as the rumble got louder i stood there in the middle of a field and listened as the rumble turned into a roar. the roar turned out to be a F 18 jet fighter contour flying about 200 feet off the ground flying up the valley. ok so there i am standing there like a dumbass awestruct with my camera in my hands at waist level with my jaw hanging down when the second fighter jet follows the first one up through the valley. I didn't get the shot but i did get a precious memory which i'll never forget. it's between the ears and not on paper. i'm smiling now still laughing at myself !!!
Best To All
SteveM

NSXType-R said:
Did you just not develop the photos or did you lose the rolls you shot with?

Both cameras had film in them when they were stolen, so I lost the rolls I shot with and never saw the contents. If I remember correctly it was one from Tasmania, and one from Western Australia. Back then it really pissed me off, but now, I'm thinking it's a good reason to go back. (And I'll chain my cameras to my leg if I do ;)

Gareth said:
do you live in wellington hearty? I'll be back in april, but we're moving to auckland for my wifes work. there is a whole lot of competition in auckland. i hope i'm good enough.

re this thread;

I saw about a dozen white herons flying in formation down a river valley with there reflections in the water. no camera.

I saw a araiguma (japanese racoon) in a stream by my house. also no camera.

I used to live in wellington. I am in Sydney now. Where are you moving from?
Photographically you will love NZ. The country is relatively small but you get a huge range of scenery! Make sure you make a trip around the south island! The last time I was there I only had a P&S but I got some great shots nevertheless.

elvishefer said:
I had two film cameras (nothing too pricey) stolen while backpacking through Australia a couple of decades back; ever since I've been convinced my best photos from the trip were in the cameras. And I'll neeeeeeever know...

Did you just not develop the photos or did you lose the rolls you shot with?

The day after I got my D7k... I had it on jpg and got a really neat picture of the sunset coming through the trees... I "got it right in the camera" but I really wish I had that RAW file... Dang.

I've missed quite a few due to my inexperience, but I doubt anything really spectacular.

There was a time when it was really windy, and there were four little yellow birds cuddled up on a single branch. Really cute. I actually got a picture, but I only had my old camera phone, so each bird covered consisted of about 5 pixels... >.<

That's about all I can think of right now. =)

I had two film cameras (nothing too pricey) stolen while backpacking through Australia a couple of decades back; ever since I've been convinced my best photos from the trip were in the cameras. And I'll neeeeeeever know...

heartyfisher said:
I missed one while driving in wellington NZ. I have been wanting to recreate it for years. It was raining lightly and the sun was setting. I had just driven up a steep slope and just as I was near the top a lovely lady in a nice black dress and a light raincoat and umbrella step out onto the road. There as a nice damp sunset sky behind her and the warm light of a passing car just caught her face highlighting her eyes and red lips for a second.

do you live in wellington hearty? I'll be back in april, but we're moving to auckland for my wifes work. there is a whole lot of competition in auckland. i hope i'm good enough.

re this thread;

I saw about a dozen white herons flying in formation down a river valley with there reflections in the water. no camera.

I saw a araiguma (japanese racoon) in a stream by my house. also no camera.

spraynpray said:
Perhaps it should have been called 'the one that got away' then.

well said....smile

Perhaps it should have been called 'the one that got away' then.

the best shot you ever missed, that like saying: optional necessity

There are way too many of those to answer this one well, but I will say that number declined sharply after I started shooting nikon (and even more so when I purchased f2.8's)

I was camped in my office as Transformers 3 was filming right below my window.

I had just come back from the bathroom so I had no idea an explosion was going off.

I had my camera sitting next to me and the next thing I know there is a giant fireball right in front of the window.

Luckily I didn't mess myself, but I missed the shot too :(

There I was, clear line of sight, no more than about 15 feet away from Fergie... Sara Ferguson, of the British royal family. It was only about 6 months after she was married to Price Andrew.

Perfect soft light, coming in from above right, a nice large bright wall was on my left that did the job of filling in and provided just the right amount of shadow. There was a sheen on the ground behind her after a recent rain shower that reflected the light just enough so there was just a faint hint of rim light to her hair... in fact, she was tossing her hair back, with a really vivacious look about her...

She was at her peak with everything to live for and I just happened to be perfectly placed for THE shot...

Think I had a camera with me?

Pah!

NSXType-R said:
all of a sudden freaking red fox comes bounding past my window. My dorm window (!). How often does that happen in your life?

Wow, you must have seen his ghost. Redd Foxx passed away back in 1991. Too bad you didn't have your camera ready :^)

On a very cold January morning I watched the sun rise on the way to work. The ice crystals in the air created 3 sun dogs around the sun. off the arcs created by the sun dogs there were spirals rising up to the heavens. An incredible sight and no camera.

This morning I got really pissed off that I inadvertently buried my point and shoot under some clothing. I was cleaning up stuff, opened up my blinds, and was slightly surprised that it snowed overnight. It looked really nice out, because the old snow started turning black.

I was preparing some breakfast to eat and all of a sudden a freaking red fox comes bounding past my window. My dorm window (!). How often does that happen in your life? I scramble for my stupid point and shoot which is now under a ton of clothing but by the time that happens, obviously it scoots away.

But boy, foxes are majestic creatures. I enjoyed that moment, even though I couldn't get a shot off. It had that deep rust coat, a long flowing tail and that sharp face. Just a really handsome looking animal, especially with that fresh coat of snow that was still falling. And it looked kind of small too, so it might be a juvenile. I wish I am able to see foxes more often, other than the stupid opossums or raccoons.

Moral of the story- buy the biggest damn DSLR and lens combination you can get your hands on so when you bury it in your clothing it's easier to find.

Even if it were the D40 it's still way larger than my stupid point and shoot.

Hope y'all don't get too tired of my "me and the presidents" stories, but I do have one more for this thread -- I was crossing Connecticut Avenue in D.C. one day and had made it half way across when Gerald Ford's motorcade came down the road. Motor cops got into the intersection and tried to block traffic, but it took a few seconds. Ford's limo puled right up to me and stopped. He was sitting there smoking a cigar. I was probably two feet from his window. Figured that I really didn't want to suddenly pull out a camera and try to get a shot, because I'd probably BE shot. He glanced at me, and just kinda nodded his head a bit to acknowledge my presence. After about ten seconds, they took off again.

Cabo San Vincente, Portugal. Was considered the "end of the world", with sunsets you can ONLY imagine.

May 2009.

Had my D40x with me and forgot the charger back in the states. Battery died just before I got to the end of the world, as the sun was setting. No shots, only a memory of what was.

Sigh. . . .

Well I was up at the Maine/Canada border in the Calais area and I was trying to find a nesting bald eagle. Well, I found the bald eagle while I was driving. As I was getting out of the car an osprey came onto the scene. With camera and 200-400 in hand, the osprey came up above the eagle and they came together mid-flight for about two seconds. Unfortunately my lens still had the soft lens hood on. I can still see the shot in my mind and it will forever haunt me. (For the record, I hadn't tried to shoot with the hood on, I just didn't have time to take the hood off.)

You win some, you lose some. So goes it.

I actually was just able to get my first decent bald eagle shot in my three years of photography in the past month. Sometimes you have to wait a while to get what you want. Although, I'll never get the shot I missed.

My most recent one: just few weeks ago I went to the beach, on the way back to the car I saw a snake eating a lizard just 2 feet away from me on the path to the parking lot. It was a slow process... I watched the whole "show" - did not have a camera (not even a cell phone).

The one that I didn't take because I thought that the shot had been taken ad nauseum by everyone else who owned a camera ;) Why, oh why, didn't I pursue a different perspective?

soap said:
don't think it will change jpg back to raw

Actually, it does. That's the only reason I don't do it. Wish it was customizable.

ShadeofBlue said:
Well you can reset the camera to defaults before each shoot. Not sure exactly what button combination it is on each camera, but I know it's there. That way you are pretty much forced to go through each setting to make sure it's what you want.

Wont't reset VR switch, Focus select switch, and don't think it will change jpg back to raw. But, yea, that would catch some of my error sources.

Doesn't Canon have a dial for selecting setting banks?

Well you can reset the camera to defaults before each shoot. Not sure exactly what button combination it is on each camera, but I know it's there. That way you are pretty much forced to go through each setting to make sure it's what you want.