The photograph not taken

[crosseyed-cricket]

There's this old, abandoned car dealership building with a cool "OK Used Cars" sign that I've been thinking of photographing for awhile. Great colors. I planned to use some Fuji 400 and my M6 with a CV 15 with a slow shutter in the evening to blur the clouds a bit and get a nice surreal look.

I've driven by many times, each time with an excuse not to stop.....not enough time today, too much traffic, too tired, too many things to do today...etc, etc.

Yesterday, they took the sign down and its just a plain building....the photograph that was never taken is now gone.

This was a reminder to me to stop and take the picture.

 

[mfogiel]

There are hundreds of photographs I do not take, because I'd need to stick a camera into somebody's face. However, if I see something that I want to shoot, and it is doable, I usually do it. Life is short.

 

[Coopersounds]

I know the feeling well. That is why I try to keep a camera with me most of the time. If it is graffiti or a sign I put in more effort to stop than for a person, mostly for the ease of the shot.

 

[Rodchenko]

I was on a bike ride with some other folks the other day. I spotted a building being demolished, the centre part ripped right out. I so wanted to stop and take a load of photos, but had to keep going...

 

[jsrockit]

If you can't be bothered to stop and take a photo, then it most likely wasn't worth taking. If I see something worth photographing, I usually can't help but stop. Then again, the difference is usually I walk in NYC and that is much easier to just make a photo than stopping when driving on a 4 lane highway.

 

[kbg32]

Many times I missed an opportunity because I was too involved "looking". By the time I took the camera out, the moment was gone.....

 

[Gumby]

Yup... we've all had a similar experience, I'm sure. But does it change our behavior or do we continue behaving as we did in the past???

 

[charjohncarter]

I regret not taking more shots with B&W in the 60s and 70s. When I watch a Rockford rerun all I see are all those wonderful LA buildings and those great cars. Even the way people dressed is a missed chance.

I should have done more of these:

 

[Steve M.]

I've had this happen many, many times (and not just w/ photographs either, unfortunately). It all comes down to that Janis Joplin song "Get It While You Can". So, I always have a camera of some sort w/ me. The part where I fall down is, like you, figuring I'll take it "later", since at that moment I'm too busy/in a hurry/there's a lot of traffic and I don't want to stop/ etc. Obviously, none of that is valid when the next time you go by, it's gone and it ain't coming back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5VsZE8E7s8

 

[crosseyed-cricket]

I was on a family trip a few years ago in northern Arizona and drove by a great rock formation ("Elephant's feet")...I kept going past because the family was tired from the long drive that day...but something made me turn the car around.

I pulled over and parked and I talked with the Native American family who had a roadside stand set up there and bought a necklace for my wife. I took the photo and it ended up being one of my favorite images from the trip.

Yeah, I know its a DSLR image... 🙂


Elephant Feet Storm by crosseyed-cricket, on Flickr

Sometimes I take the picture, sometimes I don't..and should have. For me its not so much about regret, but rather a conversation with myself to think about the next opportunity. I'm a work in progress, and these little reminders help.

 

[Lauffray]

There was a small cafe in my neighbourhood that a friend and I used to go to often for a few years, I never photographed it because it was so familiar. One day this winter while walking out I took a couple of pictures. Sure enough, the week after the cafe was closed with newspapers in the windows

 

[Chris101]

Ahhhkkk. I hate it when that happens!

 

[MiniMoke]

Happened yesterday morning! They have set up some pianos around Luxembourg City, covered with plastic sheets against the weather so anyone can play if he likes.

I was walking to work through the city park at 6:30, low sun, some slight haze and there was this girl playing some music by Yann Thiersen (Life on Amélie Poulain composer) - just awesome. I listened for some time but didn't want to damage the wonderful mood with my OM....

And now I really regret it.

Took the same walk today but she was not there. Some moments do not come back.

 

[btgc]

Lack of time, tight schedule...I know this.



Afterword by mm35exp36, on Flickr

 

[airfrogusmc]

I see photos all the time. And the problem is if I don't have a camera with me If I go back sometime I get the photograph later but usually the light is different or the mood is just not the same so I carry my Leica MM with me almost everywhere. Heres a shot I got while sitting at a stop light. I rolled down the window and tool this as it happened. I could go back and sit in the same spot all day or all week and this may never have happened again. So this is why I take a camera just about everywhere.

 

[chikubi]

If none of you are familiar with this book, you might want to give it a serious look. Many interesting essays by a number of established photographers on just this subject. I met the editor a few years back, and this book was discussed as it had just been released shortly prior.

http://www.amazon.com/Photographs-Not-Taken-Will-Steacy/dp/0983231613

 

[daveleo]

There have been several times that this happened to me. Usually, driving by in my car and not being able or bold or whatever enough to stop and take the shot.

One very particular instance has haunted me for about 30 years. Driving out of Brooklyn on a very foggy morning, I passed a cemetery surrounded by a tall iron fence. The scene through the fence was right out of a "scary" movie. I did not immediately see a parking place, and I just drove away home. I have regreted that laziness for 30 or so years !

 

[zvos1]

It happens to me all the time.

 

[macfiend]

If I see a shot I want to take, I usually do regardless of risk or circumstances.
However, there are those occasions when I simply don't stop to grab the moment and those seem to be the ones I regret not taking the most.
We've all been there at one time or another. Ce't La Vie

 

[DougFord]

I've pressed the shutter button plenty of times that I've thought 'this is a photograph'. Upon closer inspection, near miss, aka drats!
How could I have been so wrong? Perhaps we're romanticizing the photograph not taken?
The problem is you don't know if it's a good photograph till you take the fricken photograph. Forget about the photograph that, odds are, didn't get away.