it's the memory, stupid

I'm guilty as a photographer for searching out technical excellence.  And sometimes in that quest I forget what photography really is all about and why I started taking pictures in the first place.

And that's all about creating memories.

Now, I take a camera (and no, I don't mean my phone) virtually everywhere I go.  Just the other day I went for a short stroll with Dexter and, as usual, I had a camera (in this case my Nikon D700 and its macro lens) with me.

I was taking a photograph of a flower that caught my eye, when out of the blue a bee landed on it.  As you know, I'm not the luckiest person on this planet so after my initial shock I just pressed the shutter.  Good job I didn't dwell any longer as it was gone as quickly as it arrived.

Trouble is, I was manually focused on the flower, and at the aperture I was using my depth of field was paper-thin resulting in the bee being far from sharp in the final image.

I carried on my stroll, keeping my eyes peeled for images and I snapped a couple more before heading home.  

I got a lovely shot of a caterpillar (sadly a rare sight these days) and a wonderfully accidental out of focus image of a small, wild herb!

My luck must have held out because the distant rumbles of thunder we heard on our walk along with the darkening skies overhead manifest themselves in a torrential downpour literally minutes after getting back home.

Looking at the images I was initially really disappointed at the quality of my bee shot.  Why didn't I re-focus, or narrow the aperture?

But then I realised that it didn't matter.  Photography isn't about technical perfection or stunning light.  It's about creating memories.  And the image of the bee, along with the others I got that day, will always remind me of the day Lady Luck shone down on Dexter and me for once.

After getting home I got all philosophical and made a short film about my experience. You can watch it by clicking below.

And you can also catch the latest episode of Tech Tuesday, where I compare 2 lenses while trying to remain awake from the sheer excitement of it all by clicking below: