I am feeling a bit under the weather today, so my post is going to be a bit short. This image for me is another reminder of one of the most critical lessons I’ve learned over the past few years, as far as photography is concerned. When I headed out on this shoot, the sky was in one of those unique “modes” where you just know something special is going to happen. It was that magical sunset that I had been waiting for. So I took my gear out and headed to the river. I got there early enough to scope out the place and test a few compositions, set up my camera and wide-angle lens on the tripod and waited for that magical moment to arrive. As I was getting closer to sunset, I notice the reflections of the sun on a nearby rock, the play of water around it and thought that it would make some neat images. The only problem was that I was already set up and sunset was fast approaching, I didn’t want to jeopardize my chances of catching that decisive moment. That’s when mini-Yoda popped out on my left shoulder (yeah, I am left-handed, so that’s my cool shoulder, not the other one).

What he told me was pretty simple, but critical: take it while you can! When the right light shows up, pounce on it, no matter where you are and what your expectations were to start with, you simply have to seize the moment that you are offered. Being the good guy I am (sometimes), I listened. I put my Nikon 70-300VR on my camera and started shooting away. And wouldn’t you know it, that crazy sunset I was dreaming of…well, it never materialised. It just fizzled away. Now had I not listened to mini-Yoda, I would have nothing to show for it. I can’t count the number of times I held on to get the perfect shot only to come away empty handed. The lesson here is be ready to read, react and adapt to the conditions you are handed and make the best of them.