Last time I talked about the importance of making the shot, and before that discussed my new “keep-in-the-car” camera. Okay, last Monday I was driving through a part of Philly I had never been to before care of my GPS, and all of a sudden I saw this fascinating mural on the side of a small commercial building. But for all my talk I forgot to put my camera back in the car after I got it back from the shop.

$#$%^&*()!!@@

Frustrated, I continued on my way, but the image of that mural stuck in my mind and bothered me all week. I wasn’t sure I remembered its location or what the names of crossing streets nearby were. But after about 30 minutes searching the net and Google Maps I actually found a picture of the building and its address!! So on Friday I went back!

That’s right baby. I loaded a roll of Tri-X into my Plaubel Makina , put it into the car and drove back!  Even got a great parking space not far away from the location! Why? Because the picture was important to me. Yes, it was almost an hour’s drive each way, but who cares if it really matters!! As it turns out I got a little lucky as there was only one car parked in front, at the edge of the scene.

Not giving up always pays off, even if the picture doesn’t turn out to be all you hoped it would be. At a minimum you always learn something, which in itself can be incredibly important!

What if I didn’t go back. Maybe I would have decided to do it next month, or next year, or some other time and the damn thing has been painted over, or the building got torn down? I remember a story Fred Picker told in a newsletter about driving by an incredible barn. He either didn’t have his camera or for some other reason didn’t make a picture. So he came back a day or two later and it had blown down or something by a storm.

Moral of the story … if the picture is important to you go back as soon as you can and get it! I’m glad I did. Even if it turns out not to be a keeper I know I gave myself a chance and I feel a lot better for it!

Stay well,

Michael