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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2011 1:09:22 GMT
Since this is such a picture-intensive forum, I thought we should have a place to moan about the ones that got away.
You know those toys for kids that mimic grown-ups' stuff -- stoves, tools, etc.? Today I was downtown & saw an entire taco stand rendered in play-safe plastic, perfectly kid sized.
And me with no camera!
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Post by rikita on Apr 28, 2011 13:35:29 GMT
oh... that is a dangerous thread for me. even without this thread, one of my common nightmares when i am stressed about life is, that i am dreaming about traveling somewhere, seeing really great landscapes or animals or whatever, and my camera won't work. i keep pressing the button but it won't take a picture...
else though - my old camera broke while i was in peru. i did buy a disposable camera but it is by far not the same. so my pictures of machu picchu and the colca canyon look too embarrassing to show them to anyone, and i have none of lake titiqaqa..
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Post by spindrift on Apr 28, 2011 13:52:52 GMT
^ your nightmare was my nightmare. I trekked in the Everest region and took two SD cards worth of pictures. One of my cards cracked during a very cold night and I lost all those pics. This happened even though I kept it, along with the camera, inside my sleeping bag. I'm still moaning about it even after 7 years. The temp was in the minus 20s I suppose.
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Post by bjd on Apr 28, 2011 15:02:19 GMT
Some years ago I was standing in front of a grocery store. An old guy with a small helmet on his head arrived on a really old moped. He leaned down, unzipped his jacket, and about 8 little puppies jumped out.
My first thought was, "where is my camera?!" but of course, it would have been embarrassing to take the picture just in front of him.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 28, 2011 16:22:20 GMT
Sometimes the photos you only took with your mind because you had no camera (or lost the film) are the ones that you recall most vividly.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 28, 2011 16:29:48 GMT
One time on a Canadian mountaintop, Mr. Kimby changed the film in our SLR and handed it to me. We were sitting on a rock admiring the view, and he walked 20 yards away to take a photo, then called me over for some reason. I got up leaving the film sitting on the rock, where it probably sits to this day. 38 prized exposures lost forever. We left a note with our address in the trail register in case someone else found it, but never heard from it again.
On another mountaintop, however, I was sitting on another rock and looked down to see a mouse-chewed nylon drawstring bag that turned out to contain a camera just like the one I was using at that time (an Olympus semi-pointandshoot). There was no identifying info in the bag and the film had only 1 exposure on it, so very unlikely that it would have a license plate that might have led the camera back to its owner, plus it had clearly spent the winter on that mountain, so I kept it (one camera for slides and one for "people picture" prints).
Now I have an address sticker on my digital camera, and the first photo on every SD chip is always our contact info plus the word "REWARD" so that the camera or at least the images might find their way back to me.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2011 19:11:59 GMT
Oooo, Rikita ~~ if ever a dream needed interpreting, it's that one!
Interesting to read about Spindrift's loss to extreme cold, then read Kimby's post about the Olympus that may have survived a Canadian winter. I wonder what the upper tolerance is, since most camera manuals practically tell you to keep your camera in a micro-climate bubble.
Any man with eight puppies in his jacket is probably not self-conscious about having his picture taken. ;D
I was in the back seat of a car & could see an arm in the other lane indicating a desire to pass in front of our driver. When permission was granted, the motorbike bearing a fully-dressed clown driver & his normally-dressed passenger went around us.
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Post by rikita on Apr 28, 2011 19:12:56 GMT
ah, i lost two films on the bus home from the festival in paucartambo, a small peruvian town. took lots of pictures of dances there, then went on to tres cruces for the sunset... on the bus on the way home i slept, half lying on the seat, and i think the films fell out of the pocket of my trousers...
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Post by bixaorellana on May 1, 2011 5:44:58 GMT
Urg, Rikita, that is a nightmare!
I've twice had film cameras stolen, both times with film with irreplaceable pictures on them.
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Post by Kimby on May 1, 2011 17:33:52 GMT
Mr. Kimby has had 3 cameras stolen and I had one. Each time a roll of film was lost. I'm really liking the digital age.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 1, 2011 18:23:03 GMT
I was in a market in Mexico City and saw a small man carrying a huge new molcajete -- the kind with the pig carved on it -- on his back & completely covering his head. Did I have a camera with me?
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Post by hwinpp on May 3, 2011 10:32:24 GMT
I saw a ridiculous accident on Saturday night, after u- turning it was too late. Some young woman had tried to drive her Camry ofer the dividing line in the middle of the road and got the car squarely stuck on top of it. By the time I'd returned some bouncers from the club she'd just exited had pushed the car back on the road... Not much to see anymore:
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2011 18:47:04 GMT
Twice I have seen huge fires and could have run back to get my camera to document the event. And both times I decided that it was not worth it, when it later turned out that IT MOST CERTAINLY WAS. One of the fires was the biggest fire in Paris in 20 years, but I just stood there looking at it instead of spending 10 minutes to go and get my camera.
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Post by Kimby on May 16, 2011 12:16:10 GMT
We took a moonlit walk on the beach a couple nights ago and crossed the tracks of a sea turtle. Followed them to the dune where we found her digging her nest. Scoop, wait 10 seconds, grunt, wait 10 seconds, scoop. 3 flippers full of sand per minute. We sat down in the moonlight about 25 feet away to wait and watch. After about 20 minutes, she became still. Resting? Dead from exhaustion? Laying eggs? Probably laying. After another 20 minutes she started shoveling sand into the hole, which she did for at least 20 minutes, creating an area of excavation large enough to confuse potential nest predators, then she began her slow return to the sea, passing within 10 feet of where we were sitting! Ten shuffling steps, rest, 12 steps, rest, until she reached the water's edge. Once she'd passed us, we walked with her to the sea, and watched as she disappeared into the moonlit waves..
IF we had had our camera, I would have taken a photo of this female loggerhead on her way back to the sea, when her mission was accomplished and the flash could do no harm. No camera, so another photograph that lives in the mind only.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 16, 2011 17:07:18 GMT
Fabulous word pictures, though, Kimby!
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Post by mich64 on May 16, 2011 17:12:17 GMT
Kimby, I have been amazed by seeing this on TV a few times, I cannot imagine how incredible it would be to see happening in front of you. Lucky of you to have seen this once let alone twice! Cheers, Mich
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 10:43:34 GMT
I now carry my camera with me about 98% of the time unless I am just going to the supermarket or the bakery downstairs. Yesterday, I had to go to the annual building meeting two metro stations away and for once I did not take my camera.
I was 15 minutes early so I wandered into the very ordinary church across the street from the real estate agency. The floor was bathed in a kaleidoscope of fabulous colours, due to the sun streaming through the stained glass windows at just the right moment. It was a truly magnificent sight.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2011 15:24:21 GMT
This thread is bringing out some lovely writing in lieu of "the one that got away". Yesterday I actually had the camera in my hand, but was reluctant to use it. I was taking pictures of the teachers' encampment in the zócalo, and came across a woman spinning thread. She held a short section of dowel in one hand and moved it back and forth. It had thread wound on either side of her hand and a piece hanging down that ended in a ball of thread. She was going to weave it into a dress(!) when she finished. She was so pleasant about my staring and asking questions, that I didn't want to further intrude by asking to take a picture. It's funny how we perceive personal space. All of these people are occupying and obstructing a public space, but the reflex is to still respect the individual sections they've staked out.
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Post by rikita on Jun 5, 2011 9:04:53 GMT
just remembering the christmas tree i was planning to photograph but never got around to: in march, i saw an old christmas tree (small one, maybe one meter tall) that someone had stuck into the top of a street sign (you know, into the hole of the iron post the sign was on) and decorated with easter eggs.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2011 11:07:25 GMT
The weather was glorious at noon today -- perfect autumn sunshine -- and I had some ideas for some pictures. Instead of having lunch, I took the bus about half a dozen stops up the street to a very photogenic area. Too bad that I had left my camera in my work satchel instead of in my coat pocket. I still had a very nice walk around the neighborhood anyway.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 12, 2012 18:45:04 GMT
Will I ever learn?! About an hour ago I went to pick up some lunch from the ladies who have a stand a couple of blocks away. I figured there was no need for the camera. Well, the ladies were closed, so I walked another couple of blocks to the menudo place. Along the way I saw: 1. The entire motorcade of the local colectivos, all decked out for Día del Taxista. 2. A lady leisurely making quesadillas & memelas -- perfect for trying out the new video function. 3. A man pushing a wheelchair retrofitted with a white plastic lawn chair.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2012 19:35:25 GMT
I know all about those short outings where you decide you don't need the camera. About the only itinerary that I take now where I sometimes leave my camera behind is between my apartment and my mother's nursing home -- 430 meters -- and I still sometimes regret not having my camera with me.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 3, 2013 18:17:31 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 4, 2013 18:47:56 GMT
But such a beautiful description, Kimby! Yesterday was the real thing of knowing I'm a jerk for leaving the camera at home. My neighbor is going to recover my chair cushions, so we went downtown to get fabric. I left the camera because I was on a mission with another person. We ran smack into a small parade celebrating books. It had floats, colorful regional clothing, cute kids, and ......... stilt dancers! We stood and watched with open mouths as the young men -- all guys, but with half of them dressed as women -- boogied atop poles. Some of the stilts were over 5' high! They're very rough, too -- like 4x4s rudely planed down on the sides. There is a platform for the feet, wrapped on with twine although it might have been nailed on as well. The performers stand on the platform & their feet and knees are tied to the platforms & the tops of the poles! The dancers we saw were dressed in sort of plain, vaguely traditional clothes with kerchiefs over their mouths. There were even little kids on stilts, albeit much shorter ones.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2013 19:02:53 GMT
Now that I finally have a smartphone, I am relatively certain that I will miss fewer unexpected photos -- as long as I remember to use it fast enough.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 7, 2013 17:32:47 GMT
My sister got a new smartphone (4G) and gave me the old 3G one, which is no longer a phone, but is still a camera and can do wireless internet whenever it's near a hotspot.
Good thing I have this new toy, because my Canon G12 came home from Hawaii and developed a stuck shutter! I have tried to fix it by thumping it on my palm and tapping around the lens barrel with a pen, and tricking the camera by taking it in a dark room and clicking a long exposure then opening the battery door to shock the camera with a power interruption...all the tricks mentioned in the camera forums. No luck. So I'll have to bite the bullet and send it in for repairs.
So I am temporarily without a real camera. (Well, I can go back to the more primitive Kodak I used for most of my pics on this forum, but I REALLY like the new camera's ability to do exposure compensation.)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 17:58:28 GMT
My last camera repair lasted 45 days.
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Post by htmb on Apr 5, 2013 21:41:48 GMT
On the way home from work I passed four people standing at a major intersection with signs "Quakers for Gun Control." I've seen them before, but never seem to have my camera. Maybe next time I'll take a picture with my cell phone.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2013 1:23:45 GMT
As happens to me on every motorised holiday, naturally I have my camera with me but rather than "and me with no camera," the problem is almost always "and me with no way to stop to take a picture." I think that every road and street everywhere should have places for driving photographers to pull over every 10 meters, because otherwise the world is missing out on lots of amazng pictures!
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 6, 2013 2:14:49 GMT
Back in the days of film cameras, I was standing on a corner in Pensacola when a guy who had to be the redneck poster boy drove past in a beat-up pickup truck. A Rebel flag in the bed was streaming in the breeze with a black lab standing in front of it. Of course by the time I fumbled the camera out, the truck was gone, but lo & behold, he came by again. He slowed way down, leaned out the window & said, "I saw you trying to get a picture, ma'am, so I came back around. As he drove by again with the flag drooping & the dog looking the other way, I pretended to click.
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