Top 10 Memory Lapses for a Landscape Photographer

Yesterday, my quest for photographing Fall color began with a 3:30am alarm. Like most people, my brain isn’t fully (ok, is not at all) operating on all cylinders at that time. Over the years, I’ve developed a habit of preparing the night before. I need to be able to jump out of bed, into the car, and get going. It’s not a perfect system. This time, I forgot my rain jacket. Guess what the weather was doing when I arrived at my first destination.

This preparation doesn’t just stop with photography and personal ‘gear’. To illustrate, here’s a list of ten other memory lapses that have gotten me into trouble. There are many more, but I’ve forgotten what they are. :)

10 - Forgetting to change the ISO setting, after shooting indoors at ISO 1600 or higher, and returning from a fabulous hike with a card full of grainy and unusable images

09 - Leaving the camera on 10 second self-timer, and realizing the moment a moose spends exactly 9 seconds crossing the path in front of me

08 - Forgetting my tripod; the second most important piece of equipment I carry

07 - Leaving the books or maps of my planned route at the side of my bed, where I was reading them the night before

06 - Forgetting to charge my camera battery

05 - Charging my battery, and leaving it in the charger

04 - Not packing toilet paper for a long hike into the great outdoors. ‘Nuff said

03 - Not keeping a firm enough hold on my camera and backpack during a walk through Barcelona, and watching it all get whisked away by a couple of professional criminals

02 - Forgetting to set or change my alarm, and rendering everything else moot

And the number one memory lapse that has gotten me into trouble?

01 - Brewing a cup of tea and leaving it sitting on the counter. Maybe I should add some perspective here. One of the first questions my daughter often asks when she gets up in the morning is “Daddy, have you had your tea yet?”.

So, that’s my list. It’s Interesting to see how many of these have crept in due to the digital age.  What about you? Did I miss anything?

Comments

[Tangohotelphoto]

I forgot memory cards a few days ago. I took the one in my camera out to transfer my pics across to the computer and my spare cards were taken out of the camera bag because they share a case with my USB card reader.

[Adrian Scholes]

that was on my original list, but i had to stop at ten :)