A Moment Lost

In a flash and it’s gone…

That smile, as a parent you know it, you’ve seen it, and you can feel it in the warmth of your heart right this second. Even as a pet owner you know it, you’ve seen your beloved pet smile, we know they do right? Why is it so important to capture it? Those moments are here and gone, and as much as I would like to say to you that we can repeat them tomorrow, you can’t repeat specific moments in time.

Yesterday I watched an almost 2 year old witness a rocket drone take flight in front of his eyes for the very first time. This is a “child’s” toy that finds its way to nearly 75ft or so (guesstimation), but the fascinating part of this experience was the look on his face, the amazement of watching this rocket leave the ground! WOW! The retrieval! Again! Again! That look of excitement! The synapses firing! Unreal, and these moments we capture time and time again thinking our phones are enough.

I’ll be brief on this anecdote. My kids had their final band concert of the year last week. For the seniors of the school band, this was the last of their high school career. I cannot tell you how many cell phones I saw capturing this moment. Nothing pains a photographer like watching someone capture vertical video, although…I am recently guilty of this in a quick capture moment (i.e. above said rocket video). It happens. No shame people, no shade cast here. My point is that there are moments we are missing. Here is my ask, before I continue, go grab an old photograph (yes that’s what I said laugh all you want) ALBUM. Go grab one with your hands. I will be here waiting.

Are you back? Ok, flip a few pages in. Now, flip through a few pages. I can wait.

Still here? Can you still read the words on the page through the mist? Ok, so not everyone is as sentimental as I am, I get it, but let’s be honest, you aren’t going to get the tactile feeling from a grainy cell phone picture or video that you get from a photo album. I’m not selling you photo albums by the way. My point here is that we are missing critical moments, and I’m not even telling you to hire me, my hope is that you hire someone or find a better way to capture these moments that using your cell phone camera.

The big sell you get on your cell phone camera MEGAPIXELS! That’s great, but the sensor is tiny, about the size of your fingernail, while the sensor on an entry level DSLR camera or a mirrorless camera would easily be 10 to 20 times larger than that. Light is what matters in photography. The more light you let in, the less noise you have, the better your picture is, the better the long lasting memory is. Take some of your favorite cell phone photos and zoom in on them. How nice do they really look?

Cell phones also compute the picture. It is impressive technology, but keep in mind that the picture you see on your phone, is not the picture you would see if you printed it out 8×10. When you “take a photo” in a dark gym, or your house for a birthday party, your phone takes multiple exposures and runs them through AI processing. Then guesses what the image should look like, and delivers you a result. This means you receive a “picture” of your child, pup, kitty. Is that the memory you want?

My final point here is the sadness I feel watching the parents of seniors, or others miss moments out in the world holding their cell phones up trying desperately to capture the moment, all while missing it altogether, and leaving with really nothing to show for it. There’s nothing of real value from your phone to save, use, or edit.

What options do you have here? I don’t want this to be a beat down of cell phones, I use my cell phone camera all the time, I am not going to lie. Use it! It has its place. For those moments that matter though, the moments you know you need to be present, attentive, not worried about capturing with a device but paying attention, that is where you should consider looking into finding someone who can help capture that moment for you. It does not have to be a professional photographer. I understand cost can be an issue, so I am not going to write that everyone needs to hire a professional team to follow their kids, dogs, cats, and fish around. Follow fish around? What kind of house… Actually I want to photograph these fish now.

Anyway, find someone who knows what they are doing, has the correct equipment, eye, and knows how to edit, and capture that moment correctly. Enjoy the time, and for special moments, print, put it in an album, look at those pictures later and you will have those memories. The digital world is great, I love it. I am all about being green and not printing too much, but I also think it is important to have some tactile memories. In a flash, moments are gone, time passes, and we can’t get these moments back. So go grab an old album, reminisce a little, remember what your old house looked like, your town, former pets, hairdos, and remember that without photography history would be a moment lost.

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Blue Wolf Snap captures the moments that matter, from the first note to the final bow, from wildlife at dawn to your dog absolutely losing it over a tennis ball.