As Good as Your Last Shot

   One of the best lessons I ever learned from some of my photographer friends is: “You’re only as good as your last shot.”

    I try to keep that in mind when I go out and take photographs, be it of nature, family, travel, or random shots when I’m out and about. What that means to me is to try to make every click of the shutter count because that could be the last photograph.

   Now that doesn't mean every photograph I take is going to be good. I’m not a professional by any means, but I try to frame potential images in the viewfinder to get the best possible result. In other words, the initial cropping comes before I even snap a photo. 

   One of the great things about digital cameras is that you can delete those embarrassingly bad photographs before you download them on a computer. Or, if they do make it to the computer, they can be zapped into cyberspace.

   I've been fortunate to have friends who are professional photographers, mostly from news organizations. I've enjoyed listening to them talk about craft and figuring out what makes a good photograph.

  And I’m sure most, if not all, would agree that the last shot counts. And when you give it some more thought, perhaps the saying can apply to other things in our lives as well.

  Until the next time…