Marionsho Loc: Kansas

My heart goes out to you.
Marion

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I already posted one I missed, but one I got and am both happy and sad about (after reading the last post) was the last family pic that contained my brother-in-law. He was he and my sister, myself, parents, and my brothers and their family, taken a few Christmases ago. He was 37 and had multiple heart conditions brought about by a viral infection.

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

Go to oreillyauto.com and in the parts search box type in 121g
Somebody in their web design department has a good sence of humor, but if you don't know the part number you can't find it on the site. I used to have a lot of fun with customers that would come in wanting a flux capacitor.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

25 years ago Bushwalking in the wilds, sitting with the legs dangling over the peak of a flat top mountain.
SLR with 35-200mm lens on with a 24 or 36 shot Kodachrome 64 roll in the camera, beautiful sunny day, and a massive Wedge Tail Eagle glides past at about 3 mph if that, exactly level with me, 10 or 15 yards off the edge, massive birds they are, 9ft wingspan, body over a yard long, I see him coming 30 secs ahead of time, plenty of time to set the camera for everything, as he cruises so slowly and gracefully past, not moving a feather, just gliding, he turns his head to look me directly in the eye as I shoot off about 4 shots ... absolutely perfect, exhilarating, such a pure moment, and i know that i have nailed it at whatever focal length is needed to fill the frame with him, probably with every single shot, I will be able to see not just every single feather, but also the details in the feathers.


One month later, the film comes back. Three rolls actually.
I did three walks in a row, 1 roll of 36 for each walk.
On the first walk, I had dropped the camera at a lookout point. It had bounced down about 10 yards in height off about 6 granite boulders on the way. I picked up and inspected the camera, could not believe that it survived it, and the lens, all in perfect order (so I thought).
Of those 3 rolls, the first roll had about 12 correctly exposed photos. The rest of that roll and the next two rolls 90 black photos and 6 OK ones.
The 6 OK ones had been as a result of overexposed settings.
The 90 black ones (including the eagle shots) had all been correctly exposed.
The drop had bent the lens mounting away from the body of the camera and let in light, fooling the exposure meter.
Shooting colour positive film, there was no recovery possible.
So I now had 4 or 6 perfect black photos of the best WedgeTail I will probably ever see while having a camera in my hand.
Such is life.

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

Thank you sweet one.

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

You're very welcome.

waykee7 Loc: Cortez, Colorado

I was a nurse for 33 years, 11 of them in two Emergency Rooms, taking care of poor people. One bears witness to the worst in life, and the worst in life is to lose a child. Period. No contest.

waykee7 Loc: Cortez, Colorado

Probably a post viral cardiomyopathy. I saw a 17 year old die within a few days from a cardiomyopathy after a common cold. My long years of watching hundreds of people die taught me that it's not a tragedy when we die at the end of our lives. It sure hurts when it's cut short.

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

ER takes a special person for sure. I am an RN also...... have seen cancer take some wonderful ladies that went way too soon. (GYN/Women's Surgical) Thanks for your understanding.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

As a former EMT in the area north of Redding (mountainous), I have responded to calls that, as much as a camera nut as I was, were just too macabre or emotionally painful to even think about shooting - even when all we could do was sit around and give victims enough morphine to make them comfortable pending imminent death. And yet photojournalists and videographers from local media would risk crime scene incursion, arrest and even injury or death to get their shots.

Some shots you miss; some you just can't take! I had to take sone photos one night because the doctor at the scene wanted "evidence" photos (CYA evidence). I took the shots, got sick and had nightmares for days. I don't understand how some people take some pictures. On the other hand, I can rationalize pictures showing the horror of war or natural disasters.

Which leads me to one last off-topic comment. Photographers for NILMDTS, you have my deepest respect for what you do. Good night, all!

ray manclark

Hi all; England calling. Over 30 yrs ago,I took a flight to Newark Airport. While walking towards the Greyhound Stn, there wasa big crowd watching an old 10 floor hotel, ablaze. People were hanging out of the windows who were trapped in the upper floors. The fire dept put up a big extending ladder, operated off the top a fire truck. I estimate the ladder extended a maximum of 60ft. A brave fireman went up to the top and just about reached one of the window sills. He jumped about a foot, from the very top of the ladder, onto the sill and into the open window. A minute later, he appeared standing on the sill with a little old lady, over his shoulder. He seemed to gaze at the ladder for a few seconds then jumped onto the top. She seemed to be concious at the time. It was a marvellous bit of crobatics, and there was a huge cheer from the crowd. Greatest bravery I have ever seen in over 60 years. And i had no zoom lens with me. Too damn bad.

waykee7 Loc: Cortez, Colorado

That story made my day. Thank you.

TLC1944 Loc: SW Iowa

Once while "going around the lake" we came upon a mother skunk with eight or nine young ones and it was broad daylight. Mom in the lead, followed by two, then three, then four. All in a regular "flight" formation. Of course no camera. Doubt I'll ever see something like this again.

camorris

Jackson Hole WY - I was on the edge of a fairly large pond and at the other end was a calf and cow moose. I got photos but not as good as I wanted. : (

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I was driving from just north of Columbus GA through the country to get over to Savannah. I had a limited amount of time to get there. It was about 6 a.m. and I blew past a little round lake near the road, in the Fall with brightly colored trees, the water was like glass, and this may sound like a fantasy but there were two white-tailed deer standing shoulder to shoulder grazing on the far side with a light layer of morning steam rising from the water surface throughout the whole scene. Everything was perfect but I didn't stop to shoot it! I had my 8MP Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 sitting on the other front seat but was worried about not making it to my destination (a job interview) and there was no shoulder to park on. STUPID! I didn't get the shot and even worse - I didn't get the job anyway!

Other pictures I regret not taking are shots of my parents and grand parents when I was younger in the 1970s. I had 35mm cameras like Pentax, Konica, etc. but just didn't do it because you don't think about mortality and aging when you're young. Now I have very few photos, except snapshots taken by visiting relatives, to remember my immediate family with.