In this video, I share a very recent example of being at the right place, at the right moment. That's what photography is about, for the most part.
decisive moment
Nothing will ever beat good timing
The snow and ice are melting really quick, and they are revealing all kind of scenes. I stumbled upon this one during my morning walk yesterday: an American flag that had been underwater for a while.
I knew there was an image there, so I turned on my compact camera and started to look for the right angle. After just a few seconds, it died. "Battery exhausted". I couldn't believe it.
I knew it was about to die when I left home, and made the terrible mistake of not bringing an extra battery. So I did the only thing I could do: I pull out my iPhone 7 and took a shot.
I immediately loved the result and I wanted to capture it again with a better camera. So I went home, grabbed a new battery, and soon enough I was back at the scene. It had taken me half an hour, but it was too late. Everything that made the image work earlier was just not there anymore: the Sun was higher in the sky and the reflections on the water looked bad; also the wind had picked up creating small waves.
It goes to show that camera gear does matter, but nothing will ever beat good timing: being at the right place, at the right moment.