Now, I usually carry a camera with me but sometimes I forget. That is usually when I see a great subject. Has this happened to you? I will start.

On the edge of town, surrounded by forest, is a building with an asphalt parking lot in front. The very, very big sign in front says Law Offices and Collection Agency. About a week ago, I drove by early in the morning. The sun was just heating things and you could see heat waves rising from the parking lot. Circling above the building in perfect formation were 3 vultures. Evidently, they were picking-up thermals from the lot. A picture to kill for and I didn't have a camera with me. Arghh!!!

How about you?

Art

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), July 28, 2001

Answers

driving by the cemetary yesterday, you could see the shade tent, dirt from the freshly dug hole, flowers, and a FED-EX truck parked near burial plot. it really did look like the body and casket had been FED- EX'd for delivery. just thought that was taking the whole shipping concept too far. camera not available of course.

-- daniel taylor (lightsmythe@agalis.net), July 28, 2001.

Go back. They're still there.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), July 28, 2001.

Nice subject, Art! And I really DO like the picture that you evoke before my INNER eye with your description... ;o) Lately, I find myself carrying a Leica around more often - and getting home without any picture taken. I started to do this kind of gymnastics after missing some once-in-a-$!%©?x§!!-lifetime-shots. But I think they get to you rather than you get to them. Anyway, I think you have to be prepared in more than one sense, equipmentwise but also mentally, and I found that walking to work (I gave up driving cars, which helps seeing anew, for starters), to appointments and aims not necessarily clears my view. Strolling in foreign places is a good platform - then again, the magical coincidence of sight and seeing may occur, but it may as well not. I was happy I had my Leica with me, though, when changing trains in the capital of Switzerland as THIS sprang to my humble eyes and paid me off for days of futile weight lifting... ;o)

Cheers, Lutz

-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), July 28, 2001.

Nice shot, Lutz!

-- patrick C. Garner (pg@patrickgarner.com), July 28, 2001.

The missing of a good shoot when I hadn’t a camera with me happened to me a lot of times. So three years ago I decided to buy a P&S camera which I carry with me all the time. I start with a Russian Lomo, then an Olympus, a Yashica T4 and finally a Minox 35GT. With all these cameras I made some good photos and especially with my current P&S Minox 35GT. Having all the time a camera with you makes the Photography a way of life for us. Street Photography by Dimitris Kioseoglou

-- Dimitris Kioseoglou (kosefoto@otenet.gr), July 28, 2001.

Art, that is why I always carry a Minox spy camera in my pocket.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 28, 2001.

Countless. Here's one today:

A baby in a stroller, a small child standing on it from behind, and, their mother, presumably, pushing it. Small, medium, large. Crossing the street. It would've been a nice shot.

-- Tse-Sung Wu (tsesung@yahoo.com), July 28, 2001.

Many years ago I was at my first major motor-race, if anyone remembers the Can-Am series. It was one of the first times I was using my M4. I was lucky enough to get a pass that allowed me anywhere on the course and I was on a tight corner when right in front of me Dennis Hulme hit Mark Donahue who went midair and flipped. I got two or three frames of the hit, the car in midair, then on its back. To this day I don't use lenscaps!

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), July 28, 2001.

Bob:

Ahhhh. Dennis Hulme and Bruce McLaren in the amazing pair of carmel orange Group 7 SRs. & MArk Donohue reast his soul in teh Blue Sunoco Penske.

I remember when the ornage Mcs first appeared and rolled off the trailers-all the other teams were drooling, THEN they went and set fastest times and were invinvible -even the 6 wheel Shadow couldn't beat 'em.

Thanks for the memory.

-- RICHARD ILOMAKI (richardjx@hotmail.com), July 29, 2001.

Thirty years ago, I was just arrived in Dijon for my studies. A sunny Saturday afternoon, in the main steet of the town, a lot of people. In the middle of the indifferent crowd, a small hunchbacked man, 50- 60 years old, dirty clothes, half a cigarette on the coin of the lip, beret on his head and under his right arm ... a very big picture of a young and very beauty woman ... absolutely nude !! and no camera, I'll never forget, and perhaps this "picture" is better than I could have take it !! Alain

-- alain.besançon (alain.besancon@chu-dijon.fr), July 30, 2001.

Driving home on the freeway, a pick-up truck hauling a ski-boat had obviously hit the retaining wall on the left shoulder. The boat had come off the trailer and landed squarely on top of the pick-up's cab and in the bed. What made the shot (and would have, had I had my camera with me) was the tow-truck operator, hiway patrol officers and firefighters standing around and (literally!) scratching their heads about what to do!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), July 30, 2001.