The Importance of Getting the Photo

'Every Morning is Beautiful'           8x10           pastel           ©Karen Margulis
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The Longhorn cattle will haunt us forever.  It was one of those missed photo-ops.  Imagine driving across Texas at 80 mph and out of the corner of your eye you see the perfect painting. A herd of longhorn steer perfectly aligned along the fence. But you can't stop for the photo and you can't really go back.  "Oh they'll be lots of shots just like that" and you agree and wait for them. But they don't appear. In fact you don't see another longhorn on the entire 3 week trip.

We still look for those longhorns all lined up. They haunt us still.  But we've learned a lesson. We don't pass by a good photo op. Even if it means we turn around and go back. That may be why a 2 hour drive can take us 6 hours. But we will have the photos and memories and no regrets.

Today's painting is another almost miss.  On our recent trip to NJ for the Stan Sperlak workshop we took thousands of photos. But there was one spot that eluded us.

The illusive view from the busy bridge

Each morning on the way from the motel to the workshop we would pass over a creek. It was the perfect little marsh area with a deep creek. We had been looking for just the spot.  And every morning the light was perfect. Sometimes misty and mysterious or sometimes dramatic. But is was always beautiful. But the road was busy and the bridge was on a curve. Not the best place to stop for photos.  We took our 'drive by' shots. They would have to do.

The last morning though we remembered the longhorns. We would not miss this photo op. And as luck would have it there were no cars behind us. So we pulled over and quickly got the shots we wanted before the next car. OK so maybe we did get honked at by said car but we quickly got on our way content with knowing we didn't miss the shot.  Now I will paint this view....many times!