This happened in 2022. I was walking in a local park when a butterfly landed on a leaf in front of me. It didn’t open its wings but I saw the underside which was mottled grey and a bit of red– characteristic of Vanessa (red admirals). Vanessa butterflies in northern India south of the Himalaya are quite a spectacle. I realized I did not get my camera (to my horror) and ran back inside to get it (thankfully only 5 metres away). Unfortunately by that time the butterfly had decided that it was not interested sitting on a leaf and flew away.
It took me two long years to find it again, and I didn’t even realize I found it for another half a year :)
This is one of the big advantages of being able to quickly turn on manual focus (if that’s an option for your camera). I was able to get some in-focus shots of this crocodile that was behind branches while I was on a boat by using manual focus and spraying and praying.
using this thread as a chance to share this hilarious video that really captures the feeling of something flying/running away as soon as you pull out a camera lol …
This is really surprising to me. @ursaw was a one-off; everyone else is mainly frustrated by the interplay between persnickety cameras and flighty organisms. I’m not sure how to feel about that.
What would your most frustrating naturing moments be if iNat was not in the picture, or what were they before you discovered iNat? Do those moments no longer frustrate you now that you have found iNat?
I like doing close-up macros of small things that are usually on plants, or are the plants. So many potentially great photos opportunities have been lost or ruined do to the dang wind. It’s like nature is fighting me sometimes.
There I am. I see a perfect shot of a butterfly on a flower. The angle is right, the light is perfect, and the butterfly as let me get close enough to capture an amazing shot.The air is calm and still. I line up the shot and about to click the shutter and in that instant, a sudden gust of 40 mph wind decides to hit and stays until the butterfly flies away to never be seen again.
Nearby, hikers hear what they think is a wild savage animal in excruciating pain, but really it is just me screaming and growling with frustration at the wind.
Yep, I can relate. I tried to take a picture of a Gulf Fritillary once, and it was posed beautifully on a bright pink flower, and I had spent several minutes creeping up on it, and then, along came the wind, and the photo ended up with the butterfly nearly horizontal, it had been blown over so much, and of course it was pretty blurry
How many times have I relied on that? Sometimes it works and you get one shot in focus that shows the subject well and you can congratulate yourself for being an excellent photographer. Other times it ends in frustration and dozens of bad pics. Thankfully we no longer use film in cameras.
That’s why I no longer carry field guides with me anymore. If you can get a shot of it, you can always ID it later. And if you couldn’t get the shot, the guides won’t help you anyway.
Now that is a thought-provoking question.
Back in my pre-iNatting younger days my most frustrating “naturing” moments were the times when I spent the day hiking up some mountain, only to have the summit totally fogged in, with no view whatsoever (common in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.) Now I can’t even get to the summit.
In terms of encounters with living organisms, the frustrations then, as now, were often camera-related. Not enough film! What if I use the last shot on this flower, and then I see a bear? Was that in focus? Guess I’ll find out in a few weeks went I get it developed. Shoulda brought my camera! Why did I bother to bring my camera? My neck hurts from lugging it, and you can’t see a thing anyways…
But back then, I was only frustrated by such things on the special occasions of a hike or a trip to a new place. In my day-to-day small encounters with nature, on a walk in the woods near home, I was not at all bothered by an inability to document things. Didn’t bring a camera. Didn’t need several good photos of a wildflower, so that other people could confirm that it really was a delightful find, or a photo of a bird that I heard singing, but only briefly glimpsed.
Since I found iNat I have a greater desire to document things, and that can lead to the types of frustrations that others have expressed. Is this desire a good thing? I don’t know… Sorry to have strayed from the topic.
Yes, the camera.
AF is slow, manual F is even slower.
I have the macro camera or macro setting when a bird lands nearby. It waits until I am ready than flies away.
When I spotted a butterfly and my camera was ready to cooperate when suddenly, Meowww??? My stupid cat came walking right towards me, pushing the grass on which the butterfly was rudely out of the way, as if it didn’t care, which it of course didn’t. This has thankfully not happened yet with a lifer butterfly. I always make sure I don’t allow it to tag along.
