Part 1: Failures Occurred
No matter how much you know about camera settings, things will go wrong. And not just little wrong. I mean “how did I even manage to take a picture of my own foot” wrong.
The Blur That Wasn’t Artistic
We’ve all been there. You set your shutter too slow, press the button, and end up with a photo that looks like a watercolor painting. Except it is not a painting, it is just blurry. The frog you were trying to capture looks more like a green smudge, and suddenly you are reconsidering whether photography is really your calling.
ISO Regret, as in “I so regret!”
At some point you will crank the ISO sky-high, forget to turn it back down, and then discover later that your entire morning looks like it was shot on sandpaper. Grain everywhere. The toucan you proudly captured now looks like it belongs on a 1990s video game screen.
Autofocus Betrayal
Autofocus will decide that the leaf in front of the jaguar is more interesting than the jaguar itself. And of course you won’t notice until you’re back at the finca scrolling through what could have been the shot of the trip. Leaves, as it turns out, are not that photogenic.
Tripod Trouble
Nothing says “pro” like carefully setting up a tripod, adjusting every detail, and then forgetting to actually tighten the head. One gentle breeze later, your epic long exposure of a waterfall is now a diagonal slash of white. Modern art at its finest.
Why Failures Matter
The truth is, every failed photo teaches you something. Sometimes it’s patience, sometimes it’s humility, and sometimes it’s just a reminder to check your settings twice. Failures are part of the process, and if you stick with it long enough, you’ll come to cherish them. Or at least laugh at them later over a beer.
There’s plenty more mistakes to come, in fact so many I made 6 parts. Enjoy my pain.
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