I learned something important this weekend about myself and photography.
I learned how things may not always work out, but it’s the way you deal with it that will decide the rest of your day.
So, I’ve been wanting to shoot the Hamilton waterfalls since I’ve gotten here. Having two massive dogs, we had to wait for the right weekend to find babysitters and plan out our trip.
I planned out 12 waterfalls and intended to hit all of them. But, when I woke up at my aunts house. I didn’t want to get up and leave.. I don’t get to see my family that often, so we had breakfast and spend some time catching up. Once we got on the highway it was almost noon. A part of me felt guilty for staying so long, but once we move back to Alberta we will not have the ability to see my family like we do now.
Then we ran into crazy traffic which is annoying but still not avoidable. We finally get into Hamilton and find that the first waterfall isn’t great, slightly disappointing but okay.
We head to the second one and after over an hour of hiking and bushwhacking, We are not even 1/4 of the way there. With me still being very sick, coughing my lungs out and needing more Kleenex, we decide to turn around and try again.
We make it to the last one, and it’s crazy busy. There’s people evvvvvverywhere. So after setting up and trying to be patient, a massive group of people leave and I take some shots trying not to get in the way of the other 6 photographers with clients and families there.
After Colby pressed the shutter down and got this shot of me we packed up and got out while more people were pouring in.
Once we got back to the truck I was torn. I desperately wanted to continue on to more waterfalls, but after wasting what little hours we had, it was almost 5pm, and we still had to get back across the city for the dogs.
Then my other auntie texted me saying to stop by on our way home and I decided that sometimes it’s not worth it to internally kill yourself for a shot.
I’m not a professional photographer making money on these shots, this is supposed to be something that brings me joy. The thought of driving through the insanely busy city to possibly be even more disappointed didn’t make sense.
So I looked at Colby and said “Let’s go to Jill’s”
I decided that I wasn’t going to let this ruin my day. Hamilton isn’t the only place that has waterfalls, and sometimes things just don’t work out, no matter how desperately you want them to.
As we were driving out of the city I started to really battle with myself to not have a pity party. I started out thinking of the 12 photos I was supposed to have on my SD card and couldn’t bring myself to look at the one that I might have.
I looked over at Colby and said “can we plan a trip to BC to do some waterfalls instead of these Hamilton ones?” He replied “of course dear”
And, that was that. I forced myself to not look at the negative and only the positive. We arrived at my Auntie’s house and had a wonderful visit, then right as we were leaving her husband, who is a professional photographer shows up with all of his photography equipment and the new Nikon D850. As I’m gawking over his equipment he’s bringing in, he puts down a 200-500 telephoto lens and says “let’s put this on your camera.”
We spend the next half hour mentally spending thousands and thousands of dollars, and mostly myself just drooling over all of this equipment
After we leave and get on the highway, I’m reminded that photography isn’t everything. Experiences and people are.
Don’t get me wrong, I love photography and I love taking pictures, but life is about those you love and the experiences that make you happy.
I want to look back at my photos and remember happy exciting times, not stressed and straining to achieve the shots I want.
When we are home and settled, I will plan a waterfall road trip into BC, and if that works out. It works out. But at least for now, I have been able to visit family members that I might not see for years, visit one good waterfall, and have some less stressful memories to go with it all.
Here’s to all the good times we have had, and all the good times that are still ahead of us ❤️
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