Great Kid, Don’t Get Cocky.
First of all, I haven’t had a chance to really get into a flow with writing on this blog due to Distance Learning and school being adjusted on the fly. Hence I haven’t written anything new since March.
Since school has finished, I do want to get into the regular habit of writing. I think if I can get something drafted either once or twice a week regarding photography or maybe even a few other topics, like the current protests, it’d be good practice on my part.
With restrictions changing in Nevada (just a smidge), I did feel a bit more at ease traveling to Tahoe (for the day) for the first new photographs I’ve captured in months. Due to the “rust” of not taking pictures for an extended period, that inactivity would play a role in a small accident I had when capturing the image below:
This capture was paid for with a bit of blood, unfortunately.
So I had a chance to look at a few different compositions once I arrived at this location. I figured I could get a few shots with the dramatic sky and the crashing waves. I always like to capture these scenes at Tahoe, due to the waves adding a different element to the picture, especially with the dark, foreboding skies just above it.
Of course, with dark, foreboding clouds, it had also rained. And I wasn’t as prepared as I normally was, having this outing be the first a few months at Tahoe. So I didn’t have my hiking shoes (just wearing my running shoes) nor did I have my first aid kit or some actual waterproof pants due to the weather.
I just had a zip up hoodie, cargo shorts (it’s basically the summer, right?) and my camera gear.
Honestly, I had shot up at Tahoe and at this location quite bit. I know the area relatively well. What could go wrong?
The first few photos I took, I navigated the slippery rocks pretty well. My running shoes were holding up and I essentially had the area to myself for the first half hour I was there (a few other photographers came later).
This should’ve came to my mind.
I was pretty happy. It was great being out in Nature again and capturing a cloudy and cool scene. So I started feeling good about myself, thinking “Self, nice work. You got some good ones out here.”
In other words, I got overconfident.
Towards the later part of this shoot, I saw the clouds catch a dollop of light, as you can see in the picture above. I knew where I wanted to be in order to get a capture with that light, so I picked up my gear and rushed to the spot I had in mind.
Of course, rushing in the rain, around some pretty jagged boulders, isn’t the smartest thing to do. This, boys and girls, is the lesson.
So I leapt down onto what I thought was a pretty solid rock outcropping, but once I landed, my left foot slipped on the rain-soaked granite. But instead of falling back, I slipped in between two boulders, scraping up my left shin pretty badly in the process. If I hadn’t gripped blindly at some random handhold nearby, to stop my slipping, I feel like it could’ve been worse.
It was bad nonetheless. It looked as if I had been gashed by some wild animal. Blood fell in tiny, dark rivulets along my shin. I wondered if I would need to go to the emergency room to get stitches.
(I would show a picture of the scrape and the bleeding, but I won’t here.)
Since I didn’t have my first aid kit with me, I fashioned a quick bandage and wrap from an unopened lens cloth (figured it’d be sterile) and a bandanna I had attached to my camera bag (there’s a story to that). So I dressed the wound as best as I could, trying to clean it out first (luckily had some water with me), inspected the cuts (there was one cut I thought could be deep enough to need some stitches, but after everything cleared, it wasn’t as deep as I thought), then wrapped the cloth around my shin with the bandanna.
After that . . . I still took the picture above. That is actually the capture I got after gashing my leg.
Of course, I decided to leave right after that, to get home quickly and tend to the wound. This was last week Sunday. Today, the wound is on it’s way to healing, but it’ll take some time to fully recover. I can still walk, jog, and run on the leg but this will ultimately serve as a reminder to always be careful when I’m out taking a photo.
And not to get cocky.
