Forgetting to push the record button...

Last night, while filming a friends wedding as a favour, I was caught in the moment as people danced around me and "strutted their stuff" for the camera, when suddenly, after five minutes of intense concentration on the action and subject, I realised that the display I was watching indicated stdby mode, for those of you who don't know what that means, the tape was not rolling, it was not recording. Every videographer has made that mistake, for some it was just a little more critical than for others. Granted my blunder was not on a one take, million dollar, pyrotechnics display that puts Hiroshima to shame, but for me, it was nonetheless a disaster, I had missed a moment that would never be repeated (even if it were recreated). Who would have thought such a small mistake could result in such feelings of remorse, I was devastated, maybe not because I'd missed it, but because being a professional, I felt that I was not meant to make mistakes like that. Well, lesson learnt, always make sure the tape is rolling before focusing on the subject, i.e. take your time to capture time! Time is a precious commodity, more precious than any other commodity we can attain for exactly that reason, we cannot attain it at all, we can only nurture it and remember it. Moments are valuable and whether we're pushing record buttons or shutter releases on cameras or mental record buttons in our minds, we must be careful to discern where we choose to capture those moments and when we've selected them, be absolutely sure we're absorbing every detail because those moments will never happen again... at least not in the same way. Money can be earned and posessions can be bought but time passes and we never get it back. Use it wisely, consider it's value verses temporary satisfaction and invest energy capturing those precious moments.