Great Shot I Didn't Take

drd1135

Zen Snapshooter
Location
Virginia
Name
Steve
So I'm at Disney and leaving the park. Two women and a girl in front of us and I have the camera in hand. The girl was 7 or 8, disheveled blonde hair tied in a loose bun, and wearing one of those princess dresses that are common at Disney. I think it was the Elsa dress from Frozen. Tucked into the back of the dress, however, is a pinkish toy sword with the hilt prominently poking out from the back of the neckline. The quintessential shot of the evolving little princess and the back view was the money shot. I held back because of my reluctance to take street shots of kids. It was a really good one but I just couldn't pull the trigger.
 
I often think this should be a regular thread.

a couple days ago mine was a shot of ducks taking off from a thawed portion of a pond and flying to a newly frozen part. The shot I didn't take because it was cold and I left my camera at home was them landing and looking shocked that it was frozen and sliding and suddenly flapping their wings like they were trying to put on the brakes.
 
I had an AMAZING one I didn't take this summer. It was a HOT summer day. I was driving to work on a high rise bridge along Lake Michigan. Beautiful specular highlights on the tips of some gentle waves way off in the distance. I was driving to work, traffic slowed down...someone was broken down in the center lane. I saw it was a little ice cream truck.

Before I even made it there, I saw the shot in my head. But it got even better....as I passed and looked over at the little truck, there was steam and smoke pouring out from beneath the hood. Then in the driver's side I saw her. Tears streaming down her freckled cheeks and blonde pigtails on each side. She was a real beauty and truly in a sad state.... the fact that I only saw her for 1/60 of a second as I was driving just reinforced (or created the lie) of what a perfect shot it would be.

And now to top it all off, I decided to do a little post processing (Photoshopping) to this nearly perfect shot. The tears were clear and very real, but I decided to adjust the menu sign on the rear window to read ...
1 scoop - $2.50
2 scoops - $4.00
Smiles - FREE

I also considered dropping in a rainbow in the sky over Lake Michigan :D

am I the only one who sees shots they never take and considers the post processing on them?
 
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