Tucson AZ Real Estate and the Lesson of the Hummingbird
Sometimes what we want isn’t what we get. Sometimes what we get is better than what we wanted.
I got a new Nikon D300 camera two weeks ago right after they came out. Since then I read a few pages of the manual find out more about the camera and go in search of test subjects. Sometimes they are clouds, sometimes, bees on flowers, yesterday morning it turned out to be hummingbirds. There were two of them flying between a bush and the bottle brush blossoms.
I’ve seen those shots of the hummingbirds in mid-flight with their wings stopped in the photo. I was shooting hand-held and didn’t figure I would get that shot, but I was trying. The only problem. The hummingbirds weren’t flying. They were sitting for long periods of time on the bush in front of the house to the right or our front door and porch. I stood there with the camera and just kept shooting away hoping to get a picture with the wings in motion. It was not meant to be I guess. They were so fast that by the time I saw them flying they were gone and I had a nice picture of a bush.
I kept snapping away but to no avail. I gave up, came inside and started looking at the images. There were so many to choose from but there was one series where they had gotten used to me standing there and this one landed closer than before.
I cropped that image and loaded it up to my flickr account. It wasn’t and I had a comment on what a beautiful image of a hummingbird and how rare it was to see on not in flight. I also submitted the image for review at Digapixblog. Here is quote from the review:
“We have all seen a hundred photographs of hummingbirds in mid flight. But it is rare to see one perched in the wild let alone a photograph at that moment. “
After writing the review I received an email from the author;
“Your Hummingbird photograph has been posted. Please make some comments on the circumstances of the shot, also how long a lens you were using, and what type of Velcro you used to get him to stay put.”
Which reminds me I have to post that information tomorrow.
I was after the photo we had all seen a hundred times, I thought that was what I wanted because I had seen it so many times. Now I realize all those images I took of the hummingbirds just sitting on the branch is the rare shot. I should of snapped a lot more, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I was looking for the frozen in flight shot. Until other people were telling me I didn’t realize.
What I got was better than what I wanted.
This past year we have helped quite a few families and individuals find great Tucson homes. We were holding an open house today and talking about all people we worked with this last year. It was interesting to note how many people started looking for something they wanted but what they bought wasn’t what they initially were looking for. It turned out they got better than what they wanted. Not a one had to “settle” everyone found something they liked better than what they originally wanted.
We read a lot of comments about how real estate agents provide no valuable service. Anyone can buy or sell a home without them. etc. etc. I agree anyone can buy or sell a home without an agent. I do not agree that we provide no valuable service. I can think of at least a dozen families this year that would not have found the home they bought on their own. They would have settled for something less or paid more for what they bought.
Barbara is very good at helping with the process of finding the best home at the best price possible. Don’t limit your options. Sometimes people miss out on wonderful homes because they limited their search criteria. We often spend hours searching in different ways and previewing homes that in the end were not in the original search but were perfect. We see it happen all the time. It is more the rule than the exception that clients find something better than what they originally set out to find.
This is the lesson of the hummingbird.
Sometimes what we want isn’t what we get. Sometimes what we get is better than what we wanted.
Technorati Tags: Nikon D300, Tucson AZ Real Estate, Tucson hummingbirds[where: 85737]
Dave Smith | Tucson Real Estate
Wow, your pictures are really outstanding, Dave!:-) Is this birdie for real?! Apparently photography makes everything and everybody photogenic nowadays… unlike HD… poor peeps on TV…;-))
concerned,
Yes, very real. I had a lot of fun with this bird. If I didn’t know better I would say it was a hamming for the camera. It just kept coming back again and again. Turning it’s head, repositioning it’s body, just like a model.
I wonder if I should have gotten a bird model release?
Ha, so birdie was posing!;-) Well, it is pretty!
You camera seems to show a lot of detail. May not work as well on humans…;-)) We’re flawed.;-)
Merry Christmas, Dave & Barbara!:-)
Happy Holidays!
Concerned,
Thank you very much, we are glad you found us this year. I have enjoyed your comments and observations very much this year. Have a great holiday. Merry Christmas.
Dave and Barbara
Hey Dave, great shot!
What’s a good SLR to buy? I’m thinking used.
Scoot,
It really depends on what camera equipment you already have and what kind of photography you want to do.
I have shot Nikon all my life. I wanted a good RE camera and landscape photography is my hobby. I don’t do much with portraits or wildlife, though they do slip in occasionally.
So the choice I made was a Nikon D300 with a 12 - 24 mm lens for wide angle shots of rooms.
I have 3 off camera flashes with cactus triggers to fire them remotely.
You can get the Nikon D40 which is less money and a Tameron lens for wide angle and come in a little over $1000. That will also get you the 18-55 mm lens in the kit.
There are some that have Canon and have always shot Canon. I’ve never even held one in my hand. I do like the results I often see online from Canon images.
Used you can pick up Canon and Nikon in various models. Anything above 6 megapixels should work for you.
I see so many people that never read the manual or a book about the camera. They set it on Auto or P and never change it. This is like buying a sports car and never taking it out of 1st gear.
The more you learn about the equipment the better it will work for you in lots of different situations.
For me it is a personal passion. I love photography, always have. I gave it up for many years right after the silver prices went way up. It wasn’t until recently I allowed myself to rediscover how much I enjoy freezing moments in time.