While covering the State A Amateur Baseball Tournament at Fossum Field recently my mind was busy trying to find exciting action photographs for the website. My mind has also been racing of late figuring out how to cover all the sporting events and activities that will preoccupy my time for the next few months as the fall season begins.

Adding to that anxiousness is trying to figuring out which features of my new camera I will want to employ at the various events. What is the best way to cover night football? How can I avoid the flickering lights in the gyms at volleyball? Should I finagle a way to get my wife to let me buy yet another lens?

All valid questions, but sometimes I think I overthink it.

Instead of worrying about every little detail ahead of time, I need to remember to use my mind and my eyes to be aware of the present while I search to find the right moment. Don’t let all the equipment thoughts overtake my talent. Just use the good judgement skills I have already achieved having spent over 45 years behind the viewfinder. 

Use the Force Luke!

The image above is a good example of that. I was walking out of Fossum Field on my way to the car when I saw cloud formations outlined against the sky at dusk paired with the security lights illuminating the new softball complex and thought how pretty it looked.

I had spent my day clicking away on my fancy camera equipment watching baseball players batting, pitching and stealing bases. Wondering all the while what can I add to make things work more efficiently and get better results? When in fact I should have been remembering the K.I.S.S. rule— keep it simple, stupid.

For you see the irony of it all is this: it doesn’t matter how much equipment you have. Or how new or fancy it is, or how many bells and whistles it may have. Sometimes you can take the best image you made all day…… with your smartphone. 

Yep, that image at the top was made on my iPhone and emailed to myself where I cropped it and toned it and put it on this column. 

Now I am not going to send my new camera back and start using my phone to cover football in the coming weeks. But if I can help it, I am going to try and learn from this lesson and concentrate on watching and photographing the game in front of me. Remembering all the while to make the best of the opportunity I have and counting my blessings.