All this time living in Arizona, I have never seen Javelina up close, until now. I was leaving a client’s home Thursday night and it was around 7:45 pm. I was accelerating up a small hill when I had to hit the hooks as they were just congregating in the middle of the road! They scurried up the side of the road and continued their little meeting and I just had to stop the car and marvel at them. It was really hard to photograph what I was seeing with just my iPhone. It didn’t help that I was kinda of scared that they might charge me or that a car could come up behind me at any time. Instinct told me I should not get out of the car, but I admit I was very tempted! I decided they were a safe enough distance away from my car, so I took a deep breath, picked up my iPhone with one hand while rolling down my electric window and keeping my finger on that window button, my left foot on the clutch, right on the break, paused the podcast I was playing, brought up the camera, enabled the flash while trying to reach up with my thumb to tap the screen in an attempt at focusing on the peccary then snapped 2 photos. The super bright flash from my LED flash startled them and they began scurrying away. The photos I captured were pitch black and I was disappointed that I couldn’t capture the moment. I rolled up my window, put the phone back in my dash, engaged in first gear and slowly drove off in amazement of having witnessed these nocturnal animals. I was glad I got to see them with my own eyes.
While organizing my photos for this evening, I decided instead of discarding these back blobs that I’d try and edit them in iPhoto. It turns out I was able to get something out of one of them and as you can see here, you can almost make out the shapes of the Javelina. You can make out 3 or 4 of them in the shadows.
This is what I absolutely love about smartphone photography: the thrill of the moment. Your heart beats in your chest and you feel alive in the moment.
So many times I feel guilty because I am always snapping photos of every little thing. “Melissa, how can you be present in the moment when you’re always behind the camera?” Well, maybe everyone’s way of being present is just not the same. I felt very much alive trying to capture this moment. Not only was I present then, but I can recall that moment now any time I like and feel a sense of pride. Is this not being present in the moment?
