On a trip to the coast back in 2005, I arrived at Yaquina Head at dawn and walked down the steps to the beach to photograph harbor seals in the surf. I took a quick shot of the lighthouse with the subtle colors of the northern sky but unfortunately underexposed it severely. I corrected for it in post-processing but the resulting noise mars the subtle details in the scene.

When I’m in the moment, I’ve never been that great at remembering the technical side of photography, and have made only small steps forward as the years progress. It didn’t help that I was then shooting with the Canon 10D, which doesn’t let you check the results of the image you just shot while there are images still in the buffer.

I got the Canon 20D shortly after this trip, which is properly double-buffered and allows a quick review, it’s a shame I didn’t purchase it just a little bit sooner. Nevertheless, there’s an old saying that the best camera is the one you have with you, and I’d much rather have these shots, imperfect as they are, then not have them at all.