In Lieu of a Photograph
I’ve been known to chase butterflies around my yard with my camera in hand. I’ve staked-out a corner of my porch waiting for indigo buntings to show up at the bird feeder so that I could capture an image of their beauty.
As unlikely as it sounds, today I chased down a woman who was pulling two children in an oversized plastic red wagon. As I pulled into town in my black CRV, I could see her from a distance crossing the street with wagon in tow. It was Flag Day and an American flag was hanging above her. On the same day that I spotted this perfect image of small town summer life, a photo I took of the Mabry Mill framed in rhododendrons was featured on the front page of The Floyd Press. I knew what I was seeing in front of me was as worthy of print, but moving targets can’t be posed, and I missed the shot. 
Driving slowly, I followed the woman with the wagon around the block. She’d have to cross the street again, I thought. The idea of traffic yielding to a woman pulling children in a wagon seemed irresistible to me. At one point I got out of my car and tried to look casual as I waited for her to appear from around the bend. I had just come from the Hotel Floyd construction site where I and another writer met with the artist who is designing the Floyd Writer’s Room, one of the hotel guest rooms that will be featured. It was drizzling rain and I had a bright purple calf length raincoat on, so it was hard not to stand out. In fact, the designer from my earlier meeting rode by and called out from her Subaru, “Hey, nice raincoat, Colleen!”
But where was the woman with the wagon? Her walk was not as predictable a block as I anticipated. When I spotted here again, I was back in my car and passed closely by her. The children in wagon were laughing and red and yellow colors on the wagon seemed to animate an otherwise typical day. I considered stopping to ask her if I could take a picture, but not only was I too shy, I knew that if I did the result would not live up to the composition I initially witnessed. Worried that she might think I was stalking her, I headed to the Post Office to check The Museletter box.
I had forgotten about the whole affair by the time I was once again approaching the traffic light after my Post Office errand. From a distance, I saw her! She was crossing the street under another flag. The four way traffic stood at standstill as though she was parting the red sea. I was too far away. Teased once again, I missed the shot. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. ~ 6/14/07
Post Note: This is the caption the Floyd Press posted under the above photo titled “Parkway Attraction” — A popular, historic mill gives another photo opportunity with flowers and ducks out on the pond. Mabry Mill, a top tourist stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County, is still a working mill providing demonstrations of Appalachian life in days gone by.
June 18th, 2007 10:04 pm
Well, I’ve got it in my imagination and I love the one you have here! A beautiful and serene spot.
June 18th, 2007 11:00 pm
Yesterday, I was on an airplane en route to DC (to catch a connecting flight to Michigan) and across the aisle from me was a young married couple with a four-month-old baby boy. He was darling and really well-behaved during the flight. After we landed in DC and were taxiing, slowly, to the terminal, Mom bounced her baby boy on her lap and sang “The Letter” (by Joe Cocker) in a silly voice to keep him entertained. Every time she got to the line about “my baby wrote me a letter,” her son giggled in that irreproduceable four-month-old baby boy way. I had my camera with me and I’m sure they would have let me take their picture if I’d asked, but like you describe in your post above, the moment and the composition would have been lost. So this little family will remain a mental picture for me… and a mental recording, too, because a still photograph would not have captured the mother’s voice or the baby’s laughter.
June 18th, 2007 11:02 pm
Almost forgot… the Box Tops recorded “The Letter,” too. Their version is probably more well-known than Cocker’s.
June 18th, 2007 11:23 pm
Jeanne, look what I found
The Box Tops singing “The Letter,” a 1967 song that I remember well and liked a lot. And here’s Joe Cocker doing it in 1987
Love it! And love the image you passed on from your mind to mine.
Ruth, Mabry Mill is just 10 miles from my house and is the most photographed scene in Southwest Virginia. Your comment made me think to post the caption the Floyd Press had with it on the post.
June 19th, 2007 12:50 am
It’s a beautiful picture of the mill, the pond, the ducks.. And you described the one you missed very vividly! I felt I was also watching that lady with the wagon !
Congratulations on being Michele’s Site of the Day!
June 19th, 2007 2:26 am
I’m a firm believer that some shots just weren’t meant to be. Likewise for some ideas for writing that have slipped away. It makes the ones that are captured that much more precious.
Congratulations on being chosen Michele’s SOTD!
Mike
June 19th, 2007 6:41 am
Great shot of the mill. Wonderful. And congrats on the sale to the Floyd Press.
It’s hard to get those unique “feature fotos” sometimes.
June 19th, 2007 7:29 am
Hi, Colleen. I have to admit, I’m one of the “most photographers” to take pictures of the mill. It’s a beautiful spot. I found it interesting that Mabry Mill appears on a lot of state postcards… The next time we go to Virginia, I’ll wave when we pass the Mill 🙂
Oh.. btw… Michelle sent me, but I’ll be back. Love your site!
June 19th, 2007 9:15 am
Hi…Michele sent me, and I’m glad she did. I LOVE the story of chasing the woman to get the perfect photo. It’s something I would have done and I understand completely. However, the mill photo was beautiful.
June 19th, 2007 10:12 am
I’ve been to Mabry Mill many times as a child. Mom loved to go get their ground corn meal… do they still sell it there?
June 19th, 2007 10:42 am
I feel your pain of a photo op lost…happens to me sometimes, too, cause I’m waaaaaay too shy to ask someone if I can take their picture and I don’t want a posed shot, either.
Love your shot of Mabry Mill!
Oh, and Hi, Michele sent me…today!
June 19th, 2007 10:57 am
I think they still sell the ground corn meal and use it in the restaurant there, but I don’t think they actually make it there anymore. I remember when they did. Here’s a link about the mill. http://foreverlodging.com/foreverinfo.cfm?PropertyKey=74&ContentKey=2412
June 19th, 2007 10:59 am
Hello, Michele sent me.
Capturing the perfect shot is always ambitious but sometimes we miss the moment itself when we can’t get out from behind the camera.
Love the Mill photo, btw.
June 19th, 2007 11:14 am
That was a funny story – purple raincoat, stalking and all. But you’re right – maybe the photo wasn’t meant to be. Some things can’t really be captured. Michelle’s site brought me over here, by the way.
June 19th, 2007 11:39 am
This photography bug with the cheap way to make thousands of digital photos is going to make historians of our culture and societal changes, either very happy or very stressed!
June 19th, 2007 12:04 pm
Does sound like a great photo! I love noticing those moments and I carry my camera everywhere…but it takes a good few minutes to get it out and set up, so I’m not good at capturing quick moments like that! I recall last summer in downtown Asheville, driving by a guy on a Harley. Sitting on top of his gas tank was a chihuahua donned in sunglasses, a cape and his own helmet…I wanted to go back and ask for a pic…but, I was also too shy. *sigh*
Here from Michele’s!
June 19th, 2007 4:19 pm
How deeply frustrating Colleen…I would be crazed if it were me! (LOL). Maybe, with luck, you will see her again…I hope so. The picture you posted is BEAUTIFUL! Would love to see it Bigger!
June 19th, 2007 4:56 pm
Beautiful picture, Colleen. Sorry we will miss you at our August 10th Coffeehouse Reading at Edible Vibe in Rocky Mount, but we all manage to have busy schedules. Your Blog reminds me I need to take time off to enjoy the beauty around me.
June 19th, 2007 5:25 pm
You need a bumper sticker that says “I Break for Little Red Wagons”…
Michele sent me today. Congrats!
~S
June 19th, 2007 6:00 pm
You are such the reinassance woman, Colleen, with an the soul of an artiste. Just amazing, as always.
June 19th, 2007 7:46 pm
What a lovely photo. Very similar to a scene here where I work in Australia!!
Here from Michele’s today…
Bernie
June 20th, 2007 10:13 am
Ah the stabbing pain of the missed shot! And it sounds like it would have been fantastic had you captured it!!! Great post, I enjoyed it and am still grinning!
June 20th, 2007 9:21 pm
Hi Colleen: Your entry reminded me of another website I discovered recently of a photographer who writes about photos not taken. I visit his site every once in awhile, especially if I need a writing prompt, or a different take on the world. You can visit him here:
http://www.unphotographable.com/
I enjoyed reading your description of the woman, the kids and the wagon – very vivid.
Cheers, XINE