Golf and Photography

While I was in college at Harding University, I decided it was time for me to cultivate a hobby. Knowing that I would be going to dental school in a few years, I decided to pick up the game of golf because, as everyone knows, doctors and golf go hand in hand. I received a set of clubs for Christmas my sophomore year and could not wait to try them out when the weather improved. Quickly I realized that I was not very good at golf.

As spring rolled around that year I began to go to the driving range and the golf course weekly. Playing more golf did not make me any better. The more I played I realized that every once in a while I would hit a Jack Nicholas type shot (Tiger Woods and John Daly had not come along yet). It was those once a round shots that kept me coming back to golf. Every time I played I would long for one of those great shots. If I were in the sand, if I were in the woods, or if I had to go over water, I would imagine hitting that great shot. Sometimes I would.

Now, I know you are wondering how this fits into a photography column. For me, golf and photography are similar in this way. Every time I go out on a photography expedition I long for that perfect shot. Sometimes I may go out and shoot pictures all day and not get a great shot. Then one day I get it. The shot. The Ansel Adams, Alfred Stiegitz or George Tice style picture. You know the one, the one that after it is developed or put on the computer you sit and stare at it and think, “Wow, that is a great picture!” It is after I have taken one of those pictures that I develop a fire in my belly to go out and try to masterfully compose another one that is even better than the last. If you are a photographer, I hope that you have taken at least one of those shots. If you have not, go out and keep shooting until you do.


What was your perfect shot?



By the way since no one submitted a photo for the theme joy we will postpone that until someone sends me a photo for that theme. My email is drwatson@grnco.net