I'm a fan of photography.  Sort of.  I don't spend a lot of time or money on it, but I own a camera and I enjoy taking pictures with it.  But there are some instances where a picture falls short of capturing a moment, event, object, or view.  And actually, I'm noticing more and more of these instances as I take more and more pictures. 

Traveling anywhere with views of "big things" usually presents a problem.  It's really difficult to capture the hugeness of something like Mount Rainier with a tiny little electronic box that stores color information in the form of pixels.  I would imagine it would be difficult no matter what type or size camera was used.  There's just too much information.  There are too many colors, too many details, too many pieces.  I always end up feeling disappointed with a tiny little picture of a big huge thing. 

It's similar with wildlife shots.  My cats do the funniest, most uncatlike things imaginable.  But as soon as I get my camera, they're doing something else.  If I try to get them to do it again, they don't understand what I'm trying to do and they bite me.  "Real" wildlife is also hard to film sometimes because animals and bugs are often unpredictable and skittish.  Moving objects are really hard to capture on film, and jumpy squirrels and speedy deer are no exception. 

Nighttime photography is notoriously difficult and unsuccessful.  Actually, low-light conditions are pretty similar to no-light conditions.  A flash would normally light up a dark room, but it won't do anything for a picture of a full moon or a nighttime landscape.  One of the most amazing experiences of my life was witnessing the Elkmont fireflies in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where tens of thousands of lightning bugs blinked in unison.  I tried taking a few pictures but couldn't get anything to show up because it was pitch black except for those thousands of little blinking things. 

This brings up another interesting point:  Some experiences are hard to capture on film because much of the experience takes place outside the visual realm.  Pictures of the ocean don't capture the smell of salt water.  Pictures of a street in Chicago don't capture the force of the wind.  Pictures of New York don't sound like New York.  With experiences like these, I wish there was a way I could capture and package everything that's communicating with my senses.  It would be cool to go back and experience certain things all over again, from the sites and sounds to the smells and "feels". #entertainment