Sometimes we all get lucky....

I hear it all the time. Usually after I come back to the station with some "great" shots or some "amazing" video. It usually goes something like this...

"You're the best!"

"The shows look so much better when you're working."

"I wish I had two of you."

"You're really kicking a$$ out here."

I appreciate the compliments, I really do. Sometimes I just think that people go overboard with them. At my last place of employment, compliments were few and far between. It also seemed the people that really deserved them didn't get any at all, but who am I to judge?

After leaving that place and starting anew here, I've become used to hearing those statements above. That leaves me with three thoughts. Either that a) I'm really good at my job, b) People tend to overreact, or c) I'm one of the luckiest people on the face of the planet.

I was watching the PBS Documentary "The War" after work tonight and a quote from one of the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima stuck in my head. He was talking about how after the war was over, everyone back home regarded him as a hero. He said "I'm not a hero, and neither were the men fighting alongside me. We were just sent there to do a job, and we did what we were told."

Now looking back today, some people might disagree with him, and they are not wrong for doing so. I believe that, much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is self-admiration. Personally I think those that fought in the war are heroes, but I wouldn't be upset if they didn't look at themselves that way. Sometimes it's hard for someone to realize the impact they have on those around them.

Do I think I'm the greatest photographer around, by all means no. I wouldn't even put myself in the top 5 at my station. Do others think that I am in the top 5, yes. Do the pictures of raging house fires that I gather have anything to do with my skill? Not in my mind.

See to get those great pictures isn't a matter of skill, knowledge, or general "greatness" in photography. It all revolves around luck. Does the guy who chases down the purse snatcher credit his great foot speed or keen eyes to helping nab the bad guy? No, it comes down to four words, "Right place, Right Time."

I've been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time several times, but no one ever seems to remember those.

Here's to hoping I'm as lucky in other aspects of life as I have been with capturing those "great" pictures. So far, so good.