Guest post from Thomas Mathie. Originally posted at the Nanolog.

I’m not the most patient person in the world… and it is doubtful that I will ever make it in the “Wildlife” genre of photography. I waited all afternoon to take a pic of one of the blue tits who habitually come back to our nesting box. I eventually gave up. I took the camera inside… but figured I should keep at it… and put it up in our dining room.

My persistance paid off…

I used to think photography revolved around three things:

1. The photographer and his/her “eye”.
2. The camera.
3. The opportunity.

… but I think there is another factor… a fourth factor… and that is time. I always assumed that the opportunity was that instant… that moment in time… that split-second, binary, on/off, go/don’t go moment.

But an opportunity isn’t always immediate. Sometimes the opportunity needs time… it requires a period of waiting… a period of patience.

I struggle with waiting… and yet I have a romantic notion of “real time”. Its part of the duality of me.

Travelling by train… drinking coffee from grounds… shooting with 35mm film… baking rock buns… and vinyl records have an attraction to me for some silly reason.

They make me wait.

I can’t speed in a train. Coffee from granules tastes like dishwater. Pictures take their time to develop. Rock buns need to rise. You can’t skip tracks on a record without some hassle.

They make me wait… for a reason.

They make me wait… because sometimes its good to wait. Sometimes good things take time… and are worth the wait.

I think we all need to learn to wait… by finding the things worth waiting for.

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