The One Shot — Story of a Passionate Photographer
It was all worth it
Ralf stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon, admiring the beautiful scene in front of him. Never before in his life had he seen such a majestic piece of art. Nature for him was almost therapeutic. It always calmed him down, no matter what was going on in life.
He noticed a trail climbing down the Canyon wall. Steep, but even more beautiful. Ralf decided, he would explore the trail. He was sure this is where he would get that one unique picture. That one picture which would go into his Memory-book.
By now the Memory-book was already half full. On every excursion Ralf took many pictures, but in every travel there was that one moment he always wanted to remember. This, he captured and stored in the big brown book that he would show his grandchildren.
Filled with excitement Ralf started down the trail. This was definitely one of the lesser travelled paths, and there were places where he had to hug the canyon to be able to stay put. He could hear the wind at work, sculpting the sandstone.
A few minutes in, the trail took a sharp turn and a beautiful sight met his eyes. Ralf knew that he had found his spot. On the beautiful backdrop of the Colorado river cutting through the Canyon, was an Eagle’s nest, perched at the highest peak in view.
This was it! He had to take the picture here!
Ralph now proceeded to setup his tripod, not taking his eyes off the beautiful scene even for a second. He would now wait on the side of the trail with his camera setup for the exact shot of the bird.
As he stepped around the tripod, his eyes still on the valley he suddenly felt the ground give way. The red sand sank and he found himself sliding rapidly down.
Thump! Sharp pain on the back of his head and then blackout.
When Ralf woke up, his eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the bright light of the examination room. He had been dragged to a Hospital by the Park Rangers, who had found him on the collapsed trail. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, the doctor said. He would be free to go home in a few hours.
His broken Camera, which the rangers had found among the rubble, was placed on the side table. He smiled as he looked at its cracked lens. He still needed the picture for his memory book, and he knew what the one thing was that he would remember about this outing.