The very first rule if you are a shutter-bug is: don't leave home without your camera (dummy)! Even if you are just running errands or going for a quick walk. I have learned this sad lesson the hard way on a number of occasions (you'd think I'd learn?) - the latest being a lost opportunity to get great close-ups of two Canadian geese that were hanging around the pond close by my house. Grrrrh! A faithful reader send me a link yesterday which demonstrates this point perfectly.

This photo taken with a cell phone by Stefanie Gordon aboard a passenger flight
from New York to Palm Beach, Fla. shows the space shuttle Endeavor as it
streaks toward orbit shortly after liftoff Monday May 16, 2011.