A happy accident? I've largely stopped using a remote cable release when my cameras are on tripods, favoring the built-in 2-second shutter delay instead. However, more often than not, I forget to reset the shutter mode when I remove the camera from the tripod and go walkabout.

On this particular afternoon, I was walking along the side of the pond that can be found around milepost 8 of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River access road. I came across a nice side-lit woodland scene with reflections in a completely still pond.

Lifting the camera, I framed up the shot, pressed the shutter, and lowered the camera.....click! Instead of the intended image, I captured a (un)intentional camera movement image of the grasses on the bank below me. I almost deleted it then and there (perhaps some would say I should have), but...something about the movement and soft tones really caught my attention, and I kept it.

It's become one of my favorite images from 2023, easily relegating the original scene I meant to capture.