Mistakes

Do you ever make a mistake and think, "Great.  I really screwed that one up!" only to have things turn out better than they would have been if you had made the "right choice?"  I make mistakes all the time, especially in my photography.  Every time I'm editing a photo shoot, I think to myself, "Self, why did you set the shutter speed so darn slow?  That photo would have been amazing, but it's blurry."  or "What in tarnation were you thinking?  You are stopped down way too far and that photo is completely blown out and unusable!"  (That last one happened a lot.  In fact, I cried when I was editing a  photo shoot just now because so many of the photos were so overexposed that they were ruined.  Seriously.  Tears.

Until I saw this photo.

Mistakes don't always turn out to be mistakes.  This photo literally took my breath away.  The way the sun lights up her face and makes a halo around her hair.  The way her eyes pierce through the light.  The soft smile.  To me, this photo represents innocence.  Filled with light and life, it draws me in and makes me want to know more about this beautiful little girl.  This photo is all wrong - totally overexposed and blown out, but everything that makes it wrong is also what makes it beautiful.