Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. (Photo by my wife)

My wife and I were privileged to spend a few hours in Yosemite National Park a few days ago. We took our cameras. Nearly everybody else we saw had one, too. Once I heard the question that our own family has sometimes posed: "Did you get it?" What does that mean? The question assumes that it is possible to capture, digitally or chemically, a scene from nature, or human interaction. Can we really do that? If we have gotten it, what have we gotten?

These thoughts are not original, but I don’t know any particular source for them. This rather long article has some of the same thoughts, but I’ve thought them before. You probably have, too.

Bridal Veil falls is still falling. I’m not there to see it. The digital image I am posting is far from a perfect representation of the experience of being down below the waterfall. Even if I could post a motion picture, with audio, it still wouldn’t fully capture the experience. There would be no smells, for example. And I can’t capture Bridal Veil Falls. It’s still there, even at night when no one is looking. So why do I try? Why do web services like Flickr exist? (I know — nothing else is exactly like Flickr).

In part, I think, because I want to own the experience. I also want to prove to others that I do. I hope there’s nothing wrong with that, but an experience with nature, or an experience with other persons, is something to be experienced, not owned. It can only be partly communicated, no matter how skilled the photographer is. I’ll never own Bridal Veil Falls. God does.

p. s. For some reason this photo disappeared, so I re-uploaded it.

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