We had a lovely boat ride along the Tortuguero canals and rivers to our next hotel. We had pared our luggage way down — the rest safely stowed in our bus’ belly under the watchful eye of Paulo — as there was limited spare room on the boat. I packed in a glamorous, plastic bag from the supermercado (supermarket).

The day was gorgeous, and we arrived at the dock in time to be first in line for our boat. We were very lucky, as passengers from another group were delayed, and we had the boat to ourselves. Pity! The captain was terrific and made some detours that he usually didn’t make.

He slowed down for flora and fauna, turning the boat so passengers on either side would have a chance for an unobstructed view. Cameras clicked away, and Arnie and I gave hints and help where needed. Occasionally, we got to do some photographs of our own. When we arrived at the lovely Evergreen Lodge at the river’s edge, each of us thanked and tipped the captain. It was well worth it.

After checking in, all prearranged so all we had to do was collect our keys, we headed for a tasty buffet lunch. We had been given a large gazebo for our imaging, but the manager asked if we might like to be down by the river where there was a nice breeze.

It sounded great to everyone, and in spite of some screen glare from the river, it was lovely to sit and enjoy the view while editing images and preparing them for the critiques that would happen after a break.

With some noise interruptions of boats going by and others coming in to drop off arriving guests, we had to wait at times so we could hear one another, but the breeze was lovely, and libation in hand, everyone looked at one another’s selects for the day and made thoughtful comments.

Dinner was followed by a return to the river for some post-digestive revelry that left many of us with cheeks hurting from laughing so much, and everyone went off to bed tired, but content.

But what do I have to show for the day? Nothing. Nada!

I did it. I blew it! It’s happened to many of us. It has happened to Arnie. This was my first … and I hope last.

We were tired. I put my card in the card reader, and somewhere along the line, I was distracted. Maybe Arnie asked me a question. Perhaps we needed to go to dinner. Who knows what it was, but before we left the next morning, I carefully took the card out of the reader and formatted it in my camera. I have no one to blame but myself.

Yup, you know what that means. My favorite shot of a local man, one foot up on the raised walkway, ice-cream in hand, looking down the river. Phttt! Gone. The man next door to him, smoking a cigarette, similar stance on his front steps. Poofff! Gone. And the water buffalo, enjoying the shallows beside the river? Mmm-hmmm. Lost. And do I dare mention the humongous crocodile, jaws wide open, waiting patiently for a wading bird nearby to get too close (he/she never did, at least whilst we were there), also lost to the wonders of formatting. Arghhh!

I will carry the memory of those images forever, so in a sense, they are not lost, but I will never see them on the screen, nor can I share them with you or others. Instead, I will savor the memory of the wind in my hair as we cruised down the river to the Caribbean sea, the birds clustered here and there, finding things along the river bank to eat, and the feeling of camaraderie with our participants.

In the future, I hope that I will never, never, ever format my card without making sure I have downloaded them first, regardless of how tired I am. I have plenty of cards, so it isn’t really an issue. Cards are cheap these days, and the large capacities almost guarantee not filling one of Arnie’s or mine up in a day while we’re running a workshop. And Lightroom will not download suspected duplicates if you have that box checked.

I hope it has not happened to you, but if it has, you know how frustrating it is. And if you haven’t, please take this day as your warning to be careful.

By the way, for those who don’t know, formatting one’s card is an excellent idea (once you know you have your images and they are backed up). It marries the card to the camera, and it cleans the slate, so to speak. Simply erasing the images on the card is NOT the same thing. Just as some of us defrag our computers, formatting makes the card behave better.

One “trick” that Arnie and I use to distinguish between used memory cards and fresh ones in our little thinkTANK Pixel Pocket Rockets is to face unused cards right side up and right side out. For cards that are full, we put them into our little packs backwards and upside down. When one is in a hurry, and one usually is when one card is full, it’s an easy visual to know which card to grab next.

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