The photograph I regret not taking

Not sure where this belongs if it belongs anywhere at all really. But have any of you ever had a chance to take a photo and not just say I wish I had taken that shot, but really regret not taking it?
I was taking photo's of my oldest sons wrestling team a week ago this past Saturday. Sometimes I like to swing the camera away from the mats and get a few pictures of the parents watching their kids wrestle. For anyone that's ever done this you'll know those can be just as good a shot as any taken of the kids.
Well, there are these twin boys (sophomores) in their 1st year of wrestling, and are fast learners in the fact that one is already ranked in the state. I had a moment when I was going to take a picture of their dad during one of the matches and thought to myself I'll just take a more formal one the following week when I can get all the parents together with their kids.
Unfortunately the dad was killed in an accident this past friday.
From the brief time I talked with him this past weekend I knew he was very proud of his boys and what they had accomplished in such a short amount of time. I wish I had taken that picture to give to the family. It will be the one I remember I should have taken.

It is funny how these things work out. I too have regretted taking important shots that in retrospect would have significance for me or someone else. On the other hand sometimes luck works the other direction. A couple of years ago I photographed my niece's indoor soccer team. I gave the coach a CD of photos. My sister called me a few weeks later to let me know that a grandmother of one of the opposing team members had died. Apparently, there was a picture on the CD where that player was in good focus with her mother and grandmother watching close by in the stands. It was the only current picture they had with the 3 generations together. It meant a lot to the family.

I have two. I came upon an accident once and even had the camera in my hand. Without going into details, the shot would have been a classic. I didn't do it. A couple of weeks ago I visited a friend in Mayo hospital and sitting on a bench in front of the hospital was a homeless man with a fantastic face. I stopped and we stared at each other and I walked on. My camera was in the car. Would have made a great juxtaposition between the wealthy and the poor.

Hands down I will say more pictures of my dad. I lost him in 2008, and I only have one photo that is relatively current. I wanted to ask him several times to pose for me, as I was just getting into off camera lighting at the time. I didn't because he really wasn't one to have his photo taken. I wish I had pushed the issue and got some good shots.

It happened again to me earlier between Christmas and New Years. My wife, myself and the kids travel over to my brother in laws for Christmas Eve on a Friday evening this past year. Well as everyone is coming and going they have to pass by this huge wall clock adorned with lights and garland for Christmas of course. As they do I try to get a photo for the hosts so they can have something to look back on later. Of course I always make sure to include them in several of the pics as well.
This past year the hostess fell down a flight of stairs and being almost 60 spent most of 2010 in the hospital. She nearly passed away several times during that stretch. Well Jan made it home several weeks before the holidays and seemed to be getting better heading into Christmas. Sure enough every time I was going to grab a shot of Bob and Jan either she was sitting down to rest for a few minutes and Bob was off in the garage visiting some of the other relatives. Well I didn't get a shot of them this year which is something I pretty much make it a tradition to do and the following Monday I received a call informing me of Jan's passing.
After these two incidents I won't think twice about waiting to get a perfect photo all the time, sometimes any photo will do.