Put on the brakes

Sometimes if you want to get the picture you have to stop and make the effort. This frequently means turning around and going back when I am traveling.  On a major highway or limited access road this might require driving a bit to make the turn and then figuring out how to get back to where I saw the image that I wanted to make.  Interstate highways are a problem and while traveling specifically to shoot photos, I try to find a way to avoid them.  Exits may be five or more miles apart.  When an exit is available, it may or may not have a service road running parallel.  Occasionally the service road is there but is on the wrong side of the highway.  With fast moving action, such as the photo of the horses on the open range above, it was then or never as far as a photo opportunity was concerned.  I was on a limited access road in Eastern Montana when I spotted the animals.  I was also going 70 mph.  There was not even enough shoulder to allow the vehicle to get safely off the road.  Fortunately, there were no cars behind me.  I had the camera on the seat next to me with a 400 mm lens attached. I hit the auto down button on the car window before reaching a complete stop, had the camera up and aimed at the subject. I made four or five quick exposures and was on my way.  By then the horses had stopped moving and the image I was after was essentially gone.  This is not a great way to make photos but in this case it was take the shot quickly or get nothing at all.

Incidentally, in case I haven't mentioned it before, my camera is always ready for any situation.  The camera is always on.  It goes into sleep mode after sixty seconds and is using negligible battery power—even being left on for days at a time.  The camera is in aperture priority mode with an appropriate ISO setting to allow for a high shutter speed (usually ISO 400).  With a long or telephoto lens, I almost always shoot near the maximum aperture.  All that remains is to frame, let the autofocus do its thing and fire away.