I have a bunch of shots with an out of focus hand in them. I wish it were because I had an exotic lens like a super wide 15 mm and my knuckles were in the shot. But, no - the shots I have failed for a much simpler reason, I used my hands to hold something in front of the lens.

An odd bit of unfairness, the Nikon F series has a 100% viewfinder. I have been somewhat unhappy when I've gotten back mounted slides and all my images have been cropped. Little did I know that this is the way of the world. In fact, many cameras have a 94% viewfinder to "automatically" accommodate the slide mount cropping that will occur. This way what you see is what you get (sort of).

I never thought I would be annoyed at seeing 100% of what I'm paying for, but I guess at least in theory I can make my own cardboard cutout and remove the edge or something. In more practical terms there is probably something glass and expensive I could buy.

Now, I can only imagine that those who know me will ask why I care when I scan in the images and get the whole 100% anyway? Well, I like the nice looking white mounts and the ability to actually put these in a slide projector. Superfluous? Perhaps, but I like them.

Unfortunately, this image wouldn't have been saved by anything but my paying more attention to what was in the viewfinder.

*photo of cliffs near Jamestown, RI