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Why You Should Always Take Your Camera With You
Storage Space by Andrew Ferguson
We’ve all heard this a dozen times - “Take you camera with you wherever you go.” And yet no matter how many times we hear it, we all still leave our cameras at home all the time. I’m not talking about situations where you specifically don’t want it (dinner with your wife, funerals, rock concerts) but situations where you could take it with you, but you forget or get lazy.
I’m trying to drive this message into my head as much as yours. I’ve missed a couple good photos lately and I’m determined not to let it happen again.
Take your camera with you on a whim. Better yet, switch around what equipment you take, too! Bringing some of your less-frequently used camera equipment means that you’ll either have more photographic possibilities or you get to do crazy stunts to adapt in a weird situation. Either way, you’re going to get some good photos.
A perfect example of having more possibilities happened to me a couple weeks ago. I left my house at about 1am on Canada Day to grab a pita and decided at the last minute to take my camera. I decided to leave my faithful 50mm f/1.8 walkabout on, since I’d be going through the (comparatively) bright club district. Realizing that I hadn’t used my kit lens in months, I grabbed that and my tripod on my way out the door.
I know, pretty ridiculous considering I was only walking five blocks to get some food. But I’m really glad I took all of that equipment. I wound up spending two hours looking for interesting subjects on Granville St and snapped a few architecture shots on the way home.
The Granville street partiers I could have gotten with my 50mm, there’s no question. I didn’t need to take extra equipment for that. But the wide-angle shots of the Wall Centre and a church, which turned out far better, I would never have gotten.
Remember, photo opportunities are everywhere. Literally. The photo at the top of this post was something I walked past on my way work until one morning when I brought my camera with me. Suddenly, it became the subject for a photo that I’m reasonably proud of.
How often do you take your camera with you? Do you think it’s worth it?
Edit: Made some minor grammatical changes and reshuffled title. I normally don’t like doing this, but these errors were getting on my nerves. Apparently I was tired when I wrote this :P
Brian Larter Said,
July 17, 2007 @ 7:59 pm
Or you can not take your camera and then write about those photos you never took?
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EjZ8
I take my camera everywhere…and the rare times I do forget it I always find something I wish I took a photo of.
damon Said,
July 17, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
I don’t take it nearly enough. My family knows me as the guy who can take 700 photos at a family wedding, but I really do need to get into the habit of taking it to the fish ‘n’ chip shop!
I just got a 50mm f/1.8 II last weekend and I’m very much looking forward to giving it a good thrashing in the coming weeks.
damon Said,
July 17, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
as an aside. Love the bw conversion on the scooter pic, Andrew. can you share your secrets?
Brian Auer Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 12:25 am
I’m constantly wishing I had my camera on me, yet I never make the extra effort to take it along next time. Maybe I should start using my cell phone camera… nah, I can’t stand the crappy quality.
Christopher Scholl Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 10:33 am
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve written about this topic myself, but it’s just so easy to get lazy and leave it at home sometimes. And, of course, I blast myself later for it. Nice post, Andrew.
duncan Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 11:02 am
I never wish I had my camera with be because it has been in a pocket at my side constantly for over three years now. It comes everywhere with me and I can’t imagine life without it. It has a quick start-up time so it’s all down to the quick draw. I have rarely, if ever, missed an opportunity to take a shot.
Sometimes, if it’s people, I don’t want to be invasive so I’ll hold back.
Andrew Ferguson Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 11:34 am
@Brian Larter: That first link you posted really strongly reminds me of Unphotographable, one of my favourite blogs.
@damon: I’m in the same boat as you, I don’t take it around enough. You’ll love the 50mm though. It’s a fantastic walkabout lens, the only disadvantage is that with the conversion factor on most DSLRs, it’s 80mm and that’s a little narrow for indoors.
And I will share my conversion process on this shot, look for a post coming up in the next week or so. I’ve never done a breakdown before, so it’ll be fun!
Andrew Ferguson Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 11:38 am
@Brian Auer: I’ve started using my phone camera (2mp - Samsung m610) but only as documentation, not for artistic photos. If the subject I wish I had my DSLR to shoot is static, I’ll phonecam it and text message my email with a location.
Now I know where to go back to with my real camera!
@Christopher: Yeah, it’s an apathy thing I think. I always think about it, but I find an excuse not to carry it. It doesn’t help that I hate carrying unnecessary things; you’ll never see me wearing a backpack.
Thanks for the compliment! Honestly, I felt bad posting this because it’s a bit of a throwaway post but I seem to have struck a minor chord with readers so I’m glad I did.
Andrew Ferguson Said,
July 18, 2007 @ 11:41 am
@Duncan: I’ve noticed that I’ve never seen you in a situation where you don’t have it on you. I’m jealous!
To be fair though, your camera is about 1/4 the size of mine. I want to eventually get a small compact like that for when i don’t want to carry my DSLR.
Susheel Said,
July 20, 2007 @ 3:11 am
Andrew…
I just recently found the need to carry a camera always. I’ve been thinking of getting a compact digital cam for that… better than a camera phone… and still quite pocketable…
In fact its the subject of my latest post.
Cheers!
Alex Ramon Said,
July 22, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
I couldn’t agree more… I don’t like to think about how many great shots I’ve missed because I didn’t bring the camera. It also helps to have it accessible. Bringing the camera but leaving it buried in your backpack is also not a great way to go… so many times I’ve seen a great candid shot but lost it while I was getting the camera out of my bag. Shame. Now I try to carry it on my person as much as is physically possible (much to the dismay of my loving girlfriend).
Andrew Ferguson Said,
July 23, 2007 @ 9:47 am
@Susheel: Carrying a compact camera when your SLR might be too bulky or easily damaged is a great idea. Let me know what model you eventually settle on, I’m considering doing the same thing :)
Good post, btw.
@Alex: It’s kind of depressing totaling up how many shots we miss, isn’t it? I try to avoid it too :P
I’ve sidestepped the backpack problem completely by never carrying a backpack! I’m not sure if I mentioned it earlier in the comments, but I hate carrying stuff. It feels restrictive and unnecessary. So anywhere I can avoid it, with the exception of camera equipment, I don’t carry anything that doesn’t fit in my pockets.
Single-Serving Photo » Blog Archive » Being There… With a Camera Said,
July 24, 2007 @ 4:44 am
[…] following evening, I took some advice to heart, took the battery grip off of my old Canon 10D, strapped on my 50mm f/1.4 (my smallest […]
dgarcia Said,
August 2, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
I’ve been trying to make it a point of always having at least one camera on me - whether it’s my 5d and some random lens, or one of my film cameras. I’ve discovered i look at the world very differently based on which camera/lens I have on me, so I really like mixing it all up
Larry Said,
August 19, 2007 @ 11:08 am
I carry at least my DSLR and one lens with me everywhere I go even if it’s to the grocery store or to get gas for my car. I carry more stuff than I need but every now and then I’m glad I brought it with me. I just sling my backpack over my shoulder and go. It’s like anything. You can do a little or you can do a lot. I will never again have to utter the words, “I wish I had my camera with me”.