Take Your Camera Everywhere

Visual stuff happens. Beauty happens. Drama happens. Patterns happen. Nature happens. While it would be nice (photographically, at least) if we could predict when great visual things are going to happen, the best that we can do is to be prepared all the time. As photographers, that means carrying our cameras with us wherever we go. While most of us won't haul the DSLR over shoulders every hour of the day, it's easy to carry a tiny compact digital camera in your purse or jacket and you should. Beauty, drama, patterns, natural wonders--these kinds of things just suddenly appear and how many times have you said, "I wish I had my camera!" The opportunities don't have to be earth-shaking to be worth photographing either. I photographed these oranges in a grocery store in Las Vegas just because I thought the pattern was interesting. It's not the world's most original photo, but had I seen those oranges and not had my camera I know what I would have been saying to myself!