Always Carry a Camera

© 2009 Simon Hucko - click to view larger

"The best camera is the one you have with you." Not sure who said that originally, but it's certainly one of the truisms of photography. When the plane landed in the Hudson river back in January, the iconic image that spread all over the internet and news media was captured with an iPhone by a passenger on one of the ferries. The quality isn't great, and it was shot through a dirty window, but it told the story perfectly from a unique perspective. There were thousands of other images from that event, but this one was the first and most personal to make it out.

My story is completely lame by comparison, but it reminded me of why I always make sure I have a camera with me. I was driving home last night through the valley and there was a weird inversion thing going on causing some misty clouds to be hanging onto the hilltops despite the blue sky above. In the year that I've been making this commute I've never seen anything like it. I found a suitable vantage point, grabbed my camera, and fired off a few frames. My favorite is posted above (click on the photo to see it larger). It's not newsworthy, and it may not even be a great photo, but it captured a unique event and I'm glad I had a camera with me. In fact, my camera bag usually goes most places with me (much to my wife's dismay). If I don't want to bring "the big camera" I might still grab my point n shoot and slip it into a pocket. If nothing else, I always have my camera phone with me.

Not only do I take pictures of interesting things that happen, but I use my cameras like a notepad, taking pictures of things I'll want to remember later - my parking space, a good bottle of wine, gift ideas, books, documents, notes on a whiteboard, restaurants I want to try, etc.

What about you - do you carry a camera with you? Do you use it for anything aside from taking pretty pictures? Have you ever wished you had one when you didn't? Comment and let me know your thoughts

~S

[title of blog] on flickr