Photographers Blog

The most beautiful photographic moments jump out in front of you unexpectedly and then, as quickly as they appeared, vanish into thin air. Wonderful photographs exist for an instant before they’re gone forever… alluring eye candy seductively winking at you in plain sight waiting for an easy invite to go home with you, be framed, and then proudly shown off for a lifetime.

Sound easy? It is, only if you follow the most basic rule of photography… don’t ever leave home without a camera.

Any camera, big or small, size doesn’t matter!

The latest selection of amateur “happy snap” digital cameras have given new life to professional dreams for all levels of talent of aspiring photographers by providing a chance for picture success on an easier playing field. Technological wonders built by Panasonic, Canon, Sony or Nikon are tiny, simple and efficient mini-computers that are also shockproof, waterproof, and foolproof. Quiet marvels outfitted with fast, world-class optics (lower light capabilities), and built in zoom lenses. All combining to provide the user with significant photographic superiority compared to the larger, slower, mechanical “old school” film cameras needing collections of toxic chemicals and a dedicated darkroom with specialized equipment to produce printed pictures.

There are even pocket-sized cameras now available with Global Positioning Satellite receivers installed inside that map where in the world your camera took the picture.

So stash one inside your jacket, purse or backpack and then patiently wait. Otherwise, those amazing pictures will evaporate quicker than a magician’s burning flash paper as surprised eyes stare right through it with no camera to grab.

More than ever before great pictures can be found anytime, anywhere, as long as you and your “intelligent” camera are always ready as a team. No longer is a tattered passport checkered with foreign visas and exotic border stamps a guarantee to a successful photo safari. Photographs live everywhere… allow curious eyes to find them. Just look inside the ignored morning shadows on the way to work or follow the end of the tangerine rays of light at sunset for your own happy hour.

My pocket Lumix camera is always dialed onto one of the automatic “PHD” settings for quick, responsive shooting. “PHD”?… “Push Here Dummy.” That camera is so smart that I rely on it 100% to quickly calculate the right exposure combination leaving my only concentration on capturing those splashes of primary colors before they twist away as fast as reflected carnival lights dancing across the polished hood of a passing car racing towards the black night.

And because it has an amateur “look” I can freely roam while witnessing unguarded and unrehearsed moments of life without changing the social dynamics of the moment by introducing a larger “professional looking” camera to the stage.

The pictures in this story all appeared without warning and would be empty memories if I hadn’t had my camera with me.