DO YOU TAKE THAT DARN CAMERA WITH YOU EVERYWHERE??

" Do you take that camera everywhere?"I hear that a lot and I am guessing you also hear it. At one time, when I was new to photography, I was actually self conscience about it, didn't want my relatives and friends thinking ,"Oh oh here come weird uncle Jim with his camera". As time went on I became less worried about what people might think and do carry it everywhere, well almost everywhere. I try to leave it home when going  into stores and doctor visits and definitely funerals. But I'm a photographer that is what I do, not just professionally, that is what I do everyday. I think about it, read about it, study it and love it. Ok maybe I'm a little too passionate about it and that's ok for others to think but I don't. I gave up worrying about it years ago.  Think of the moments in history that were captured by someone with a camera, not just newspaper photographer but just regular people with a camera. Zapruder taking movies of President Kennedy's motorcade caught the assassination  on tape and the many 911 images taken by just someone with a camera.  So keep taking your camera with you!! You may not capture an image of historical importance but there are other reasons to do so. To feed your creative soul is always a great reason. Today Phyllis and I took our daily walk down our street, about a mile and a half each way and in that time I photographed a Black Vulture, a Turkey Vulture and a few Sand Hill Cranes. Now I am not saying any of these images are earth shattering but I enjoy seeing them and even more so I enjoyed taking them. 

So I'll continue to take my camera with me and photograph scenes that pull on my creative cape and I really wont care what others think. I hope all you new and not so new photographers will do the same.