Last week, I met this kid at my cousin’s birthday party. I say “kid” because he was 24 years old. That’s 10 years younger than me, turns out. That’s scary. When did 24 years old become younger than me? We chatted for a while about cameras and photography in general. Come to find out, I really like talking about that stuff which concludes that I actually like being a photographer. Go figure.
I told him about Chase Jarvis’ new book “The Best Camera“, a book I haven’t read (actually, I think it’s just a photo book) in which the author uses his iPhone camera to capture some amazing photos. The title of the book is an old photography teacher mantra stating that the best camera is the one you have with you. Further meaning: You don’t need a fancy camera to be a good photographer.
Whenever the youngin’s ask me what camera they should buy, I always tell them what Chase says about the best camera; although I should note, as it’s become a Chase Jarvis phrase, it’s not new. You can be an awesome photographer with your camera phone. I then have to justify why I have a fancy, expensive camera and explain that it’s basically about fronting, looking like a pro, and making myself feel better when I’m on a shoot. It’s about vanity. Oh well, and I couldn’t rightly shoot actor headshots on a camera phone and then charge what I charge. That said, I recommended the kid get one of the Canon Rebels. I love those little guys and they’re actually pretty amazing cameras; you know, if you want to step up from the camera phone.
That said, this kid told me how he’s working on a project in which he takes one photo a day and then at the end of the week, uploads the lot to Flickr. I thought,by jove, what a novel idea. Alright, so all us photographers dabble with that idea from time to time. Some of us do it, some of us don’t. Some of us start and never get anywhere. I actually tried to do the picture a day thing and only made it through a few weeks.
It’s an exercise in seeing more in your environment and dumbing down your gear, living with limits. It’s about stepping away from the main picture and using a camera without a lot of bells and whistles. I do indeed like this idea and realized that I had a lot of fun when I did it the last time. Problem was, I didn’t do anything with the photos and felt it was gratuitous to upload one photo a day of random crap. However, a weekly posting on the week’s shots might be a bit more palatable and easier for me to handle.
I managed to get three this week. The last image is a random one I took while writing this post. It’s not bad for a start. Also note, the two photos of my yard cat, Pierre.
