How often do you photograph?

[Doug Nelson]

My Nikon D7000 just arrived today. I still can't use it, the memory cards shipped separately. Plus it's 19F degrees out. But this camera has for the first time in years got me interested in taking pictures again (thanks again, CJ).

But this has me wondering: how often do you go out photographing?

Do you carry your camera with you at all times, or do you go back and get it if you see something interesting? Or do you make a date and head out hoping to find something?

[4personnen]

Hi! To me photographing is a matter of mood...If I have money issues or worried about my family or my employment, I don't want to go outside, I don't bother taking my small Lumix in my handbag. But when I feel enlightened ( ) or simply fulfilled or happy, I would take a wooden 8*10 in my handbag and take pictures of the north pole in my swimsuit. I must admit at the moment I barely shoot anything. It's Christmas time, and always been bad times for me

[Algarve Images]

Nowadays i always carry my D3 in the boot of the car after cursing so many times that i wished i had it with me and consequently missing many opportunities :-))
Congrats on the D7000, it's a great bit of kit and i guess we are all looking forward to seeing some of your new images up here soon :-)

[Nasturtium]

Thank goodness you didn't post this as a poll bcs I would have had no idea how to answer.

I shoot-
when I have an idea and/or when someone has just given me flowers

if there's light (I check the weather and 'plan' a shoot if it appears there might be sun)

Sometimes I need to get out and away so I just grab a camera and my ipod and walk around the local footpaths

I think my best pictures are of when I decided to just follow the light or when I am plagued by my muses

HTH - Nancy

I agree with Algarve Images ~ can't wait to see you put your new glass through it's paces :-)

[CJ Swartz]

I've been shooting more often this couple of years -- I joined some Meetup photography groups so that I would hear about more events / locations to take my camera to shoot; I took an online class at the PPSOP to practice my skills, which required me to submit images each week; I bought some lighting equipment which inspired me to make some images indoors with flash/umbrella setup. I know people who take a camera with them everywhere, but I usually take it only when I'm planning on using it. I went years without shooting when I was busy working, but always considered photography to be my hobby; I like it better when I'm actually shooting it at least every week, if not every day.

[Frank Lopes]

Let's see, I take my camera(s) with me:

• Every time I travel on vacation, for work etc
• Every time I go somewhere that I have never been regardless of being close by or far way
• Every time my wife and I go out on a Sunday to picnic
• Every time I go to a car show or rally

To and from work, I never carry the camera(s)

Originally Posted by Doug Nelson

...how often do you go out photographing?

[RooB]

Originally Posted by Doug Nelson

My Nikon D7000 just arrived today. I still can't use it, the memory cards shipped separately. Plus it's 19F degrees out. But this camera has for the first time in years got me interested in taking pictures again (thanks again, CJ).

But this has me wondering: how often do you go out photographing?

Do you carry your camera with you at all times, or do you go back and get it if you see something interesting? Or do you make a date and head out hoping to find something?

I don't carry mine with me all the time-- I keep it safely packed when I'm not at a shoot. It's not very often I'll go out for random shooting.

I was thinking of getting one of those new pocket SLRs for keeping on me all the time.

[Veralisa]

Congrats Doug!!! I was just reading about the D7000 yesterday, would you believe it? True.
Lucky man.

I shoot mostly, every day. Seriously. Usually nothing special or important, but yes, every day. Carry one with me even walking the dog. I'd feel lost without it.

[Kraellin]

doug,

good to see you getting back into the saddle.

i carry my camera with me always. i wear the thing on my belt in a pouch, in fact. since i'm outdoors working fairly often this works out well.

however, i missed a golden shot today. i was running a tractor and cutting firewood and looked upwards as something caught my eye. as i looked i saw the very distinct features of a bald eagle soaring on the thermals, gaining height and he wasnt very far away or very high yet. by the time i was no longer totally awestruck captivated enough to think 'take a picture!' i had already scared him with the noise of the tractor and he was moving higher and further away and so i lost the shot. mind you, this took almost no time. had the camera been in the house it would have been even worse and longer. having one's camera to hand can make all the difference in the world, unless of course you forget to think that one important thought, 'take the picture!'

with expensive equipment it gets harder. carrying thousands of dollars of equipment around in a bag or case becomes a bit of a problem, especially at those times one gets tempted to leave it in the car, which is the worst thing one can do with camera equipment, short of just giving it away. so, with compact cameras getting better and better and even phone cameras getting a lot better, one option is to always carry a decent compact or phone type for that spur of the moment shot and then plan full photographic trips with the heavy gear.

and as to how often, when i get up in the morning and look outside, even before morning coffee sometimes, i'll step outside with my camera and take a shot of something, anything and sometimes the same thing occurs just before sunset. one of my favorite things to do when i go to town is to go to some place like Lowes or Home Depot and visit their garden department, which often has an outside flower display. i can spend an hour or more just taking pictures of all their flowering plants. who needs woods and gardens?

other times i'll just pull out my camera while sitting at home and start taking practice shots of anything from my blue jeaned knee to the fire in the fireplace or whatever is on tv. lol. i also keep the camera manual handy for testing and learning purposes. each camera is different and just when you think you know how to do something because you learned it on another camera, you find you dont have a clue how to do it on the one you now have in your hands. so, practice and study are important and with digital who cares if you take 1000 practice shots and delete the whole batch. heck, my memory card is 16 gigs on my favorite camera and it tickles the heck out of me that the little lcd display tells me i've still got 3, 223 pictures left that i can take! hehe, i remember the days of 24 and 36 shots per roll of film and the endless hassles that caused, so having over 3000 left to take just brings a smile to my face every time!

[Weise Studios]

Normally I carry my camera everywhere I go unless I really don't want to lug it around with me. (Haha it's not really that heavy unless I put the flash on it; but still).

However I normally shoot several times through the week. If I don't have my camera with me I usually find that I lost out on an opportunity to shoot. That being said I'm trying to carry it with me literally everywhere I go but it proves to be troublesome at times as well... Especially for the fact I live in the city and I don't like carrying it around with me at night.

Ordinarily I take it with me on Wens and Thurs, at least this semester, considering I go to school those days and especially on the field trips for my Bay Area Architecture class.

So I guess to answer you fully, I NORMALLY have it with me and I NORMALLY shoot quite often, but I have slacked off in the past and lost awesome images because of it.

[skydog]

I carry a camera with me always...you just never know when an inspiring moment will appear.

[DannyRaphael]

Camera, tripod and gearbag is in the car, so they are seldom far away if needed. Shooting frequency (lately) has been bursts of consecutive days, then a day or so with no shots, then back to numerous photo opportunities. Shoot mostly at our church (various events), ad hoc outdoor scenics, occasionally inside our home of family activities. Now and then take dedicated 'photo trips' to shoot something in particular.

Meter recently rolled over 35K shots in Nikon D300... and still clicking away.

[franko60]

Any and every day someone pays me to shoot Otherwise I have better things to do

[lurch]

Not often enough . . .

[4personnen]

Any and every day someone pays me to shoot Otherwise I have better things to do

I don't need someone to pay me to shoot, or I'll never shoot enough. When I'm not shooting (and in a good mood) every other thing that I do seems to be a waste of time. I don't have better things to do, except Photoshopping, of course.

[plugsnpixels]

Congrats Doug, there's nothing like a serious camera to get one motivated again. Hope it's the kind of gear you don't mind keeping on hand wherever you go!

There's nothing worse for a photographer than to see something gorgeous/interesting and not be able to shoot it because there is no camera handy. Or perhaps a camera is on hand but you're driving on the highway/freeway and can't do anything about it, which is even more frustrating. This happens to be often as I drive here in the LA area. For example, the mountains and sky are fantastic just after sunset, with lights in the foreground and that neon lipstick gradient above. Of course I mainly see this during my commute... Or the sky has some especially interesting cloud patterns, but by the time I get to work and park, the scene is totally different.

Now, if you're going to carry a camera with you on family outings and such, be sure not to annoy your significant other by constantly taking pictures of interesting textures and trees and clouds and stuff. Guess how I know this-?

[Nasturtium]

Originally Posted by plugsnpixels

Now, if you're going to carry a camera with you on family outings and such, be sure not to annoy your significant other by constantly taking pictures of interesting textures and trees and clouds and stuff. Guess how I know this-?

Probably the same way I know it. ROFL

[rogier]

Just as I wear every day clothes, I always take a camera, every day
That is my daily food blog
http://roys-fotoblog.skynetblogs.be/

[pellepiano]

I mostly do planned shoots. I mainly shoot backgrounds for my model sessions where I replace the backgrounds.

[andrewrodney]

As my dear friend and mentor Jay Maisel says, always have a camera with you, it makes it easier to take pictures.

I never travel without mine.

[fraiseap]

Most of my shoots are pre arranged studio work. I will occasionally go somewhere specific with the intention of getting a particular type of shot. I always take my camera on vacation but it spends a lot of time locked in the hotel safe.

Of course, I do occasionally see something that makes me regret leaving my camera behind but I ain't going to lug a camera and tripod everywhere just in case.

[doyt]

I carry my little point and shoot in a belt holster almost all the time. I try to take at least one shot a day. A lot of them are drive by shoots as I drive around town so most of them are discarded. But now and then I'll get a few that I can salvage thru post processing. Thats where I get the most enjoyment....the post processing.

[renata]

Making myself post instead of standing back... I read too much! I want to be able to tell "stories" about my family, so I carry a little Canon S95 in my handbag all the time. I do have an (oldish) SLR which I use to learn from (I'd love to be half as good a photographer as many of you), but I love the ordinary everyday things which get forgotten and often can't be predicted. Mobile phone cameras can do this to some extent, but the quality doesn't come anywhere near the lovely little S95, especially in low light!

[Indigo]

I have gone for years at a stretch without lifting a camera. Went to Amsterdam on hols this year, took a camera and found it interesting. Interesting how much of the basics you can forget.
Indigo