Point and Shoots

There is a definite elitism among those of us who carry big, cameras, big tripods, big lenses, and even bigger backpacks and shoulder bags in which to carry around all of our big equipment. There is the belief, or perhaps hope, among many photographers starting out. that these tens of thousands of dollars of gear is what is required to be a good photographer. This belief runs so deep that an entire industry is built on getting people new to the hobby to upgrade and upgrade and upgrade until they too are carrying around 60lbs of gear in a backpack the size of a small studio apartment.

There is however a solution. It's called a point and shoot. After many years of hauling around a huge SLR and some collection of lenses to every event, last year I bought a little, though fairly high quality, digital point and shoot. (The Canon G9, not that it really matters). Now instead of hauling around the big glass, or (as often happened) carrying no camera at all when I'm headed out for a ski, run, or walk with the dog, I carry my point and shoot. It is simple, easy and has put an end to the times when I'd wished I'd brought a camera but hadn't. Another side effect is that the camera has rejuvenated some of my photographic creativity. Shooting with the SLR, I often feel as though there is some obligation to make good images, but I don't feel that with the point and shoot. I am free to make hundreds and hundreds of photos of complete crap and I don't feel at all bad about it. So I explore and experiment and just fiddle around with it when I find a subject.

So if you are a new shooter or haven't yet been able to afford dropping the dollars on the big cameras, stick with your point and shoot and remember to play with it. Carry it with you, take, make, and create pictures. That is where real photographers come from, not out of big bags of camera stuff.