The First Rule of Photography is....

[drmikeinpdx]

Have a camera!

I regularly ride my bicycle in an area between the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake. (Near Portland Oregon USA) It is a great area for bird watching. Today a Bald Eagle carrying a fish flew right over me.

It would be great to carry my 5D3 with me, but it's a lot more practical to have my S100 along. I rarely get any good pix, but I carry it on general principle.

Today there just happened to be a search and rescue helicopter from the local Air Force Reserve unit doing training in one of the fields next to the road where I ride my bike. I know the area well and figured that I could get to a spot where the helicopter would be right in front of Mt. St. Helens.

The Air Force guys were very cooperative subjects.

It was great fun for me and reinforced my belief that I should always have a camera.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I bought a refurb SX50 last Christmas when they were $189 for just that reason. I find that its difficult to use at long focal lengths, and will be interested in the new super zoom with 1 inch sensor once it is released. 1200mm is nice, but I find the IQ to be lacking.

200mm is not enough, but 400mm equivalent would be great.

 

[Click]

Very nice shot, drmikeinpdx. Well done.

 

[Gnocchi]

Good shot.
I agree about always having a camera at hand.

 

[East Wind Photography]

...those with the most expensive toys win!

 

[jdramirez]

I tend to go with, first do no harm.

 

[drmikeinpdx]

When pocket or Point & Shoot cameras become obsolete, they aren't worth much, so rather than selling them, I keep them around as emergency cameras. I like to keep one in my bicycle seat bag or in the glove compartment of my car, for example. Mine (S90 and S100) are Canons so the menus will always stay familiar. I like the pocket form factor of these little cameras and the fact that they shoot RAW is a big plus for me. Your mileage will vary, of course!

The modern batteries hold a charge for a really long time and you don't have to worry about the film getting cooked when you park your car in the summer sun.

A decent case helps to keep them from getting scratched up in storage.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

I tend to go with, first do no harm.

I like that. It should be Rule Zero.

 

[Don Haines]

And the second rule is "stop taking pictures of your lens cap".

We all have them. Some of us have been taking pictures of our lenscaps all the way back to the good old days of film..... We have them in Kodachrome 25 and tri X 1600.... from 320x200 pixels to 40 megapixels...

 

[mackguyver]

The First Rule of Photography is....we don't talk about photography. Oh wait, that's Fight Club

 

[Kristofgss]

And the second rule is "stop taking pictures of your lens cap".

We all have them. Some of us have been taking pictures of our lenscaps all the way back to the good old days of film..... We have them in Kodachrome 25 and tri X 1600.... from 320x200 pixels to 40 megapixels...

I vote for this one. It's usually also when your subject tries to hide a smile when you notice this.

 

[Orangutan]

I tend to go with, first do no harm.

+10

That pretty much applies to everything in life. Regarding photography, I try to remember that other humans are not my paid models.

 

[sanj]

No photo... Want to see...

 

[PureClassA]

First Rule of Photography is..... Buy a camera! (iPhones don't count)

 

[distant.star]

.
There are rules???

 

[digital-jesus]

Be there!

 

[MintChocs]

Make sure you put a memory card in the camera before you leave the house with it!

 

[NancyP]

At least one camera in the house should be charged fully, have an empty card, be set to its "routine" setting , and be sitting out (or whole bag sitting out) ready to go. That way you don't lose shots, and can't roll over in bed and whine to oneself- "it's too EARLY.."

 

[jdramirez]

You can buy a new sd card from a grocery store or pharmacy, but the battery... Hoodlum trying to find a place that sells the lp-e6... Or whatever it is called.

Make sure you put a memory card in the camera before you leave the house with it!

 

[MintChocs]

You can buy a new sd card from a grocery store or pharmacy, but the battery... Hoodlum trying to find a place that sells the lp-e6... Or whatever it is called.

Make sure you put a memory card in the camera before you leave the house with it!

I have had to run into a supermarket and buy one, just lucky that there was one nearby and it was open, fortunately as well I use SD cards.