Carrying A Camera

I have always had the desire to keep a camera with me all the time....to have one available for those unplanned shots that good fortune presents as well as to constantly 'keep in practice'. I even went so far as to purchase a smaller, but high quality, camera in the form of the Canon G10. I have found good use for that camera when I am going somewhere special without my primary purpose being photography. In those cases, I know ahead of time that I might want to take some photos. However, I have also found that I don't use it all that frequently when I just have it with me but hadn't planned on photographing.

It just seems as if I need to be in a certain mindset to specifically go out and make photographs. A mindset where I know that I am giving my entire attention over to the idea of composing and thinking about photos. This surprised me because when I am driving around, such as when I am coming home from work, I will try to compose photos of what I am seeing out of my window in my mind. However, either I don't have the time to stop or, more likely, the image that I see in my mind's eye is not attainable because it is not possible to stop and take it from that vantage point.

I know some folks can always carry a camera with them and use it....but it seems difficult for me. Perhaps I have to try to do so more frequently. In the meantime, I hope that practicing in my mind, as I often do, is effective. I happen to run across this quote, which is what made me think about this topic:

I am always mentally photographing everything as practice.

Minor White

At least I can take some comfort that Minor White thinks there is benefit to doing so!