It seems to me, when it comes to photography, you can never be too prepared. Even as something as simple as making sure you have a camera, fully charged batteries, and some empty memory cards can go a long way. I remember back when I was on a trip out to Washington state, I was still shooting mostly film but had a new point and shoot digital camera with me to act as a back-up. This was before smartphones. Essentially, for those super important shots, I wanted to get a photo with the digital camera just in case something happened to the film or my exposure was off or what have you. So, in that respect, I was being prepared for the unexpected, or rather for potential disaster. It’d be nice if that were the end of that example, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

      I was in Olympic National Park heading to Sol Duc Falls. I had very little juice left on the battery, and since I’d only just bought the camera the day before I left on my trip, I didn’t have any other batteries for it. I hadn’t been going crazy with photos with the new camera, but it’s a small battery, and after several days, it was nearly used up. In the end, I managed only three photos with the digital camera at Sol Duc Falls before the battery died completely. I had to wait until the following morning when I could use an outlet at the campground’s store to recharge the battery. It had been a long drive and was very late at night when I arrived at the campground. Consequently, I was a nervous wreck the whole rest of the day, only having the one film camera to get images with, not knowing how they’d come out or if anything might happen to damage the film. I’d like to say I learned my lesson and always have extra charged batteries, but unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

This was the first of the three photographs I got that day with my new Panasonic digital camera before the battery finally died. Olympic National Park, Washington This was the second photograph I took with the last of the battery. Olympic National Park, Washington This was the last photograph I was able to capture before the battery died. Olympic National Park, Washington

      Another time, I left the house to go up to Portland to photograph some of the lighthouses and forts in the area. I got to my first location, found a composition I liked, turned on my camera, and instantly found out I had no memory card. I didn’t have any others in the small camera bag I’d brought with me. It was then that I remembered having taken the card out to transfer some photos off it onto the computer. It was still sitting in the memory card reader on my desk back home. Boy, did I ever feel like a dunce. It wasn’t a complete waste, though. I still enjoyed wandering around and exploring the sites on such a gorgeous day. Plus, I had my little Panasonic point and shoot camera with me, so I still got a few photos. I can say that I do at least check the card is in the camera now before I leave. 

One of the images I got with the Panasonic digital camera. South Portland, Maine

      What happens to me most often, however, is that I see something that I want to capture but don’t have a camera with me. For example, I’m just going over to a friend’s house – maybe we’re going to the movies or to do some shopping. Or, maybe I’m running some errands. I don’t want to bring my camera gear with me in those situations. It’s big and bulky, and I’d be worried about leaving it unattended in the car. So, I leave home without anything but my phone. And, invariably, at some point, I’ll see something awesome. Maybe it’s some wildlife, so the phone would never pick it up with its wide-angle lens. Maybe it’s a rainbow, but between the wide-angle lens and lack of control over the camera settings, I can’t get it to show up. Maybe it’s some amazing weather, cloud formations, and/or color in the sky, but the wide-angle lens picks up too much of the not-so-interesting setting where I happen to be.

I don't bring a camera with me when I go to work, so I often end up seeing interesting things that I wish I could capture. This particular day, we had an amazing double-rainbow appear just as I was leaving work. It was across the street over the McDonald's and RiteAid with parking lots, the street, and traffic all in the way. I only had my phone with me, and there wasn't enough time to get home to grab my gear or even get to a better location, so I had to make do. If I'd had my camera, I might have been able to zoom in more to eliminate a lot of the clutter or even tried harder to get to a better location. Kennebunk, Maine

      This has even happened to me numerous times while at home. I see something cool outside, or my boyfriend does, but by the time I grab my gear, it’s gone, whatever it was. Only once, have I ever actually been lucky in this regard. Not long ago, we were standing in the kitchen talking when I noticed something out the window that made my jaw drop. It was a coyote pup! We watched him for a moment as he jogged timidly through the yard. Then, I dashed into my office, grabbed my camera and big lens, threw a fresh battery in, and ran to the laundry room. I opened the window and rested the lens in hand on the edge. I spent the next hour photographing the pup whenever he worked up the courage to pop out of the trees before dashing back due to the loud traffic right next door. I hadn’t been at all prepared, but I’d gotten extremely lucky in that he stuck around for a while, giving me a chance to overcome my lack of preparedness.

Coyote pup in the neighbor's back yard. This image was cropped in to better show the coyote in this small format. Kennebunk, Maine

      I love to take a camera with me when I go hiking. But, if you have the camera tucked away inside your bag, you can miss opportunities. Once, while hiking in Baxter State Park, I came across a snowshoe hare a little farther up the trail. He wasn’t that far from me and wasn’t moving. But, my camera was in my backpack. I slowly knelt down and took off the bag, but as I started unzipping it, he scampered off. If only I’d had my camera out and at the ready, I could have gotten an interesting shot.

A photo of the trail I took about 15 minutes earlier. I had replaced the camera in the pack after taking this image, so I wasn't ready when I stumbled across the snowshoe hare. Baxter State Park, Maine

      It was for occasions just like that that I invested in a camera clip so I could attach my camera right to my backpack. I have neck problems, so I can’t carry the weight of a camera on my neck, like with a neck strap, at least not for more than a few minutes at a time. By being able to attach the camera directly to the backpack, the pack takes the weight of the camera and properly distributes it, so I don't have neck pain. But, it’s outside and easily accessible, so the camera is fast to grab and shoot if I come across more wildlife while hiking. I chose to go with the Capture Clip from Peak Design, but there are lots of different camera carrying solutions out there.

      Several years ago, I owned only one DSLR camera body. On a trip to the Himalayas, I had brought that one body and a couple of lenses for different purposes. We had an all-day driving tour one day, so I had my primary landscape lens on the camera. When we came across some wildlife, I wasn't ready. I had to take time to change lenses to something with a longer focal length, and in doing so, I lost the best photo opportunities. There were enough animals that I was still able to get some photos, but they weren’t as good as what I'd missed by not already having that lens on the body.

A Bharal (blue sheep) dashing across the road. Image is heavily cropped to make it easier to see the sheep. Ladakh, India Two Bharal climbing down the slope before crossing the road. Again, the image is heavily cropped to make it easier to see the sheep. Ladakh, India

       At the end of the camping portion of the trip, a few of us left early to go on an all-day drive, searching for wildlife. Most of our gear was back at the camp to be shipped out by the porters, so it had all had to be packed previously. I hadn't thought it through and had packed my tripod away in my duffel, rather than carrying it on the hike out. Without my tripod, I couldn't use my big wildlife lens if we actually found anything. It was definitely not one of my finer moments when it comes to preparation. And, of course, we found several herds of animals throughout the day. All I could do was take a few photos with my little Panasonic point and shoot camera through a spotting scope set up by one of the other group members.

A male Urial captured through the spotting scope. As you can see, it's not a good image at all. This was the first time I'd ever even seen a Urial, so I was quite upset at not being able to get better images. Ladakh, India Another male Urial seen a little bit later along the drive. This too was taken through someone's spotting scope. This herd of Urial was closer than the last one, but I still wasn't able to get good images using an auto-focus point and shoot camera held up to the eye piece of a spotting scope. Ladakh, India

       Earlier in the week, one of the other group members had had a mishap with his camera and lens, and that had been pretty devastating. All of these instances reminded me that I’d always had two film cameras back in the day. Originally, I'd had two cameras so I could do color with one and black and white with the other. When I switched to digital and no longer had to worry about that choice, it never occurred to me that I might still want two cameras for other reasons. Now, however, I was realizing the benefits of multiple cameras and the drawbacks of only one. With two camera bodies, I could have two different lenses set up and ready to go at all times. But, it also could act as backup in case something happened to one of them. So, as soon as I got home, I bought a second camera and have had two with me on every trip since.

      Just a few days ago, I made another decision to help me expect the unexpected. There are times where I want to go hiking just for the sake of hiking, or to go on a bike ride, or to go for a drive. In those situations, just like when going to a friend’s or doing errands or even going to work, I don’t necessarily want to or can’t bring my whole camera kit. It’s just too big and too heavy, or I don't want the pressure having it can bring if my intention is to relax and not to go photo hunting. But, I really do not like the idea of not having a camera with me, as I know that's always when I'll come across something I'd like to photograph.

I was driving to my campground after a day of hiking when I spotted a moose out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be a mother and two calves. I was able to get a photo because I had my camera on the seat next to me, but it wasn't as good as it could have been because it was my small lens instead of any longer focal length lenses. I was partially prepared, which is better than nothing. Baxter State Park, Maine

      I want to have something small and light that I can bring with me in those situations. But, I want to still be the one in control so I can make artistic decisions about how I capture my images. For me, the answer is not the phone. I know a lot of folks love taking photos with their phones, but personally, I hate it. I don’t like having a fixed focal length lens; I prefer zoom lenses. I don’t like having such a wide-angle lens; I prefer more telephoto lengths. And, having no control over the camera settings drives me up the wall. So, after much thought and research, I picked up a mirrorless camera, the Fuji XT2. It is a bit smaller (and thus lighter in weight) than my Pentax, but it still is a camera and zoom lens with fully manual options - ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focus. It will make it much easier to carry around for all those what-if scenarios when I'm not planning on doing any photography.

       For those of you who don’t know, a mirrorless camera is a smaller camera that looks similar to a SLR camera. It’s able to be smaller because it doesn’t have a mirror, so there is no optical viewfinder, and thus no prism either. I have no plans to switch to Fuji. Just like my first digital camera was an Olympus and the point and shoot that’s been mentioned here several times was a Panasonic, I have no qualms about buying another brand camera as a back-up camera if I feel it is best suited for my needs at that time. I still love my Pentax cameras and will be using them for all my ‘serious’ photography for the foreseeable future.

      The purpose of this new camera is only so I can have one on me for those times when I don’t want to bring my whole kit. It will allow me to be prepared for anything. I still won’t be able to get any spectacular shots of wildlife with it, as the lens is a shorter length lens. But, it will be far better than nothing at all, or what I could manage to get with my phone. It will bring me peace of mind, and that’s an important thing.

Black bear yearling cub in a tree. I was driving with a friend when I spotted this little guy out of the corner of my eye. I pulled over, and luckily had my camera in the back seat. I had brought the camera with me just in case I'd spotted anything interesting, but it meant I didn't have my wildlife lens, only my 24-70mm. So, once again, I was partially prepared, and with the Fuji, this type of scenario will hopefully happen more often than me seeing wildlife with no camera at all. This image is heavily cropped to make it easier to see the bear. Milan, New Hampshire

      So, I hope these examples, both good and bad, will help you to remember to do your best to be prepared. I want you to not only expect bad eventualities, but also to be ready for those really awesome moments that you had no idea were coming your way. Seeing something amazing that this world has to offer, witnessing little pieces of wonder, having such an experience is well worth it all by itself. But, if you can manage to capture that experience with a camera for all time, that’s just so much better.