This talk reminded me of my 35mm film days.
Back in the 35mm days, I used to fly around Japan with a Canon A-1. One day, took a friend up but forgot to take my camera along -- left it in the car by mistake. We flew around Mt. Fuji. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. We were slightly above and looking down with the sun behind us.
If you can imagine a very black mountain, with a little snow top that is wearing a mink coat (made from pure white clouds) on a crystal clear type day.
I circled back around for another look. It was gone. The clouds had moved.
I almost cried. That was 15 years ago. Still pissed that I missed that shot.
Since that time, I always have carried a camera with me, even if it is only a point and shoot type. Picked up some neat shots over time. Never again will I forget my camera.
Well, OK, but this anecdote is hardly an example of a time when most people would not think to bring a camera. Indeed, you merely forgot; you didn't forgo the camera intentionally.
I most certainly bring my camera with me anytime I go somewhere unusual and I think there might be some photo ops, and I often seriously inconvenience myself to do so. But most of my Fall and Spring days I'm traveling back and forth along the same old routes. I walk almost everywhere I go, and my habit is to make these urban treks entertaining by being in "photographer mode"
sans camera. I almost never see anything worth photographing, mostly because I tend to be out during the wrong hours of the day, when the light is bad. Nonetheless, I know that if I brought a point-and-shoot camera along, I would be disappointed at having gotten a merely OK shot that would have been better with my "real" camera. That's just how I am. If I'm going to do something, I want to do it "right."
