Making Your Best Camera The One In Your Hand
They say your best camera is the one you have on hand, a.k.a. usually your smartphone. My phone camera is absolute garbage, so I’ve tried to make it so that my actual best camera is always as easy as possible to grab — not just when I’m outside with it, but at every point in the process.
Equipment weight
The crux of the dilemma: the camera itself.
I’m a hardcore evangelical about using prime lenses. If you’re willing to sacrifice focal length versatility, you get a significantly lower-price, lighter, more compact, and higher performance package that will never torque your wrist as you run around snapping action photos. I find that getting accustomed to shooting with prime lenses also reduces mental overhead, because instead of figuring out what focal length to use, you end up walking around with a mental frame in your head that tells you exactly what your shot will look like before you take it.

I’m also an obnoxious advocate for mirrorless cameras, so feel free to skip this section if you’ve already heard it all. Having a huge sensor packaged into the form factor of a point and shoot means you’ll never get physically tired of holding your camera.
(All my gear recommendations come with the following caveats: (1) I don’t rely on photography as a primary income stream, and (2) I don’t shoot weddings, so I don’t rely on zooms.)
Going mirrorless also allows you to buy significantly lighter and cheaper accessories. The standard load capacity for DSLR tripods is 6.6 lbs, which is necessary to hold up your typical 3–6 lb Canon or Nikon DSLR+zoom setup without torquing. But the next tier down (“hybrid” tripods) usually supports a 2.2 lb load capacity, which is perfect for compact mirrorless setups (the full-frame Sony A7 body inexplicably weighs only 0.95 lbs).
But there are plenty of reasons not to do any of this (sorry, wedding photographers; your plight is real) and I probably can’t convince you to switch out your entire photography system on the spot, so here are some other optimizations.
Idiot proofing
We have all been on that shoot where you forgot to charge your batteries, or you emptied your SD card the night before and then forgot to put it back in your camera. Or that shoot where everything went flawlessly until you opened up the photos at home and realized with a slow sinking feeling in your gut that you were inexplicably set to incandescent white balance the entire time even though you definitely never selected incandescent mode.
SD card woes
- Every time I remove an SD card from a camera, I leave the SD slot cover open and do not close it again until that sucker is safely ensconced back inside. I can’t count the number of times I’ve grabbed my camera without sanity checking if the card was still in there. Since I started leaving the cover open, I’ve never left home without a card.
- Always stash a minimum of one extra SD card in your bag as insurance, or probably more like three extras if you’re on a paid shoot. I’ve only snapped an SD card in half once, but that day was a very sad day. Far more common are the days where I forget that I filled up my card with 64GB of video footage the night before.
Battery woes
- It’s easy to check whether you physically have batteries, but it’s also easy to cheerfully leave for a shoot with a bag full of drained batteries you forgot to charge the night before. When I get home, I immediately remove any drained batteries from my kit and queue them up by the charger.
- Extra spare batteries are cheap. Get them.
- I label my spare batteries with colored washi tape so it’s super easy to visually recall which batteries have already been used up.
Setting woes
I make a habit of calibrating test shots before anything happens, but no matter how infrequently it happens, any day you manage to fudge your RAW or white balance is a sad day. I’ve sincerely considered getting a photoshoot checklist tattooed on the back of my hand, but before sinking to that level of desperation, I made a sticker instead.

Make liberal use of programmable modes if you have them. I frequently photograph fire dancers at night, which calls for pretty specific settings, so my ideal calibration for that is stashed in a quick access mode.
Storage & organization
Dedicated camera backpacks are highly protective and great for consummate professionals who head out carrying just their photography gear. However, they are also expensive and tend to aesthetically scream “hello I contain thousands of dollars!”
Neoprene sleeves only offer lightweight protection, but unless you’re filling your bags with nails or violently throwing them against rocks, I see no reason they shouldn’t suffice. For day hikes, I don’t bring a change of lens; just a prime mounted on my mirrorless in a sleeve.

Padded bag inserts are great for keeping your camera kit consolidated, so you can grab the whole setup and stash it in a backpack. Low end inserts cost $10–30; past that, you’re mostly paying for style.
I stash small accessories, like spare batteries and spare SD cards, in a handy zip pouch, so they’re easier to find in the depths of a bag.

Actually using the dang thing
You’ve probably already gotten your own carry system down, but I’m constantly hearing new tips from photographers, so it doesn’t hurt to list some op(in)tions.
Protection
Ah, UV filters. A large faction of photographers is adamant that it doesn’t make sense to put a cheap piece of glass in front of an expensive piece of glass.
I’m of the opinion that manufacturing optically neutral glass doesn’t require the same mindblowing precision manufacturing as the lens itself, so to heck with it. I’m not doing comparisons of distortions on brick walls and sharpness in stopped-down corners; I want to crawl up close to sea spray and dust storms and take wacky, texture-rich pictures without living in fear of splashes and scratches. It’s also really lovely to replace a filter every few years and find a brand new lens underneath. Plus UV filtering is actually kinda beneficial when the sky is photobombing you.

Quality filters are $20–30, lenses are hundreds to thousands of dollars. It’s your call.
Screen protectors are similarly wonderful insurance; no one’s going to be nitpicking over optical quality on your tiny preview screen anyway. I once walked around with my camera bouncing on its neck strap and discovered that I had scuffed the heck out of the screen protector with an abnormally sharp zipper that happened to be on the jacket I was wearing that day. Thankfully, screen protectors cost $10.
As far as literal insurance for your gear, normal renter’s or homeowner’s insurance sometimes covers stolen cameras (it’ll be easier to file claims if you have a police report), although there may be a deductible first. Pros may prefer dedicated photography insurance.
Carrying
Hand straps are a great alternative to standard neck straps if you plan to keep your camera out for a long period of time, although your mileage may vary by personal preference and camera ergonomics. I find hand straps great on big grippy Nikon and Canon DSLR bodies, and pretty subpar on flatter mirrorless bodies, where I just go with a neck strap.

Slings and holsters are similar to neck straps, but much more ergonomic and secure around your body. These sometimes come with quick release clips. BlackRapid is the brand I’ve heard referenced most often. There are also belt mounts or waist holsters, which I’ve never tried.
An outdoorsing buddy recently introduced me to the Capture Clip, a quick-release base that clamps onto to a backpack strap so that you can grab your camera from your shoulder instead of digging through a bag or letting your camera bounce against you from a strap. I probably wouldn’t use it in the city, but it seems ideal for hiking and I definitely envied his the whole time we were stumbling over loose rocks and flailing for balance.

Stabilization
Again, I’m an advocate of lowlight primes, which rarely require stabilization, but it’s always nice to have the option to pull a long exposure around water or stars.
The tripod you use is the one you have. I own a full-size tripod, but the vast majority of the time, I’m not carrying it and end up using something like a nearby rock or backpack.
If you hate carrying a tripod and don’t mind being close to the ground, there are always ultracompact mini tripods. The three leaders in this area are: the Manfrotto Pixi ($25), the Pedco Ultrapod ($12–20), and the Joby Gorillapod ($50), which is larger but more versatile.

Choosing a full-size tripod mostly comes down to budget. Look for a counterweight hook to hang a backpack, and you can get a little extra stabilization when the wind is buffeting your glass.
The last and most obvious thing: get outside!
Feel free to opine, rant, or comment at me about cameras in the comments.
