SGirimont Photography Blog: The Stories Behind the Images

My daughter at the beach taken with a Canon G9

Whenever anyone finds out I’m a professional photographer, inevitably the first question I’m asked is “what camera do you think I should get?” as if the fact that I make money with my cameras is all that’s required to know what would work best for them.

The fact of the matter is that the best camera to own is the one you’re going to have with you when you’re going to want to take a picture. While it never hurts to try to choose the camera with the very best quality your money can buy, sometimes that camera is rather cumbersome to carry around. I own a tremendous amount of camera equipment, all very expensive and extremely high quality, but when I’m traveling with my family, I don’t want to be buried under 90 pounds of camera gear.

I purchased a Canon G9 last year to be my “carry everywhere” camera because it fits neatly (if not lightly) in a jacket pocket. My wife loves it too and didn’t like the fact that I always had it with me, which meant it was never around when she wanted it, so she bought me the G10 for Christmas so she could have the G9. What a woman!

The picture above is a perfect example of a situation where I don’t want to be weighed down by a heavy SLR with a zoom lens; taking a walk with my daughter on the beach. I barely feel it when I’m carrying the G9 on it’s strap over my shoulder and when this scene presented itself, I just grabbed the camera, framed the scene by watching the LCD screen while holding the camera out in front of me at waist level and clicked when the wave was just right.

And the quality is just wonderful; I’ve printed a 16×20 of this image!

So, my answer to those who ask that question: whatever camera is going to be around your neck when the moment happens.