Why I Always Carry a Camera (or try to at least)

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As part of my journey to de-stress about the photos I take, I've tried to start carrying a camera with me everywhere I go.

Now, I know what you are going to say...

'You already do, it's called your phone!'

While that's technically true, and no matter how much my grandparents try to tell me the opposite, phones don't take 'just as good a photo' as a proper camera. Can they take great photos? Of course they can! I've taken some great phone photos myself (and included loads of them in my Seoul post), but there are a couple of reasons I will always prefer a dedicated camera if I have one available:

The look - Phone cameras produce photos that look like they were taken by a phone. Super wide, no bokeh (portrait mode doesn't count), oversharpened, and oversaturated.

The feel - It can be a pain to manoeuvre around the manual settings on a phone, as they aren't designed to be used this way. A proper camera will have dials and buttons to switch manual controls easily.

The files - While some phones can shoot RAW files, when I've done this in the past, they've been insanely noisy and hard to work with.

The biggest pro my phone has going for it is its size. It fits in my pocket and I don't have to think about it. No matter how 'pocketable' and 'tiny' a YouTuber says a camera is, I have yet to find a camera that gives me the same level of hassle-free transport that a phone camera does.

I've gone through a couple of cameras trying to make the 'EDC' life stick. I started trying to use my GH5 with some tiny primes, but it was just too big and only made it out for special occasions. I very regrettably sold it for a Lumix S9, but wasn't a fan of its weird limbo of 'tiny body but no tiny lenses', so I returned it and bought a Lumix GX80. It's doing its job just fine, but its advanced age and video specs are starting to bug me, so it's likely there will be another switch-up soon.

While the camera roulette is taking its course, I'm still trying to be photo-ready whenever possible, and this series of blog posts is a place for me to share some of the pictures I take that have no home in travel or work-related posts.

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EDC Roundup - June 2025

Tending the Dock Lumix S9 + Sigma 45mm f2.8 @ f7.1, 1/125, ISO 100

Tending the Dock - 08/06/25

Maldon, Essex

(I'm not used to giving my photos names yet, so bear with me on that front...)

I have mixed reviews of my inaugural outing with my tiny camera in my bag. I was expecting to be instantly inspired and endlessly shooting beautiful images, but that wasn't the case. Even as someone who has spent a good chunk of his life behind a camera, it felt quite alien to be out in such a random place taking photos.

Usually, when I'm taking photos, I'm either a tourist in a foreign land where everyone is taking photos or working, but here I was neither. It took me a couple of minutes to get over the stage fright, and I saw a man working on a dock in his back garden. The lighting wasn't amazing, so I switched over to monochrome, and the resulting image is this peaceful slice-of-life with an old-world charm. I'd love to say I stood with intention and framed this perfectly, but I was so scared of being noticed, I walked briskly past the scene and hopelessly fired the shutter from the hip. With a bit of cropping, we got there in the end. This is something that will pop up regularly in this series.

The Light of God I Lumix S5IIX + Panasonic 70-300 f4.5-5.6 @ f5.6, 1/320, ISO 640

The Light of God (I & II) - 17/06/25

Bournemouth, Dorset

I consider myself to have a pretty diverse music taste, but choral praise music hasn't made its way onto my Spotify playlist yet. I've done a couple of album recording shoots for this classical music label, and hearing the might of a full choir and orchestra in a grand church hall gives me chills. It never fails to blow me away every time. I'm not at all a religious man, but even the biggest sceptic could feel a presence in the room, even if it is the rumble of the double basses through the floor.

In between takes, I snapped a couple of stills to make the most of the beautiful afternoon sun coming through the stained glass windows above. I was particularly interested in the contrast as the light falls on the locked-in face of the violin player, and Leica Monochrome renders this perfectly. The dark, moody shadows fit the movement being played perfectly, which was a piece about the world ending thanks to the wrath of a higher power—real cheery stuff for a summer afternoon.

The Light of God II Lumix S5IIX + Panasonic 70-300 f4.5-5.6 @ f5, 1/125, ISO 640

With the final track wrapped, the microphones packed away, and the musicians on their way back to London, the sun began to scan the pews. Again, I love the contrast in this scene, and the Leica picture profile has such a magical rolloff, creating glistening pools of light at the feet of the pews. A little haze in the room would have made this picture extra special, but that's not the everyday photography spirit. For me, these photos capture little moments in my life in a more unique way than a phone would. They also act as milestones in my photography journey. I can look back and see how I have improved, and even if I hate everything about it in a few years, the memory behind the frame will never change.

Sunset at the Old Hall Lumix GX80 + Panasonic 20mm f1.7 @ f2.8, 1/1000, ISO 400

Sunset at the Old Hall - 17/06/25

Ely, Cambridgeshire

I've dipped my toe into wedding video this year and have been loving every second. I used to have a prejudice against wedding shooters, thinking that they were casuals who'd bought a camera and a YouTube course and called themselves experts. When people asked me what kind of videographer I was, I'd always say...

'...well, I'll shoot anything except weddings and pornography!'

Now though, I'm a total convert. I see wedding films as an art form with their own incredibly stressful and fulfilling workflow and quirks. I've got a new respect for anyone in the industry, and don't see myself giving it up any time soon. I'm not sure porn's on the cards just yet, though.

As the sun set on another successful wedding shoot last month, it bloomed beautifully over the lake at the bottom of a stunning venue in the Cambridgeshire countryside. Taking in the much-needed peaceful atmosphere after a long day, I got a series of lovely sunset snaps, but this one is my favourite because of the perfectly still water and the intense flare of orange through the reeds. Luckily, I managed to keep the hordes of flying ants that terrorised the ceremony out of frame.

A few others from this month:

My first month carrying a camera everywhere I go hasn't quite been the instantly liberating experience I was hoping for, but I'm impressed at the results when I look back at them like this. Most importantly, photography has become fun again, and the obsession with perfection is slowly starting to unravel from my brain. It's not quite gone yet, and there's some street photography-related stage fright to get over, but I'm excited to see my skills improve. The best part is, I have no idea what I am going to shoot next month, but with my tiny camera in hand, I will always be ready.