Ran into some good advice that I wanted to send along to everyone to help be more prepared in the moment when the opportunity to take the shot comes along. Mind you, these are not 100% guarantee, but they certainly will increase the odds of you being ready to meet the opportunity when it arises. There are two components to this. The first is the gear end, and the second is the the mind and thought process.
Ready your gear
Same Things, Same Pockets. Repitition is the key here. Do the same thing for every trip and outing so it becomes second nature. Put your batteries and cards in the same place every time. Same with cameras and lenses. Develop a system so you’re not taking up valuable time. Ideally you can reach into your bag and grab what you need without taking your eyes off your scene
Camera On, Every Time. This one is probably the most often overlooked tip and one that makes a hug difference. Sounds so simple, but that simple act of having to turn the camera on can cause you to miss the shot. When I pick up my camera, it has become my habit to flick the camera on so that it’s live and ready by the time it gets to my eye. It doesn’t take much, but when the camera is at your eye it needs to be as ready as you are.
No Lens Caps! When I get to my location I take my front lens caps off and place them in my duffle bag and they don’t come out again until I’m packing to leave or traveling to the next shoot. I shoot with many different lenses on 2 bodies and none of them ever have a lens cap. I have clear filters on all my lenses that don’t alter color or the image and there’s a way better chance I’ll miss important shots by using a lens cap than there is that I’ll scratch a lens without one.
Spare Batteries. I have multiple batteries for my cameras that I can change at a moments notice. A necessary thing that will vary if you shoot more video than stills. Lightweight and easy to have ready in your pocket. Something so simple that can mean the difference between getting the shot and not getting the shot.
Customize your camera. Today’s cameras can assign necessary functions to any number of buttons to make the shooting experience customizable to your genre and style. Don’t over look this one. Attempting to dig through the menu to find what you need is pointless and recipe for missing the opportunity. Make the camera work for you.
Ready your mind
This one is much more abstract but probably more important. How many times has the excitement of the moment caused you to perhaps not think through the scene. Are you looking at the light and making exposure choices before you even raise the camera? Is it a wide shot or a tighter shot? What are the composition options? Can you anticipate when the moment might happen and what you’ll do when it does, or just as often what you’ll do if it doesn’t play out the way you think.
The more ready you can be, the better. When a scene unfolds, no matter what you’re shooting, there is often no time to unzip the camera bag, pull out the camera, and raise it to your eye, check the setting, get the cap of the lens or think about composing. Too late, the moment has passed. Give these simple things some thoughts and hopefully that will help you be prepared to get the shot.