Can't be taken seriously with a point and shoot

Now I understand that Mr. Terry Richardson has been making a career off of point and shoot photo ads for major magazines and clothing lines, but I am not Terry Richardson. This isn't an angsty blog about how people won't respond when I try out my party pictures with a point and shoot instead of a DSLR. This is a blog about how people respond better when they have 3 pounds of metal and plastic pointed and focused in their face.

Bringing around my camera has lead me to meet some of my closest friends but when I bring out my camera, I can't do what everyone else is doing. Getting completely trashed. So when I put it away, I went for something more conventional and brought around a smaller, more convenient Canon point and shoot. Needless to say, aesthetically I got the same results as every other party photographer, but when it came to photographing strangers at parties, I would get less of a response.

Point and shoots are pretty intimate. Regular people carry them around and at parties they take pictures of their own friends. Not strangers or anything else, but the group of people they are with. I found this happening to me, and it's a good way to organize my night, and piece certain things together, but my bigger camera was what lead to my "popularity". Well, at least given in the "hipster" sub-culture in New Brunswick.

Now I'm thinking, "maybe I can just start bringing around my weight again", but I'm also graduating, and I don't want to worry about damaging my equipment, and I don't want to be just like everyone else at parties in New York. So what might be the next best thing?

The Canon G10. Fuck the G10. I like resolution. I want to see every single pixel. I don't care for high ISO or a swivel screen. Plus I'll probably but a flash on this bad boy. Now this all requires money. But the G10 isn't your normal point and shoot. It has manual controls, which I love, AND it has a hot shoe for flashes. A flash alone on the camera makes it serious, and people will be more responsive to me taking pictures. Plus it will scores some points with minor originality. I know people walk around with their G10 and take party pix, but they go about it the dumb way and have stupid lens converters on them. With the wide angle and telezoom on this bad boy you don't need any stupid converters.

All I'll need is this, a used canon speedlite and then I'll be good. I can put it around my neck or in my pocket. I don't have to worry about people spilling beer on it and I can leave my workhorse of a camera home for studio shit, or when I'm going out with the INTENT to shoot. but in the mean time, I could just lug the G10 around and use that for random moments or parties. Done.

Maybe you're thinking "But Alan, isn't the Canon S90 a lot smaller and more convenient and have the same manual controls as the G10"? Yes. But the hot shoe plays the biggest part in the party photog scene. The S90, while it is a superior camera in terms of convenience, it lacks the strobing versatility that the G series offers. They are both the same price, and I can so SO much further with the G10 in terms of what I want to do. So there you have it.

This doesn't mean I don't love my Nikon DSLR, I just don't want motherfuckers "accidently" getting their booze all up in the nooks and crannies of it. And Canon makes better pocket size cameras anyway. I still love you though , Nikon.