Bear Accessories
Meh writer @skemmehs here. Most days I have no personal interest in the product I’m trying to convince you to buy. Today, however, I’m contemplating whether or not to purchase this Canon DSLR camera. So we’re in the same boat.
My old DSLR went kaput a few months back and I’m pretty enticed by this deal — it’s well reviewed on Amazon and cheaper here than any other (reputable) store. I have a few trips planned in the next few months, and have 3 options for how to document them, as I see it:
- Don’t buy this camera and instead rely on my phone’s camera
- Buy it and use it for situations when my phone’s camera won’t cut it
- Don’t buy it and instead steal pictures from the internet and pretend I took them
Each option has its plusses and minuses that must be carefully considered.
Obviously Option 1 would save me a few hundred dollars, which I could spend on other experiences on my travels. For instance, I could rent a kayak, or pay for medical bills incurred from kayak-related injuries. That could be fun! Also, relying on my iPhone camera could result in some decent-but-imperfect photographic memories. Last year, for instance, I spotted a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park from a distance that was safe for me but not conducive to compelling phone photography. Since I wasn’t carrying DSLR, the documentation of this event amounts to a vague brown dot in a sea of green.
Option 2 would resolve this problem, so long as I carry my DSLR with me to all the places I might want it. That’s the catch. I decided to forego it on my Glacier hike for weight concerns, which meant I missed out on the wildlife photography opportunity of my lifetime. As the saying goes: If a bear ambles in front of you in the woods but nobody is there with a DSLR, does it make for a good pic?
I’ll be honest — Option 3 is pretty compelling. Sure, there is the moral drawback of dishonesty and theft that I will carry with me like an enormous weight through the rest of my life. But I could get some pretty killer photos. For instance, you wanna see a photo of my Glacier hike? Check it out:
You could get photos like this, too, with a Canon DSLR and years of training and practice. Or with a little moral depravity.
