A street photography journal entry by Craig Boehman.

I’ll be the first to admit that shooting street photography on vacation isn’t always a fruitful endeavor. Whenever I travel to Goa, I have the same conversation with myself. Should I take the camera or leave it at home? If I take it, I’ll likely not use it that much and have to pack onto the flight with me as carry-on. If I don’t take it, there’s always the chance that I’ll miss the shot of a lifetime.

The conversation then continues with my wife. “Should I bring my camera?” She has always replied with an affirmative. I then continue to debate the pros and cons all the way up to the day of the flight when I inevitably cave to my instincts and pack my small camera day bag with my Sony and just one lens. Sometimes I’ll pack an extra lens to serve as a portrait lens, “just in case.” But I’ve learned to tame that voice and just pack one, regardless of focal length, just to keep things simple.

As it turns out, my recent trip to Goa has been no different than my previous trips, street photography-wise. No fantastic moments of people captured. Not even a beach scene or two like in the previous trip, mainly due to the fact that I didn’t want to pack my camera down to the shack scene and forever have to worry about some rogue thief snatching it up while we were out swimming. But nevertheless, I do usually manage to spare an hour or two tops, usually morning walks, when Goans are only beginning their days. This usually doesn’t make for great street photography, in my experience. This time was no exception.

But the animals, usually the cows, tend to provide me with some shots on every trip. This time, it was out on Vagator Beach Road at a cafe called The Theatre (see sign in the above image). On my way back from my walk on the beach I didn’t want to circle back the same way I came so I decided to loop back the long way round and take the roads to make my way back to the Ozran Heights Resort. When I spotted the cattle blocking the road, I thought to myself, how typical. I took a series of pictures anyway just for the sake of clicking the shutter button a few times. I eventually circled around them and photographed them from the other side, when one of the more protective bovines decided to slow-charge me. “Eh, you’re all boring, anyway,” I informed her.

Photographers Should Bring Their Cameras, Period

There’s one situation that I never want to be in, and that’s finding out the hard way that because I was lazy that I ended up missing some great opportunities. I’m a photographer, I’ve told myself on more than one occasion, I should always bring my camera with me. Sure, I always have my phone but this doesn’t count. Why? Well for starters, phones suck for the kind of photography that I do. I’m sure I could have captured the cows just fine since they move at a snail’s pace anyway. But for capturing action or any kind of lateral movement, forget about it. Phones just aren’t designed for the kind of ergonomics and response time necessary for capturing a lot of street photography and a whole slew of other subjects, in my opinion. Always bring your camera whenever you’re on the fence about it. One day, you’ll be happy that you did. And when that day comes for me, you can bet that you’ll be hearing about my experience.

Always bring your camera, if only for the cows blocking your path.