A well-known photographer and director, Chase Jarvis, has a book titled "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You".  Although the book is about iPhone photography, I think the idea is applicable to all photo-taking instruments.  Since I received my M9 about a week ago, I've been taking it with me everywhere, even to work.  I've been coming and going to this same office for over a year now, but simply because I have the M9 with me now, I'm looking at things in a different light.  I'm more aware of my surroundings, and I'm more conscious about keeping an eye out for photographic opportunities, the "decisive moment".

Monday, leaving work, I drove out of the back alley that leads out of the parking lot, onto the major street.  Since the traffic light was red and there were quite a few cars ahead of me, I looked to my right and noticed a stunning view.  It was a small parking lot behind a hotel/motel, but it had this giant coral tree with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop.  I've drove by this place countless times and never noticed this little slice of heaven:

Tuesday, on my way in, I looked up the same stairs that I climb everyday... and noticed the dramatic lighting and contrast.  Since the camera was already in my hand, I simply turned it on, set the ISO to 800, and took a few snaps.  Later that night, I picked a preset in Lightroom, added some heavy grains, and thought I had a decent looking photo:

Just this morning, driving in my car, noticed a guy was happily smiling at the back of the bus.  I think he was singing/rapping along some songs.  Again, with the camera right next to me, I turned it on, twisted the aperture to f/8, quickly composed through the viewfinder and took the shot without focusing (hard to do while driving).  I remember reading something about pre-focusing, zone-focusing, and hyper-focal things... I wished I know those techniques by heart right about now, but perhaps that'll be a topic for a later post.  I also remembered someone saying "F8 and be there", so I just prayed that it works: