There is a simple rule that all photographers should learn; it is easy for anyone, even a novice to learn, and I promise this rule will make you a better photographer than you are at this moment.  The aforementioned statement seems like there may be some heavy learning curve you may have to deal with, but it is not so difficult a thing to learn.  It is so easy that a child can practice this rule, yet it could net you a wonderful photograph that you may have missed completely. 

     This great piece of knowledge I call the "Little Green Men Rule."   It is simple enough for you to learn, here goes nothing.  Going to the store for milk and eggs, take your camera.  Just running down to drop off the kids, take your camera.  Even if you are only going to the dentist, take your camera with you.  Don't go anywhere without your camera rig; put the electronic wonder in a backpack and learn to sling it over your shoulder no matter what you are going out of the house for:  Take Your Camera!  If an alien spaceship lands and little green men come out, and you don't have your camera, you will be forever angry at yourself, and who wants to live with that?   

     I can't tell you the number of times it took me to learn the "Little Green Men Rule."  Oh, I'm only going to get acupuncture, why would I need my camera?  "Look, there is a Bighorn Sheep!"  We're only running over for cheeseburgers, but that Bald Eagle will never wait for you to run back to the house for your Canon.  Please, don't forget, take your camera with you.  Yes, I know it seems simply stupid on the surface, but it will pay off to take the "little monster" with you.   I learned this "Little Green Men Rule" the hard way, and never mind how stupid I felt later that day.  Don't forget....take your camera.  I personally use a big padded, black backpack that only cost me fifty-nine dollars on closeout at Adorama.  If your concern is that you live in an area where theft is a worry, try using an ugly padded diaper bag with little duckies all over it; who on earth would steal one of those?  Take your camera.

    This week's photo is one of the last hummingbird shots of the summer.  It's a little Rufous Hummingbird that is barely out of the nest, is only two weeks old, and already as strong as an eagle.  He is now on his way to mountains south of here, and will travel two thousand miles till he reaches his winter home.  The file was taken with a Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 Canon L-series lens and a 1.4 Canon extender II with the Canon battery grip on the camera.  The extender was purchased from Adorama used, and the lens was a factory demo that I got at a good discount.  Honestly....the lens I wish I had costs over fourteen thousand dollars!   And don't tell me that's not crazy.  ISO 500, 1/1250th at f/8 and worked RAW in the Canon Digital Photo Professional software and converted to a tiff file, then worked in Elements 8 and Lightroom 5 software; it's a beautiful portrait of a wonderful hummingbird that will be back here in the Wind River Canyon next year.  Hummingbird, "Baby Rufus In-Flight" Wind River Canyon, Wyoming