The Law Of A Vacuum

Grab shot from through my car window.
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 lens @ 100mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

Empty space.  That is what you don't want in your home, your head, your life, your photography or anything else.  Empty space creates a vacuum.  When a vacuum is created, it sucks in anything close by to fill it.  That is not good.

When you have a small closet and it becomes completely filled up you think you need space for more storage, i.e., a larger closet.  But when you have a larger closet with some unoccupied space, the natural law of a vacuum applies resulting in immediate engagement of your mind and wallet and you buy more stuff so you can fill up the closet.  Empty space demands being filled.

When you have a small camera bag and there is no empty space, you naturally think, "I need a larger camera bag so I can better fit my gear in it."  Wrong.  When you buy a larger camera bag, you don't just carry your current gear, the natural law of a vacuum kicks in and you must now add gear to fill up that new empty space that is staring right at you.  The vacuum wants to suck in extra stuff.  And...if you don't have extra gear to place in your newly created empty space, you end up with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) resulting in hours perusing the Internet looking for something to buy.  Unknowingly, your wallet or credit card is now in your hand and next thing you know, UPS shows up at your door with with that box containing "more photo gear."  In it goes to fill up that empty space.  Its inevitable.  Its the natural law of a vacuum.  Don't try to resist!

My advice.  When you think you need a larger camera bag, resist the temptation.  If you maintain a small bag, you will have to naturally limit what you can put in it which translates to how much you will have to lug around with you.  A larger camera bag means that you will HAVE to put more stuff in it.  That then means it is heavier.  That then means that you will complain about all of the extra weight you have to carry around and that means you might develop shoulder or back pain and that means potential medical bills and a doctor that tells you to not carry so much weight and that means either not going out to photograph or leaving some of your favorite gear at home and that then means you could possibly get very dissatisfied with your photography and give it up!  Whew!  (what a sentence!) None of this is good.

The upshot is keep the small bag.  You will thank me.

Thanks for looking and laughing. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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