The best camera is the one you have with you.
It's not just when you shoot, or what you shot, or where you shoot, it's the combination of the three.
You see shape, and how the light hits things, how the color changes from one end of the photo to the other, and how movement affects the mood of the photo.
Allow yourself to lose your way.
When we are given gifts, we must be quick and able to accept them.
Since the background is as important as the subject, you mustn't let it default by chance. You must control not only vertical and horizontal, you must be aware of the depth of field (or lack of it) that you want in the background.