Participle syntax?

Question

I've heard native English speakers don't use Participle syntax in oral conversation.
Don't you say "I took photos using my father's camera." in daily life?
Do you say "with my father's camera", or anything else?

"I thought of something, looking at the sky."
What do you say, instead?

Answer 1

"I took photos with my father's camera" is a perfectly normal thing to say. "I took photos using my father's camera" is rather less-often heard, probably because it is a little more formal than the first version.

"I thought of something, looking at the sky" is a literary way of expressing that sentiment. In colloquial speech, we are more likely to say, "I thought of something when I was looking at the sky."

Answer 2

nice question°!

Answer 3

Who told you that? "I took photos using my father's camera" is perfectly acceptable. You're doing well not to accept everything everyone tells you. A good way to check on such assertions is to google sentences using the phrases involved and see how common they are and who's using them.

Answer 4

I took photos with my father's camera.

When I looked at the sky, I thought of something.