Photography and Equipment - Just Get Over It
I still love photography but I'm so over equipment.
I'm a software engineer who is into photgraphy so I am apparently the go-to guy when you want to know what camera or lens you should buy. People are always calling me up or asking me what camera would be right for them and, mug that I am, I will spend globs of time with them helping them work out what is in their budget and fulfils their needs.
No one ever calls me up to talk about the exhibit they've just seen, book they would recommend or new photographer they've just discovered. Yet, when I meet many photography enthusiasts and they recognise my passion for the subject they want to talk about cameras:
- "What do you shoot with?"
- "Are you Canon or Nikon?"
- "Have you tried the latest version of PS?"
- "What printer did you use to make these prints?"
Just for the record I shoot whichever of three compacts we have lying around the house, falls to hand. If I have the room in my bag but I want to travel light I use one camera and lens set - if I'm willing to make fewer compromises and will put up with the extra weight I use a different body and set of lenses. The specifics don't matter. I keep up with technical subjects and equipment so that my new images will be the best they can be but I resent having to spend my time that way. I'd much rather pour through an monograph than an instructional book. I'd much rather watch "The Impassioned Eye" than a DVD about how to achieve specific lighting effects. I rather listen to a podcast that interviews a photographer about his art than an interview with a camera manufacturer about this Photokina season's new releases.
Don't get me wrong, craft is important. You should be able to operate your camera blindfolded. You should know the physics of exposure so well that it is intuative. But just because something is important doesn't make it interesting.
Scales are important to a musician but when I pay good money to attend a performance they better be playing something other than scales.
So what is the point of this rant?
- If you already have a camera that can make a good enough file stop reading magazines that are just trying to make you want to buy new equipment; instead visit a gallery or museum and get inspired. I have a decent camera but I refuse to buy into the idea that I need to buy something twice as expensive again to be taken seriously. There is no camera in the world that will make me a better photographer; I can only achieve that through applying myself to my work.
- Avoid conversations about gear; seak out conversations about art and artists.
- Spend as little time in PhotoShop as you can get away with. Avoid 'playing' with an image in PhotoShop. Instead look at the original file, previsualize what you would like the resulting file to look like, and work out the shortest route from one to the other.
- Stop studying lighting plans, HDR tutorials and ways to make your digital images look like they came out of a Lomo. Instead, study the history of photography, its movements, key players and iconic images.
- Don't be ashamed of shooting digital when everyone tells you that the 'real art' is made using film (or visa versa). It is a pissing match that has no point or end.
Comments
I would say - it's the phograph that makes the picture, not the camera.
I.e.: Pictures in Flickt that go into Explore and look like paintings or computer art should be removed in my opinion... ;)