If I had a Euro, dollar or pound for every time I’ve heard the phrase “I’ll get ‘so and so’ to take the photographs, he/she has a good camera”, I’d be a wealthy man. Even more so if I was equally rewarded for having to listen to idiots bleating on about the camera equipment they own, who in practice couldn’t take an interesting image if their life depended on it.
The simple fact is that if you want your photography to count for anything you have to be stood in-front of interesting subjects. If you can’t manage that, whatever kit you have is completely and utterly worthless.
I recently had to listen to someone describe the camera they owned as a ‘semi-pro’ model. What the hell is that? Or, for that matter what is a ‘pro’ camera? There’s only one thing that makes a piece of equipment a ‘professional’ camera – the person using it. In the days of digital imaging, today’s ‘pro’ camera is tomorrows beginner model. As with most technology, a camera will be virtually obsolete within a couple of months of purchase. Do yourself, and your wallet, a big favour and concentrate your efforts on what you use your camera for rather than focussing your attention latest kit. Kit is just stuff.
Some of the greatest photographs ever made may have been created on equipment that now looks positively ancient. It doesn’t matter. These photographs have, and will continue to, stand the test of time.
I’d much rather see an image from an iPhone (I’m not a fan of anything Apple, so that’s saying something!) in the hands of someone with a just glimmer of talent, than a technically perfect, yet totally boring, image from an idiot gear nerd with zero creative flair.
Did Shakespeare have a laptop? No he used a quill.
Henri Cartier-Bresson didn’t have a HASSELBLAD H4D-200MS, but he did okay!
Remember this: Especially if you’re just starting out – the camera doesn’t make the picture – you do!
