What motivates you to pursue the craft of photography? Fame, fortune, insanity or something else.
For me the answer to this question is multifaceted. Because I make my livelihood as a photographer the fortune part comes in to play, although the fortune is a tiny one in my case, but it is also my creative outlet. If I wasn't paid to do it I still would.
There is an interesting thread on the APUG site that I have provided a link to.
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum50/59887-photographs-main-reason-you-photograph.html
This is sort of related to what I am talking about so you maybe interested in what different folks have to say.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Gear Again!!!
OK, so I have an old issue of Outdoor Photographer that has been sitting around that I hadn't got around to reading. I picked it up and looked at the cover to see what was inside.
One of the blurbs on the cover said something to the effect shoot like Ansel Adams with your DSLR.
Now this caught my attention.
Just how in hell can you get the same result as a large format camera/film combination; and like Ansel Adams no less, using a DSLR.? So I went to page 56 and started to read the article. The article was about perspective control lenses. Gear again!!
I am not anti-gear by any means, but so much is written it the photo magazines about gear. I know that many people use the photo magazines to research what they want buy, but it seems like there is a glut of these kinds of stories.
It seems to me there is an inference being made, if you use this gear or that gear you'll get this result or that result. Yes you need to use photographic equipment to do photography.
BUT
Gear doesn't make an image it just takes the picture.
Great equipment in the hands of an inexperienced photographer will not make world class photographs. I have see way too much emphasis put on improving skill level by getting the latest stuff. Just because the guy in the camera store or the author of an article says you need it don't make it so.
You need to learn and master the craft. The more you understand the how and the why the farther ahead you will be creatively.
I am sure that if I won the super lotto jackpot tomorrow I would run right out and buy as much gear as I could carry.
But would it improve my photography?
One of the blurbs on the cover said something to the effect shoot like Ansel Adams with your DSLR.
Now this caught my attention.
Just how in hell can you get the same result as a large format camera/film combination; and like Ansel Adams no less, using a DSLR.? So I went to page 56 and started to read the article. The article was about perspective control lenses. Gear again!!
I am not anti-gear by any means, but so much is written it the photo magazines about gear. I know that many people use the photo magazines to research what they want buy, but it seems like there is a glut of these kinds of stories.
It seems to me there is an inference being made, if you use this gear or that gear you'll get this result or that result. Yes you need to use photographic equipment to do photography.
BUT
Gear doesn't make an image it just takes the picture.
Great equipment in the hands of an inexperienced photographer will not make world class photographs. I have see way too much emphasis put on improving skill level by getting the latest stuff. Just because the guy in the camera store or the author of an article says you need it don't make it so.
You need to learn and master the craft. The more you understand the how and the why the farther ahead you will be creatively.
I am sure that if I won the super lotto jackpot tomorrow I would run right out and buy as much gear as I could carry.
But would it improve my photography?
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