First I want to say and you need to realize is that true photography is not about the equipment. Camera is just a tool.
Most of the people will realize that fact after spending some time, money and after learning more about photography. Few years in this field and your brain will immediately process technical information, but the most important would be the fact that someone succeeded to tell the story. That is if you really care about the story, if you’re not just interested in technique. There are people there who care just about equipment owned and technique used and they’re happy with their angle of view.
Fine. Decide who you are and go for it. Maybe it’s better said, learn who you are. It isn’t that simple as I wrote of course. I had my own path, you’ll have yours.
What about this: “I subscribe to the theory that almost nothing matters except to point the camera in the right direction, and to press the shutter button at the right time. Virtually any modern camera is capable of taking superb pictures. Some may be a little easier to handle in some circumstances than others, some will produce more ‘image quality’ than others in this set of circumstances or that. None of them are going to (yet) tell you where to stand and when to press the button.” by A.Molitor Photothunk
Isn’t it refreshing? Just take some time to really think about it. It will certainly broaden your views. Even if you don’t agree with quoted you can’t be immune on the point he made.
You can look at it this way also, it’s about the equipment. You can’t capture the most beautiful nature scene you’ve ever seen with a point and shoot camera. You can’t get that true film feel with a digital camera. You can’t shoot indoors with my camera.
When I got my DSLR I wanted to capture a sunset. Example is up there It’s simple, that’s the way I like it. I could clone that moon out and move it a bit to the right to achieve the balance because it’s bugging me a lot now, but I wanted this photo to be as I captured it few years ago. This was taken with my Oly and the kit lens. You can see my camera/lens limitations here, as well as mine.
I was starting with photography and learning, but at that point did I really understand? Nope.
If I had a great camera at the time, would it help? Nope.
Time is needed for all information you got to settle down. You can learn a lot, but learning and truly understanding is not the same.
You should have seen me when I was shooting waterfalls and not succeeding. Oly and the kit lens, tripod, filters, trials and errors. Every time I was blaming something else but me, If I only have ND8 instead ND4… But, trust me, I had bigger issues then buying another piece of something. I needed to learn a tone of stuff related to photography before I really understood what I should do when I get to the waterfall. I bought another lens and filters and I could see some improvements but I just couldn’t get it right. I wasn’t able to take a decent photo of a waterfall, according to my standards and opinion, of course.
Fas forward to present. I wrote this as reply on a forum:
“I’m one of the rare here that shoot an Olympus dslr. It has 2x crop factor and my particular camera introduce noise even at iso 400, max is iso 1600, unusable. Imagine to shoot with just that? figure my limitations? And now, can you imagine what I was pushed to learn because those limitations? But I’m very grateful for it, had to say that.
I didn’t want to upgrade until I felt I was ready to make a huge step forward. It’s been a long time since I outgrew my camera, but it’s ok, no rush. Sometimes when I get a gear lust I just wait until it passes…
I couldn’t care less about latest, the “bestest” actually, don’t care about those no matter in what terms and areas we talk about. I don’t like what’s modern, brands, what is in, what is expensive, what most people like…I don’t like talking about equipment.
I don’t like being judged and underestimated for what gear I use, but I do, all the time.
I’ve just bought a 6d, not with me yet, but I bought it because I know why and what do I want a ff for. Do I need a ff, well there is just few things in my life that I really need.
Cameras are just tools!”
Got this back, I laughed out loud, he explained it perfectly:
“I have the E-300,and up until the release of the D7000,it was my baby.Yeah,you couldn’t run the ISO up beyond 400,so you learned to stay within your limitations,but what great dynamic range it has.Fast forward to the d7000.I was stuck in the low ISO mode for about a year,before I started ramping up the ISO.It was like being an indoor cat all your life,and suddenly,someone left the door open.I didn’t run out the door,occasionally sticking my head out many times before I actually went outside.Now i’m fearless LOL. I guess the point is it’s not easy for unlearn what we’ve become comfortable with.”
It is about equipment to some point. There are real situations you can’t really capture without some expensive equipment. I missed so much opportunities because my Oly’s inability to capture anything decent in low light conditions.
After comprehending limitations of what I have in my hands I also realize that I need to comprehend my personal limitation. What do I want to capture and what equipment will allow me to do that efficiently? Those are crucial questions that need to be answered. Sport photography? Then you wont certainly go with a 6D.
Conclusion, the point, the truth or which ever, is that even with the best possible equipment you can’t make the best possible results if you don’t understand the core of photography.
I have gained knowledge, I own good equipment, but my heart and soul are not in some types of photography I tried, that I needed to go trough and learn by myself. I wont achieve great results in wedding photography for sure. Only those who go with the heart and soul when making something will make extraordinary art/craft.
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