As with any hobby, amateur photographers could easily go crazy buying all the latest and greatest photography gear. Have you ever seen an avid woodworkers home shop or a scrapbookers hobby room? They are filled with special tools and equipment designed to make the end result better. But does the latest laser guided table saw really result in better crafted furniture? Do the titanium sculpting scissors make a better laid out scrap book page?
The same questions can be asked of photography gear. Is it the photo gear that improves photography?
There are three factors that lead to a good photograph in my view.
- The equipment and gear used
- The technical knowledge of the photographer
- The artistic eye and ability of the photographer
Having all three is an asset for creating better photographs but not necessarily essential. In the end you can have the most expensive telephoto lens on the market today, the fanciest tripod, and a top of the line camera but if you do not know how to operate any of it or if you just do not have an artistic photographer’s eye none of it is going to produce better photography. It is not the gear alone that makes the photographer. In fact a talented photographer can often take a master shot with the simplest of photography gear.
All the latest and hottest gear is fun to have. But before spending a fortune equipping yourself spend some time improving your skills. Study the art of photography – formally or on your own – and practice, practice, practice. That will make you a better photographer who can then improve upon your art with all the great gear available.
MartinaJ
on October 7 2009
Great post! I was watching a Utube video that this professional photographer did and he had a quiz for his viewers to guess if a particular photo was taken with his professional camera or a disposal camera. The picture was a set of birds in flight. Of course I guessed wrong. The picture was taken with his disposal camera. It was an amazing picture!