It's not the camera! Part 1
Time for another gear related rant. You can check out my last one here on The Ethics of Photoshop.
The other day I was showing someone my portfolio and the first comment he said was, "You must have a really nice camera." And my face went blank. Why did my face go blank? Because, for a photographer, that's the biggest insult you can get.
I'm first going to preface and say yes, the gear does matter a lot. Take a look at these two photos of the Blood Moon this last month:
T1i with a 300mm lens
iPhone 4S
As you can obviously see, the photo on the left looks much better than the photo on the right. That IS because of the gear I used for the first one. But that is also because I know what I'm doing.
The idea of, "if I only had the (insert camera company and model), I would be a great photographer!" is just nonsense. That's like saying, "if I only have this pot and that spice, I'll be able to cook like Emeril Lagasse!" or "if I only had these paints and brushes, I could paint like Pablo Picaso!" Do these last two statements make sense? Not at all! So why would a new camera make you a better photographer?
It's like any skill that has to be taught. You can't just pick up a camera and expect to be Jerry Ghionis. And to prove it, here is one of my first images back in 2011:
Don't think they'll win any awards in Popular Photography. But I kept at it and practiced my craft until I took this photo a few months ago:
And the fun bit is... these are the same camera. Now... I'm not saying that a newer camera won't make a difference. What I am saying is that, like any trade, the camera is only as good as the person taking the photo. And I have a funny story about that, but I'll save it for the part two of this post.
That's it for now. Tune in next week for It's not about the camera! Part 2. Until then... ¡Hasta la vista! Baby!
