Does Equipment Really Matter?
Photography is all around us. In today’s day and age, it’s more accessible than ever. Everyone has the potential to create some amazing photography; you just need to understand the medium. Photography is all about capturing how light affects the world around us. It’s seeing something different, unique, or undiscovered in the everyday; finding something incredible in the ordinary. The truth is, all of that can be done with any camera, no matter how cheap. You don’t need a $2,000 camera or a full set of studio lights to take a meaningful image. In fact, there’s lots of great photography using ‘toy cameras’ or inexpensive, lo-fidelity film cameras.
Photographers and Everyone Else
I’ve spoken to lot of people about the photos they take at home; pics of their families, food, vacations, etc. They see me taking shots with my Canon DSLR and the convo always goes down the same route; “I have to get one of those. All my pictures stink.” They then proceed to show me the camera that they use. It’s usually either a consumer grade point and shoot or their cell phone.
The difference between a photographer and everyone else, isn’t the equipment in their hands, it’s how they see their subject. For example, you have a beautiful rose sitting in a vase on your living room table. The average person sees that flower and takes the picture. Image saved, nothing more. A photographer will see the flower and think, “What does it mean to me?” “What feelings do I get when the light hits it from this angle?” “Is there something in the frame that distracts me from this flower?”
Technicality vs. Aesthetics
Ok, ok. I’m not going to say that a point and shoot is all you need, the end. Because, when it comes to the technical, there are differences. A point and shoot will never give as much control as an SLR on manual or as much depth of field due to the limitations of the lens. Understanding your equipment can also make things easier and create a quicker workflow. If you’re starting a photography business, these are the things that will matter with your clients. However, “technical” doesn’t always make a photo stand out as meaningful or beautiful.
Look at some of the old famous photographs throughout history. Film grain everywhere, soft focus, etc. Does the invention of 13 megapixel phones or 30 megapixel DSLRs downgrade the works of Weegee, Dorothea Lange or Ansel Adams? Of course not. Sometimes, aesthetic trumps technicality if it helps to develop meaning. No pun intended…ok, maybe it was a little. Don’t forget, clever editing can also help give some great aesthetic to rather dull photos. So the next time you’re looking to take a picture of that flower on your table, don’t think to yourself “I wish I had a new top-of-the-line camera to take this shot.” Instead, think “How can I take a picture of this flower in a new and interesting way?” “Where would it look best? Maybe not on the table at all.”
Cell Phone Pics-of-the-Week
Here are a few pictures that I featured on my Facebook page. They are all shots taken on a cellphone. The images were taken with a variety of camera and editing apps on my phone. The editing software was either the default editor on the phone or an app I downloaded from the app store, so don’t think you NEED a big post-production program like Photoshop to be creative. Now, I’m not saying any of these are works of art, but they definitely stand out from something you would normally associate with a cellphone.
So if you want to take better photos, don’t go running to the camera store just yet. First and foremost, learn about the fundamentals of photography; the rules of light, depth of field, etc. Start thinking about your subjects in new ways. Practice at home; taking shots of everyday objects that you don’t even think twice about, maybe from a different perspective. Change your lighting. If you always take your food shots in your kitchen with the overhead light on, take your dish outside and shoot it. Once you learn to see things differently, then you can go looking for the equipment that can take your photography to another level.
So what do you shoot on? Got a fancy DSLR or a prosumer point and shoot? Let me know in the comments below!