The camera or the photographer?

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted, but I’ve been pretty busy moving into my new condo and some other projects. I know, it’s about time, so on with my post!

With the price of Digital SLRs so low and with so many people enjoying the flexibility they provide, I find myself wondering to myself “What amazing images I could create if I had that lens too or that higher end model.” And then I remember that “first comes the photographer, then comes the equipment.” It helps me focus on improving my skills until I reach the limits of my equipment, not the other way around.

So many people caught up with the hype of all the new equipment, new lenses, new this or new that, higher mega pixels, HD video, what’s cool or what’s not, that they forget about what really creates all of those awesome images they see floating around the internet. It’s the artistic vision behind the camera.

It doesn’t take much to remind myself this by browsing flickr. How many people have purchased a dSLR and then post of all these mediocre images, then you look at all these iPhone images on http://www.thebestcamera.com/. There are so many amazing captures and it required nothing more than an iPhone.

Don’t get me wrong, many people just getting started with dSLRs are just learning, as I did not too long ago, but the point I’m making is that before everyone gets all caught up in equipment, they should ask themselves if they have taken what they have to it’s fullest potential.

For example, look at the two images below. Can you tell which of the following was taken with an iPhone?

If you guessed the iPhone image was the 2nd one, you were wrong. I took the top one with an iPhone and the second one with my dSLR. It’s all about how you capture and compose your image that makes it great. I remind myself this partly because I can’t afford all the nice equipment I would like, but also because I have seen how much my images have improved over time by learning to use what I have to its fullest potential.

So if you’re still learning and want to spend all this money on all this new equipment, stop, read, learn and expand on your skills before you spend that money. You’ll be surprised at what you can do when you’re forced to make things work.

Advertisement