No shoots to speak of this week, still in planning mode for our camping trip next weekend. However I thought I would share a realization, an epiphany of sorts.
Originally I wanted a good DSLR so I could take amazing photos, and quite frankly my first DSLR took some great photos, compared to my older digital camera and even my smart phone. But they weren’t brilliant, not how I saw them in my mind. I thought perhaps I needed a better camera? I got a better camera and funnily it has less features than my original, but it had definite specs that I thought I required. Still the pics were good……….not quite as great as I thought.
So I spent some time learning a few fundamentals, then a few different techniques, then a few different styles. Then I spent some time just playing. Then I enrolled in a course, then another, then another and so on.
I still have the same two cameras, but my images are so much better now, than 12 months ago, even 6 months ago. So I guess it’s not the camera at all it is ME! All me.
I know, I know it’s obvious, and you hear lots of people saying it’s not the gear, it’s the photographer………sure that’s easy to say when you have the latest and greatest gear around. I mean if you have a really good oven, I guess that means you are a great chef? But when you have what you have………..you learn to use it, I mean really learn to use it and be the best photographer you can be. It is kind of liberating. I no longer focus on my gear (sure I pick the right lens for the right job……but if I don’t have the right lens for the job, I know I can improvise and still get an excellent image), I can focus more on WHAT the photo is, what is IT’S purpose. I know longer snap off 1000’s of photos, sometimes it is only a few.
I don’t even Chimp any more (well rarely)….what’s Chimping? Take a photo and then review it in LiveMode; check the histogram, check the settings, check it’s in focus etc, etc, etc. I might double check the first shot, but not after that. I trust myself. If the gear fails, it fails and checking won’t help that. I shoot in RAW so if it’s not perfect exposure, if it’s a little off I can fix in Lightroom or Photoshop.
It’s funny, now that I know it’s me……….I don’t even feel the need for a new camera, or lens, of filter, or gadget. I have what I need; a good camera, a few core good lenses, a few core good filters and my skill. I know IF I really concentrate and work on an image and not just be slack……..I can make magic happen. I don’t wish to sound conceited here either. This is my passion, an obsession, a life force in itself and when I let the force happen, I feel in the zone, it’s almost a form of meditation and I can see the image form in my mind, exactly as it does on the camera. So at the risk of sounding very, very corny……….
May the FORCE be with you.
So if you are new to photography (Or other art form) give yourself time to be really bad, before you can get really good.I know that from here it can only get better and I am already loving where I am at. I feel no need to stress, especially if it is my own projects that I am working on. Oh and Remember……..not EVERY SINGLE photo will be a world class piece of art.
-Julz
Beautiful image Julz and it sounds like you’re a Jedi master now 😀
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not sure about Master Level yet, but heading in that direction
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Padawan perhaps 😉 The force is strong in you!
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Yes!! 🙂
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😀
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Great advice! I love to see people shooting with random stuff like Polaroid cameras or old film cameras. I think it’s whatever inspires you. Cheers!
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Yes I think the old stuff is cool too, but personally I need instant gratification lol….give me digital anyday! 🙂
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One of the questions I often get – usually right after a compliment on my photography – is “what kind of camera do you use?”
. . . got pretty tired of it, and wrote about it here:
https://dispersertracks.com/2012/10/13/dalise-photography-the-equipment/
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interesting read……..and yes it is slightly frustrating, but it’s OK I’m Nikon user and I don’t own an iPhones LOL. PS I also own a really good oven, and my cooking is edible (Most of the time) 🙂
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I own lots of good (high quality) items. They make most jobs easier, but they do not guarantee the results.
I mean, I understand the question . . . it’s born out of laziness; the idea that there are shortcuts to becoming halfway decent at something. The thing is, if you are going to have surgery, the last thing you want to know about your surgeon is what kind of scalpel they’re using.
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Exactly
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Yah my favourite comment is the “oh your camera takes SUCH good photos” *sigh*
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And then I say that’s off the phone lol
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Hahah yes!!! And it’s the same phone they use 😂😂
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Hehe it’s funny
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Chimping! I didn’t know that’s what it was called and I haven’t done that in ages! I agree, just trust yourself and enjoy your time behind the lens. Enjoy your weekend Julz. I have another birthday party so couldn’t go.
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Have fun
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You too.
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I never chimp – I just take a photo and if I like it, then all good, if not – try again. I have noticed a huge difference between my mirrorless camera to my dslr. But I have a tamron lens which I do not like as it hates focusing. It is handy to have but not for serious photography. But I do a lot of work editing to get the photo to where I envisioned it. i remember once taking a photo and thinking – thats nice but something is missing – the editing.
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i know what you mean, and my tamron is really soft focus as well. if i was going to change cameras it would probably be to a mirrorless for the weight difference
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I agree, I remember statements while I was taking Photography classes like, Ansel Adams could take a great photo with a toy camera, it’s the photographer not the equipment. But I do have to counter that it really does help to have a camera that allows you to make the changes you envision. I had always thought a DSLR would be the ‘thing’ that would give me better photos… and it actually has, because my film and digital pocket cameras were all auto I didn’t the the ability to change aperture, shutter speed, and ISO — I didn’t even know those words existed much less what they meant until I got my DSLR and decided to take classes. And I’m a macro nut, so the macro lenses do make a difference in my ability to get in close. But I get what you are saying here, once you find the right equipment, it has to be you learning the hows and whys to get the photos you desire. 🙂
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precisely………the right equipment for the job is a must, however that doesn’t make you the worlds greatest photographer. You need to LEARN how to use what you have got
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Thine thoughts are one with mine. Thou hast finally learned that the Force is in thy heart and not in thy sabre. May the galactic force be in thine midst!
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🙂
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