I just wrote this WHOLE thing out and accidently hit refresh and lost it all, so i am trying again, fucking hell! i dont even wanna do it again now.
And to be honest, theres a fucking hell of a lot of bull shit that goes on at that table.
Ok, so i have seen many blogs and shit blah blah that go on and off about what gear matters, what gears important and what cameras lenses etc are better then the others.
well i am going to set this fucking issue straight and put it down and out there.
Now before i begin, imagine this all in the voice of your best friend, who no matter what doesnt get mad angry or heated in a debate, tthats how i am and talk. so lets begin.
First and for most, you need to know that no camera is better then the next, they all deal with light and light alone, they create images from light that travels threw a lens and onto a flat thing, either a censor or a film negative.
No camera will , never has, nor will it ever, make your photographs better then if you had shot it with a “shittier” camera. Camera gear is the least important aspect in photography as a whole.
Now alot of people state this, go off on it and come across very hypocritical, i ask you to read threw and you will see how i differ from them and have a true view and sense of this topic, unlike those who state but do not believe nor follow this idea as it actually is.
So i will say now, that yes, i use some “good” gear, yes i also wish i had a hassleblad digital medium format camera.
i will state my reasons a bit later within this text as to why and how it still doesn’t fall into the category of gear mattering at all when it comes to whether a photograph taken is good or not.
So many people ask when they buy a camera, what camera will make my pictures better, what is the best camera on the market.
guess what? yep, there isn’t a single best camera nor will a camera take any picture for you, let alone make yours better.
only example i need to make is that no advertising company will just go buy the best picture taking camera and tell it to take a photo perfect let alone good enough for there campaign. they will hire a PHOTOGRAPHER. and i highly doubt they will ask what camera the person they hire uses at all.
granted some compensating fucktards will hire someone cause they have the BEST gear and highest megapixel camera in town.but chances are they will get second grade material due to concentrating on a physical sense and not a actual sense.
There is a lot of compensating that goes on within the world and every industry,. i hate the compensating i see within photography, its fucking bull shit lame and fucking dumb.
the whole, i got a better camera then he does, so i can do a better job for you then he can. the ohh he uses a shit camera, you don’t want him.
the buying big lenses to act like you are a pro and know what your doing, when you don’t know anything but your wallets fatter and your bank account has more cash then you need.
Cameras are like shoes, especially in the point and shoot world (90% true with point and shoots 75% true in SLR’s)
you dont call a shoes store on the phone and say.
:hello sir, i would like to know what the best, most popular shoes on the market are right now, the ones that will make me walk better longer and faster”
“ohh you mean the shittalkerwalker h2o, they are even water proof, and shock proof”
“yeah can you mail me those, heres my credit card number, im totally going to walk the ass of all those wanna bes down on the boardwalk and kick some serious walking ass!!!)
so why would a person think they should do that when it comes to cameras.
THE ONLY THING IMPORTANT when it comes to camera gear.
the only thing that matters at all and should way in a decision but also only after the fact of learning cameras are the least important part of photography. in the aspect of good or bad.
is how reliable do you need something to be, how confident do you need to be with your gear.
only AND ONLY so that when the camera is up at your eye, your not thinking about it at all.
your paying attention to whats truly and only important when it comes to photography.
THE CONTENT.
whats within the frame is way more important then whats within your hands.
you DO NOT SEE in museums, magazines, newspaper etc any gear specification, let alone beside world famous iconic images do you?
NO!
and to be honest, the bloody magazines that DO require it when you submit images, fucking bull shit, so fucking dumb to be honest,
i know for a fact, alot of photographers make them up, only ow that you can see in the file is it easy and people just do it cause they are told they need to or asked for it and dont care like i do.
why do you ask?
well first what the hell does it matter what i shoot something at?
especially wildlife, scenery, street stuff basically really anything.
there is no way that will help anyone at all.
unless they could then travel back in time, and shoot a image them selfs at the exact same spot, same time, same angle, so the EXACT SAME EXPOSURE WOULD ACTUALLY WORK.
other wise, chances are, well no it is, its useless information completely.
You dont ask a sprinter who just won a race and set a world record, what foot he stepped first with when he took off or what arm swayed first now do you?
no cause it doesnt mean shit.
Now after you realize the truth that gear means nothing within photography and wether a image is good or not, you can then and only then look at gear as important, and it will only be important in unimportant ways and methods.
and what i mean is unimportant in a mind state self thinking kind of way, for example.
if you were to build a house, and use the fanciest most expensive tools within the world of power tools.
and as your building it, your thinking, fuck im the shit, look at me, look at me and all my mac tool,s fuck this drill is the loudest and fastest drill around, my neighbors can hear this shit, they know im a fucking builder of the worlds best from this gear i got laying around.
fuck i just drilled that wall in like no ones business and fast as hell. fuck im the shit, i got all the tools of this trade. look at this saw cut like butter…yada yada you get the drift.
well chances are your foundation will be crooked, your walls wont be level and your house will end up looking like shit, cause the tools dont build the fucking house.
but on the other hand, if you used a screw driver and the whole time, paid attention to the details, looked at the angles, saw it in your head before hand and piece by piece molded it together knowing everything within the house needed to be all lined up together right fit straight and voila, a fucking prime ass house worth living in.
Yeah building a house with a screw driver, ha, you laugh right.
im sure you know or have at-least been told that speed is not a good thing if you want quality, unless you have the experience to back it up and follow close behind the speed you lead?
well if not, now you know.
now everytime i read one of these things, i see some douche bag saying.
“gear doesnt matter, my ass, i would like to see you take a shot of a left fielder making a diving catch on a line drive, ”
or i see the
“gear doesnt matter, yeah right, your dumb, how the hell do you think you would get a photo of a pack of wolfs devouring a elk they just took down for a late falls supper”
well in truth, you just answered your own question is what they all do them selfs.
not once did they say anything about gear, but ONLY ABOUT THE IMAGES CONTENT
proving my point, even stronger and using the people who dont believe it.
CONTENT IS WHAT MATTER. and gear is back in the back burner of importance.
Gear is used to achieve a image and reveal the content, gear only becomes important as a tool, and if a tool can achieve what you require, to reveal that content easier.
then you use that gear, but the image still over weighs the content.
if gear truly was the important factor within photography, then i would take out a loan, buy a Canon Mark III or a Nikon D3
I would go shoot my blank walls and then shoot the sky, all blue though, no clouds at all, just a solid blue.
Then i would go take that all white image, and that all blue image. and i would sell them.
Best gear, hell i would include what ever the best lens in the world is as well.
i could sell them right? gear determines quality, those images should be sharp as fuck and huge res. so that means that are good right?
well no, and no im not an idiot, im smart and i know whats fucking involved in a good image and not.
CONTENT.
Content should be teached in all aspect s of everything, and in photography, it should be right up there in importance with the rule of thirds.
and like all rules, it can be broken PROPERLY. minimalism has a place, but in truth, its still about its CONTENT, but in a lack of content kind of way.
i wont go off about that one, cause i think it would confuse most people.
Now i will set the bar straight here, like i mentioned earlier, i do use some “good” gear, i dont feel a need to say what, its unimportant.
and yes, what i wouldn’t give to have a hassleblad with a wide angle lens.
BUT THAT WONT MAKE MY PICTURES any better then they already are at all one bit for a second.
it will ONLY AND ONLY allow me to print them the way i see them within my head.
LARGE AS FUCK, over sized and exaggerated.
witch is how i see everything WAAAAY before i even plan to shoot it, my ideas are huge, so there for i want my images to be huge.
TEN FEET TALL!
So by default i require something that can out put large enough resolution to be printed that large at the physical quality i desire.
Doesn’t make it good. makes it what it is, and always was, just bigger.
If you have one super sized apple, and one smaller apple.
witch one tastes better? your not allowed to bite or lick either, you must tell me now?
exactly, you dont know, its whats on the inside that determines the quality of taste. just like whats within a image determines its visual taste.
If you noticed, I never say cameras are unneeded. just that they are one of the lesser in importance in wether photographs are good or bad.
you obviously need a camera to take a photo, but you dont require a good camera let alone a expensive one to take a good photograph.
Now yes, some gear is more reliable for some jobs, its true.
pocket wizards will fire almost always, ebay slaves might not work.
but i wasn’t aware that a pocket wizard makes your subject reveal more emotion and character?
nor did i know it made your skys more colorful etc?
tools only determine ease of repetition.
You should never allow your gear to determine your ability, instead allow your ability to determine the gears capability.
like i said, you can hammer a nail with a spoon, its not the easiest thing, but you DO pay more attention then if you have a nail gun.
If both nails go in, what ones better?
Now i always see replies and comments to these statements by people stating,
“AMEHN, i agree completely, and im so now not buying an SLR and sticking with my point and shoot”
This is a bit of a ignorant comment in some ways.
its not that you cant take good photos with point and shoots, cause you can, hell you can with a cell phone camera.
but you also need to know what you wish to do with your images when they are good or not.
if you wish to print and obtain its goodness, you must have gear to allow that.
like how i want a hassleblad to print huge!
SO if you wish to have your images stop at flickr, and not anything more, then hell, dont bother getting anything but a point and shoot with a wide angle, or big zoom, witch ever you prefer. they will even look sharp on internet wether thats important or not.
But as unimportant gear is compared to the more important elements, its important in its own way, and that comes in play AFTER THAT FACT of wether or not its a good image, it determines what you can do with this good or bad image.
ehhh, i wish i still had my original, i should use a text program for this stuff instead of straight onto flickr like this.
I WILL GlADLY GO ON about this subject with anyone who wishes to ask questions or challenge my stance.
witch not to sound cocky, but i know what im talking about here, from both sides of this spectrum.
for those that need to feel like your expensive cameras matter. well ill say this JUST FOR YOU.
GEAR is important within photography, but doesnt make a photograph GOOD.
Photography should Invoke Feeling and Cause Emotion. Not cause some one to ask what lens you use or how many megapixels your camera is.
It is called Google Chrome and it is going to make things much easier and fatser then before.