A rant for gear & spec collectors who have forgotten the art of photography.

[christopher_ellington]

<p>This is a long off the dome rant for encouragement and though. So I will preface it with what's it's about so you can decide whether you want to read it.<br /> This rant is mainly for those who feel they're in my position. You have a great piece of equipment. You know it's good, others tell you it's good, yet you find yourself spending more time typing "which should I buy", or "how much can I get for" or "megapixels don't matter" or "which has the quicker buffer" among other things than you do actually shooting and growing in the art of photography. Don't get me wrong, I see absolutely nothing wrong with looking of specs, camera sizes, comparing features, writing wish lists, asking questions before making purchases, etc. But I am beginning to really consider where my time is going and where it's not going.</p>

<p>--------------------<br /> <br /><br />I began with a Fujifilm E510. That was my go to camera that I carried with me everywhere. Of course, it's a camera small enough to comfortably carry. But I made great use of it—and even upgrading to rechargeable batteries. Eventually when I went of to college for my senior year, my Dad's so graciously let me borrow his Contax film camera that he used most his life for wedding, landscape and portraits. I needed and made great use out of that camera for a photography class. That was a pride and joy my senior year as I carried it everywhere, photographed textures, friends, candids, and simply interesting objects for my graphic design work. The Fujifilm E510 stuck around and I ended up taking a load of photos of my old roommate's wedding after we graduated. There was one picture in particular that made me say, "hmm, I think I really love photography.<br /><br />Fast forward 6 years later since college…<br /><br />a sold Nikon D40, a returned D3000, a sold D5000, discarded Fujifilm E510 and a broken Contax classic film camera. Now I'm with a few weddings under my belt and the experience it brings for a beginner. I've captured many live events before owning a flash and after owning a flash. Currently with a Nikon D7000+ accessories and lenses, a lot more book and second nature field knowledge of lenses, manual controls, lighting and camera specs. As well as a Canon 7D (my design agency owned, but I manage) with a kit, portrait lens, nice studio lighting set, heavy duty tripod, white, black and green screen backdrops.<br /><br />Fast forward 6 years later since college…<br /><br />I don't feel like I've grown in the art of photography. Today I look back and realize my passion for capturing moments. Capturing the forgotten. Be it a small crack on the side of a brick house in the bushes or that moment where a friend is uncontrollably laughing at a stupid joke. The art of a spider web, designed by a tiny 8 legged creature that probably won't be there in a few days time. The beautiful back-light cast on my wife from the setting sun on the perfect dawn when were walking out of the shoe store that I didn't capture.<br /><br />Fast forward 6 years later since college…<br /><br />I'm online trying to sell my Nikon D7000 to find every possibly way to upgrade to the latest pro gear of today (Nikon D800) or the top gear of yesterday (Nikon D700, Canon 5D Mark II). I ask myself "for what?". Sure I'd love the full frame. Sure I'd love the bigger body. Sure I'd love a new toy to play with. And admittedly, I'd love the feeling and "look" of having what many consider a professional level camera for the sake of being a bit transparent. Besides, the way cameras are these days the casual wedding guest with a little bit of extra change are carrying around D300s, D7000s, 5Ds, etc simply because they can. Does that worry me? Yes. Should I be worried? Not really.<br /><br />Fast forward 6 years later since college…<br /><br />I'm more concerned with upgrading my equipment and waiting for the "next paying gig" to impress and fill my resume than simply enjoying photography for what it is to me. I've always seen it as capturing the moment that one never gets back. I've also recently thought of it as "painting with light". I feel like I am more concerned with how sharp and large I can blow up my photos compared to another camera than whether the photo is actually successful or not. I feel I am more concerned with possibly having a camera that's full frame with a fast frame rate than I am composing with my feet. I feel I am more concerned with higher ISO numbers than being creative with the light that's available to me. I don't even remember the last time I took a photo to improve my skills and asked for feedback.<br /><br />Am I most concerned with buying "the best I can get for my money today?" Even if I have to scrape pennies and sell everything I own to just make the sale price of the next step up? Or should my time be more geared toward asking suggestions on what distance should I stand for shooting a small piece of jewelry for a studio shot using the capable gear I currently have. Or when do you recommend shooting at ISOs above 1600? Or how do I position to get the most flattering composition of my subject followed by postings of my efforts for more feedback and growth?<br /><br />I know the Canon 5D Mark II has dropped in price and is a full frame classic. I know the D700 has great capabilities in low light, focusing and image quality. I know the D800 is a little slower in FPS, but offers many other great improvements. I also know that I'd have to sell every cent of a gear that I have and then some to simply afford one of those camera bodies. It's not worth it. I believe that many in this position know everything they need to know about their "do I sell my for a", "do I buy Nikon or Canon" decisions. I believe many in this position—after weeks or months of forum questions and research—know whether they really need that full frame speeder or that full frame pixel behemoth. We know whether we've really pushed the limits of our current gear or whether we're just looking to upgrade because "it's that time" or we feel like it. For example, I even realize that if I get a great paying wedding gig, I could use a portion of a deposit to rent necessary gear for that day. $60 to rent a backup/second body or a lens for 3 days when the client is paying $1000 for photos is worth it. I don't have to spend every waking hour on spec sites to find the perfect backup body while missing out on shooting and booking opportunities.<br /><br />I just read a very interesting article, then found more articles and a video featuring renowned wedding (and more) photography Jeff Ascough. That was probably the most enlightening of in depth camera reviews, Nikon vs Canon battles, many megapixels vs lesser megapixels, or full frame vs crop sensor discussion. Those have ALL been beneficial to my growth and knowledge. I do not deny that. I think every photographer should know about such things. That we should be aware of the hardware market and industry. However, I simply want to encourage many to rekindle that love for photography as an art again. Many years ago before D800's and 5D Mark III's, we were amazed at the creativity, lighting, story telling and compositions of the photograph. I feel as if I've lost that for myself. I've always continued admiring it from others, but I've lost it for myself and I am getting it back. Jeff Ascough spoke about his approach to photography as and art, how he "looks for images" and how the advancements in the gear has simply enhanced what he already achieves. How he found his "style" or what turns him on in photography and focused on developing that. I don't mention him because I think everyone should be a documentary styled photography or even agree with everything he says. I mention him because his approach inspires me I feel a connection with his outlook on photography. His style is his own and I feel there are aspects of what I like about how I shoot that I'd like to focus on developing rather than simply trying to shoot as sharp a photo as I possibly can for spec sake.<br /><br />I believe that a 40 megapixel beast simply accentuates whether the photographer shot a meaningful shot or not. Whether shot on a $600 camera or a $6000 camera, I want to look back at the photo not to say "wow, I shot that on the best camera and I can blow that up easily", but to say "wow, how did I capture that shot. I really captured a moment there from the lighting, to the angle, etc". Not to hear others say "nice, that's sharp quality", but to say "wow, that's a beautiful and touching photo". It would suck to show a portfolio of images with an expensive camera I probably don't even deserve and sold my life savings for and hear "hmmm, that's an ok shot" compared to someone who's developed an eye and skill with their point and shoot and really touch people with his or her beautiful shot. I've actually had quick point and shoot shots from other casual shooters be chosen over my higher quality DSLR shot simply because they captured a better moment. Again, I am no advocate against wanting to have the best. However as some ask, "what do you feel you're missing or can't achieve that has you so focused on upgrading now?"<br /><br />In typing all of this, it's somewhat therapeutic and I simply want to encourage many to find that love, rekindle that love or continue that love. I will always be as excited as the next for the latest gear specs, the price drops on that once unreachable price point and which "brand" is making the better advancements in their technology. However we also need to get out and shoot. Practice with the gear you currently own. Think about the missed opportunities and the beautiful sunny days that you were on your computer trying to prove why the brand you're loyal to is better than the other. Know that there are PLENTY of tutorials and youtube videos on the best ways to capture certain types of shots. And of course we know that we can always ask on forums for feedback and artistic suggestions. At one point, I spent so much time saying "ah, I don't have as great an eye for capturing those beautiful shots" than I did actually developing that artistic skill. Sometimes those gifts are there within us and we simply need to hone it.<br /><br />I think about my background in playing the piano. I don't have a formal background or training. I play by ear and write by gift. But I have an ear and natural skill for composing music because I spent a lot of time listening, writing, messing up, trying again and again and again on whatever set of keys that were available to me. I want to capture the same way.</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Where are your photographs?</p>

[starvy]

You keep on thinking of it as an art and perhaps that is where you are going wrong. Art would make its practitioners artists. We are not that, certainly not most of us. There are a lot of competent photographers. There are lots of very good photographers but essentially, you have to ignite your own passion.

[christopher_ellington]

<p>@Jeff, I have some random ones uploaded in my profile here.</p>

<p>@Starvy, Thanks. Yeah what I am trying to do is find my own passion. My purpose in this though was just to give a thought to anyone who feels the way I do. Not necessarily to point fingers or say everyone has to do something a particular way or even view it the way I view it. Just that if there's anyone who feels they may be spending more time in front of the computer than behind the viewfinder, think about where you want to be headed. And trying to be transparent about it, because I haven't all of a sudden become great at that myself. If you're content, that's cool. If you don't view it as art, that's cool. Everyone is different. Just speaking from the point of view of someone who has spent so much time comparing and contrasting hardware and not shooting. From someone who is simply trying to ignite that passion and encourage anyone who feels the same way.</p>

[michaelchristensen]

<p>I don't consider it to be a "rant" .. more like a revelation. Perhaps such an essay should be a foundation and a warning to all of us .. who feel the need and constant pressure to seek out the higher-end tools of trade .. seeing a problem for what it is .. is the beginning of a solution to that problem.</p>

<p>I'm always inspired by those who use but the simple tools of a craft to do whatever it is they desire to do. Our technology certainly is interesting and affords many opportunities to do new and different things .. mind you, not better, just different .. I see evidence of such thinking in crafts ranging from wood-working to architectural design .. art surrounds us and if we look at a "camera" as a tool which is distinct from the art of the photographer .. well, I think we are all better for it. I can't say with any self assurance that a better tool made me better at my craft .. but then, good photography begins before the photographer embraces a camera .. it is indeed about the process and not the tool.</p>

[steve_thompson9]

<p>I enjyed reading this.<br>

Well done.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>Rants are written for the benefit of the ranter rather than to be read but judging from the title I'm with you 100% :-)</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>To parapharese Steve Martin, writing about photography is like dancing about architecture.</p>

<p>Just do it. </p>

<p>As H. L. Mencken said "Those who can --do, those who can't -- teach" (or I guess, complain about it). Personally I'm the the complaining teacher category.</p>

<p>BTW Ansel Adams taught himself to play piano and for over a decade it was his principle occupation before he took up photography full time. You are in good company there.</p>

[luis_g]

<p>It's a good rant, and something we see played out time and time again here and elsewhere. Thanks to Moore's Law a lot of people find themselves exactly where the camera industry (and all the ancilliary others) want them to be: On the hamster techno-wheel. Got the new phone? iPad?<br>

_______________________________________________________</p>

<p>Starvy makes a good point. Most photographers aren't artists, just photographers. A very, very few are artists using photography, and I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are different. </p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>This rant is mainly for those who feel they're in my position.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Is there another kind?</p>

[john_burzynski]

Having just sold a photo going on the

cover of a book....shot with a Nikon

Coolpix L110....a prosumer point and

shoot, it was driven home to me that it

is the photo, the moment, NOT the

camera. I didn't have my 'nice' dSLR

with me for that photo, but it worked!

Well said, it isn't a rant, should be a

wake up call.

[mark_pierlot]

<blockquote>

<p>Where are your photographs?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Some of them are in his photo.net portfolio, if you bothered to look. </p>

<p>Don't you get tired of repeating the same old empty criticism, Jeff?</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Photography is about photographs. For some reason, I missed the portfolio. I don't get the rant when there are far better things to do.</p>

[bethe_fisher]

<p>My two cents (or less) - I think one of the reasons many photographers talk more on the web about the technical stuff is because it takes more guts to put personal and real art out there for criticism. If someone disagrees with you over how to calculate the number of pixels on the head of a pin, it doesn't really matter. But if someone doesn't like an image you created and feel strongly about, then it hurts. And many don't create those personal images because they can't get themselves past the feelings of whether it will be good or not and if they don't like, was it worth the time. </p>

<p> </p>

[andylynn]

<p>Christopher, whenever somebody mentions a photographer he admires, first thing I do is look up the photographer's gallery site (not the blog where he writes about gear, because, really, who cares) and look at the "personal photos" page. Jeff Ascough shoots weddings and portraits very well and has an amazing eye for candids, or at least making everything look like a candid (though I'm not sure why he's shooting nothing but digital but everything on his web site is postprocessed to look like film in rough paper slide frames) but whenever he's shooting for fun he goes to the beach. His personal gallery intro page says some of the shots are using high end digital and some camera phones, and with a very few exceptions I can't tell which are which. I know it gets said all the time, but it's not the equipment. It's skill and inspiration.</p>

<p>So you're in the doldrums. You don't get out of the doldrums by upgrading to a sleeker hull (or, what's worse, larger cannon and a really cool flag). You need winds. Forget looking at new cameras (tip: if all you need is to look like you have a serious camera at weddings, adding a 3rd party grip and leaving your flash on at all times even if it's switched off are the cheapest ways to do it) and take your wife on a trip somewhere where the buildings have cracks in the brick walls and sunlight filters into narrow streets full of people in interesting hats, or whatever else strikes your fancy. Cancel the Popular Photography subscription and get Lenswork and National Geographic Traveler, put away the equipment guide books and read something about creative landscape shooting, whatever gets your mind off gear and onto photography. Stop reading this forum for a couple of weeks.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Understand the joy of photography is based on seeing, feeling and visual expression. Don't confuse it with the equipment of photography which is based on commerce and business. It's a concept that's difficult for some to accept. Many photographers say they feel they are not artist, yet they have that kernel of desire to create and for self expression. It's a matter of perspective. What you tell yourself is what you become.<br>

Embrace the artist within. Say it out loud! It is there inside of you. It is in all of us.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Christopher, thanks for your thoughts. A useful rant.</p>

<p>Its interesting to note, in your mentioning it, that your love of the piano and composition has nothing (apparently) to do with the make of piano, its class of perfection amongst other instruments and its specific physical attributes. Therein lies the answer for your photography. Many of us spend spare time (sometimes too much of it) discussing the quality of our tools and helping others to gather more information on a particular tool, but I think that this is (or should be perceived as) really secondary. Not so terrible a preoccupation as such in small doses, but time can be better spent thinking about what we want to photograph, how, and doing that.</p>

<p>One book that has set me straight on what is important in seeing (not just looking at things) the world about me and attempting to provide my own visual perception of it, is a little known (in America) book by the New Brunswick photographer and workshop leader Freeman Patterson, called "Photography and the art of seeing" (Van Nostrand Reingold Company, N.Y., ISBN 0-442-29779-3 pa). I haven't read another of his texts, "Photography for the joy of it", but it might be good. The former is more profound and thought-prvoking than the the title might suggest. You might be ripe for that kind of read, to incite your own interest in photography. </p>

[drjoder]

<p>Check out the first few chapters of Bruce Barnbaum's book, The Art of Photography. It's all about getting in touch with your passions and letting that lead you to where you want to go with your photography. Great rant, BTW. With the new Nikon D800 out I have found myself doing a lot of technoreading...but my D90 still takes great images when the light is good and the subject is interesting, so I just need to get my butt out more, too.</p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>A useful rant</p>

</blockquote>

<p>http://www.atlantamortgagegroup.com/oxymoronlist.htm</p>

<p>Seriously though, it all could have been wrapped up in a sentence or two. (e.g. "Don't worry about getting the latest best equipment, concentrate of making the best images.") Maybe with an example of some absurdity for effect...</p>

<p>http://www.whattheduck.net/strip/184-sunday</p>

[rossb]

<p> Just shoot the D7000 and be happy. I am sure the camera is fine. </p>

[geoffs1]

<p>Rant on...<br>

IMHO it's all about the photos. The gear you use is a detail. I've had magazine cover shots taken with a 20D and the 18-55mm IS kit lens. Heck, I had a promotional poster (2x3 feet) shot that was taken with a 20D and the original non-IS kit lens! My editor uses an ancient 10D! (albeit with L glass...).</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>One of the nice things about photography is that it can be enjoyed on many different levels. Some people are into preserving memories of friends, family, travel, or what have you. Others are into it as a creative hobby. To some it's a living. Some like the gear for its own sake, like grown up toys. To some it's all of the above.</p>

<p>To me it's all of the above except I don't do it for a living. But most important to me is the creative hobby part. I think most people have a need to express themselves one way or another. Some paint, some sing, some play a musical instument, some write stories, I take photographs.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p><em>One of the nice things about photography is that it can be enjoyed on many different levels. </em><br>

Amen to that. I have had a varied relationship with photography over more than 55 years, as an amateur, pro and now amateur again. Most pictures I have taken were industrial record shots and news pictures, a very small amount of private work was intended as art, and a very small proportion of this actually worked as art! <br>

At present I have a Canon 5D MkII which I use for all "serious" photography, simply because I know that if I use this, every shot has the quality to be blown up huge on a gallery wall. I haven't even looked at the Mark III and probably won't for a while. I used to be a little dismissive of camera gear freaks but have to admit I have become one myself to the extent that I like owning old Leicas which I don't really need as picture-taking instruments. I justify this by telling myself that owning Leicas is better for my arthritis at the age of 63 than riding a Harley-Davidson and probably does not make me look as ridiculuous.<br>

From the OP's point of view. as others have remarked, the lesson is very likely that he has all the gear he really needs and than buying more will not break him out of the doldrums. What does this for me is a short break if I am feeling really bored with photography and then some picture-taking excursions with a bare minimum of equipment (1 body, 1 lens) - this usually reminds me what photography is about and how much (= little) equipment you actually need.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Just because someone likes collecting cool watches, doesn't mean they are on time, or make the best use of their time.</p>

[Ian Rance]

<p>Christopher, I feel that part of the problem is online content and photo magazines - especially the photo mags. I have been buying a few recently to give me some ideas but instead they are filling my head up with rubbish. Pages on adding a new sky, cloning out items (people and objects), HDR, dodgy digital effects and pages on superzooms. Where are the articles on honing your eye, spotting the small things and recording life? These are not glamourous or big so they are not included. Also it is a huge shame that these magazines don't have a film section because film has much to offer photographers - mainly slowing down, seeing and thinking.</p>