So I shoot with a Canon, I’ve shot with a canon since the about 1999 and before that I shot with a Minolta.
I have and still do have GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome, sometimes I can resist and sometimes I cannot. Recently though I’ve gotten much better. I feel more prepared as to why I don’t need something and the urge to upgrade has largely disappeared. Except for bags… I think I need a new bag.
If you are like me and watch endless review videos, and how-to’s by experts or influencers you are always seeing such amazing end results. I only recently realised, and I’ll put this down to self blindness, that the only way to get better is to do. It’s odd because I know this from other aspects of my life, running, football, basketball, software development and all the other things I’ve learnt and done over the years. So why has it taken me so long to realise this is true with photography too?
There is a common trend now to get people to switch gear and brands and upgrade and sometimes even downgrade. But what all the influencers are not telling you, well very few at least, is, what you have is all you ever need.
There is that saying: The best camera is the one you have in your hand.
I remember Kai, before Kai W was thing used to have a segment where he gave a professional a cheap camera, and yet the images were still amazing, that has long lived in my memory.
Yet still we watch and see, what people create with the brand they use and when they switch, or we are tempted to make a move ourselves. Well I would be tempted if I had not gotten to a point in my life where I finally understand what I need.
- Intent
- What you have
- Time
I put that in a list because I need to remember my train of thought
So for intent, I would think that you would need a purpose for why you are taking pictures. The intent could be for yourself (the best intent), profit, social standing etc.
I find knowing why you are shooting is really important, as an introverted person I seriously find it hard to shoot for big crowds for instance, I can do it if I’m feeling comfortable with people, but it takes me a while, hence wedding shoots are not part of my repertoire.
What I have that is really important, because we can watch people, who get paid to do what they do and want to buy the same things to see if we can also do the same thing, but generally, unless you have the last point, which is time, then all the gear in the world will amount to nothing.
Shooting with what you have should never be a challenge like the ‘one lens’ challenge or only shooting film. Those are really for people that that already have all the gear. So they need to reduce to make their intent mean more.
When you have a phone in your hand and there is something to capture, use IT!!!
We can all be gear snobs, but the person that manages to record something, has done something that the other person has not managed to do. Sure it may not be a masterpiece, but as you shoot with your equipment you learn and as you learn, you get better with what you have. Shoot shoot shoot!!! the mantra that needs repeating, more than any other message. Because it is only after shooting that you can assess. As you get more experienced you may shoot less, but that is because you shot all those other things that taught you, and moulded your ability.
Time, this is the one that we are actually most in need of. Make time, steal time, sacrifice time… it actually boils down to what you value. Sometimes spending time with your partner is more important than going for that long hike, to get that banger of a shot, and there is nothing wrong with that, sometimes it is better to just soak in the beauty of the scene and let the memory remember it.
I guess my point is this, listen and learn from the experts on youtube or whatever platform you are on, but don’t buy gear because someone else has it. Chances are they got paid to promote something or they have a particular niche which is awesome for that product. Whatever you have is enough. You are enough and your effort is enough.